While the exact location remains a mystery, yet another WW2 mystery is solved. 72 years ago, an Avro Anson with a crew of 3 RAF and 1 RCAF took off from Pat Bay on a training mission in 1942. They were never seen again. Here's the story, and, perhaps, one day, another potential ride...
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The 70-year-old mystery of four airmen lost during a World War II training flight has finally been solved after a chance discovery by loggers on Vancouver Island.
The 70-year-old mystery of four airmen lost during a World War II training flight has finally been solved after a chance discovery by loggers on Vancouver Island.
The three British and one Canadian airmen took off on a training exercise from Patricia Bay on Oct. 30, 1942, and never returned. A search at the time failed to locate their downed Avro Anson L7056.
Last October, a logging crew from Teal-Jones Cedar Products spotted the wreck and notified authorities. A recovery effort was launched by the Department of National Defence and the B.C. Coroners Service.
“They came across some debris in the forest, and they figured it was a plane crash,” said Michael Pegg of Teal-Jones.
“There were wheels, the engine of the plane, mangled plane parts. There was a boot, shoes and a jacket.”
The coroner’s office said the plane crashed on a remote mountainside near Port Renfrew on the Island’s southwest coast, just 50 kilometres west of where the twin-engine propeller plane took off.
The recovery was stalled by poor weather over the winter, but during a week in early May, crews were able to confirm the crash site contained the remains of the lost airmen.
“The primary focus of the operation was to recover any human remains and artefacts, as well as identify and remove potential physical and/or environmental hazards,” said DND spokeswoman Johanna Quinney in a release Friday.
Royal Canadian Air Force Sgt. William Baird of Calgary; Royal Air Force Pilot Officers Charles George Fox and Anthony William Lawrence; and Sgt. Robert Ernest Luckock had been listed as missing and presumed dead.
Now that their remains have been found, the DND and Canadian Air Force are working with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, officials in the U.K. and relatives of the airmen to organize a formal interment ceremony.
“This recovery, and subsequent burial, will provide closure to the families and give these fallen service members the dignity and respect they deserve,” said National Defence Minister Rob Nicholson in a statement.
“No matter how much time passes, doing the right thing for our people and for their families is an Air Force priority,” said RCAF Commander Lieut.-Gen. Yvan Blondin.
Pegg said it’s been a fascinating story for him and his forestry crew to be part of.
“It touches your heart when you realize there are these families that have been out there not knowing what has happened to their siblings for all these years,” he said.
“Hopefully this will be able to provide some closure to them.”
More than 100 air crew died while flying out of Patricia Bay during the Second World War.
The crash site remains closed while the military wraps up environmental testing.
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