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This story was submitted to the People's War site by Sarah Blackaby, a volunteer from CSV Action Desk on behalf of Jack Finch, and has been added to the site with his permission. Jack Finch fully understands the site's terms and conditions

Part 1: The Coming Together at Yorkton

This is a brief account of the paths of 19 young pilots under training with the Commonwealth Air Training Plan after they had completed their course.

This was course No. 60, at No. 11 Service Flying Training School, at Yorkton, in Saskatchewan, from July to November 1942. Half of the course were British, and half Canadian. They were totally mixed in their living and meals quarters, their ground studies in the classroom, and their flying training. The stories of these 19 young pilots has been put together by research in recent decades.

The research provides information on casualties, but not on survivors. Inevitably it has to emerge as an account of these 19 deaths in action. It is not by any means an account of all casualties of those on that course, simply of those traced.

I, Jack Finch, am the writer, simply because I am the researcher. I was one of those under training, and our average age was then 19 or 20. The story of the sacrifice of my colleagues, as part of the 55,000 British and Commonwealth aircrew who lost their lives in WW2 surely deserves to be told and placed on record, as their surviving colleagues will now be well into their 80s. These colleagues, and more particularly, any members of their families, may well wish to study the information while passage of years and health still allows it.

Leading Aircraftman Mitchell and Leading Aircraftman McBrien were the first of the colleagues, as both died in accidents, under training at Yorkton, on their Cessna Crane twin-engined aircraft. R. Mitchell came from Bournemouth, and why we all knew him as ‘Daisy’ is a mystery, as he was a burly, cheerful fellow, with the physique of a second-row player in a Rugby scrum — his initial was R. N. McBrien came from Oshawa, Ontario. We also lost a flying instructor on the course, Pilot Officer Richardson from Calgary, Alberta. Flying training, as distinct from operations, took a fair toll of aircrew.

The coveted ‘wings’ were awarded to members of No. 60 Course in November 1942, and a memorable Graduation Dinner was held, at which all signed each other’s menu cards. It was a night never to be forgotten, when thoughts turned to where our paths would take us.

Part 2. The Earliest Casualties in 1943

The loss of Billy Bryant was the first of our colleagues to be traced. He was a carefree, flaxen-haired fellow, who was 21 when he was lost on 6th May 1943. Sgt. William Thomas Bryant was buried at St Peters Churchyard, at his home in Ditton, Kent.

Irwin James Clark’s Halifax of 295 Squadron crash landed at Sale, in French Morocco, on 22nd August 1943, after catching fire. Irwin was buried at Casablanca. He came from Toronto, and was 21.

Another Canadian loss was that of Bob Reynolds, in another theatre of war, on 22nd September 1943. That night 31 aircraft failed to return from night operations over Hannover. Sgt. R. P. Reynolds, in a 434 Squadron Halifax, and the 7 other crew members, are amongst the 217 Canadian, British, Australian and New Zealand aircrew lost that night in the 31 aircraft. Bob Reynolds was 21 and came from Montreal.

On the same day, 22nd September 1943, our colleague Sidney Cuthbert lost his life, with 204 Squadron. His mission is unrecorded, but Flying Officer Sidney Bertram Cuthbert’s name is inscribed on the Malta Memorial for aircrew who have no known grave, flying from Mediterranean or North African bases. Sidney was a bit older than most of us, at 27, but his serious approach to ground studies and thinning hair had ‘aged’ him somewhat. He came from Oxford, and sadly left a widow.

Flight Sergeant John George McInnes, from Manitoba, was killed in action with 149 Squadron on 8th October 1943, aged 29. John’s Stirling was missing on a mine-laying operation.

The next day another Canadian colleague, Fred Small, lost his life on 9th October 1943 on a 434 Squadron mission on Hannover. His Halifax must have gone down near Hamburg, as that is where Flying Officer Frederick George Small and 5 Canadian and British crew members were buried (one of the crew being taken prisoner). 9 aircraft, with approximately 56 crew members, were lost on that operaion.

Part 3. 1944, and the Heavy Toll of Aircrew in the Bomber Command Campaign

On the nights of 1st/2nd January and 2nd/3rd January 1944 about 425 aircraft set out for Berlin. Losses were heavy, with 56 aircraft lost on two nights of raids, with the loss of about 400 aircrew. Amongst these lost aircraft was the Lancaster of Len Gosney. Our Canadian colleague, chunky, irrepressible Len, was the joker in the pack in our sleeping quarters. Flight Sergeant Len Gosney’s crew of 8 went down with him in his 207 Squadron Lancaster.

Another Canadian colleague lost on the same two nights raids was Pilot Officer Gerald William Henderson, flying with 100 Squadron. Gerald came from Kinley, Saskatchewan. He was 22, and has no known grave.

Yet another of the old Yorkton-trained pals flew in the same 2 nights of raids, starting on 1st January 1944, British casualty Flight Sergeant Robert Jeffrey Hayes. Bob Hayes, from Birmingham, was injured, and the rest of the 115 Squadron crew were taken prisoners of war. Bob died 3 weeks later, aged 22.

The greatest shock in my research came with the news of Keith Harris’s loss, as Keith and I had been inseparable friends through 7 stations in Britain and Canada, 2 Atlantic crossings, leisure activities and unforgettable Canadian hospitality with Quebec and Saskatchewan families. Keith was a quiet, thoughtful, sandy-haired West Country lad from Bristol. Keith Harris took off in his 115 Squadron Lancaster (the same squadron as Bob Hayes) on one of 3 nights of operations from 27th January 1944, in which 126 aircraft were lost, with the heavy toll of 882 aircrew. Keith, aged 20, and his six fellow crew members were lost without trace, and have no known grave. Keith and his crew were very experienced, with 20 sorties to their credit. Flight Lieutenant Keith Harris’s name is engraved on the Air Forces Memorial at Runnymede for British and Commonwealth aircrew with no known grave. I am sure the whole splendid British and Canadian crew will have their special place with his on that Memorial, as in their final tasks and sacrifice.

A month before we lost Keith Harris our colleague Bill Cozens took part in a Leipzig operation on 3rd-4th December 1943 in his 427 Squadron Halifax. After an engine fire Bill Cozens ordered all his crew to abandon aircraft, after which he skilfully crash landed near a Suffolk airfield — some feat, some nerve! Then, on 1st-2nd January 1944 Bill and his crew took off again on the same raid in which Len Gosney died. On return he had to make three attempts at landing, before his Halifax collided with high tension wires and tree tops. Before crash landing the wreckage caught fire. A farmer and his wife, Joe and Noel Mutimer, pulled three of the crew to safety, one dying later. Bill Cozens was injured in the crash, but took part soon after in yet another 427 Squadron raid. Flying Officer William Arthur Cozens lost his life later that month, on 21st January 1944, at the age of 20, but the details are not known. He was married, and came from Wimbledon.

A tall fellow, with a memorable dry humour, our British colleague Jack Kingwell, together with his 7 crew members (5 British, 1 Australian, 1 Canadian), were lost without trace on an operation to Leipzig, and names of all are inscribed on the Runnymede Memorial for aircrew with no known grave. Jack’s 514 Squadron Lancaster was lost on 20th February 1944, one of a massive loss of 82 aircraft and 574 aircrew on the same raid. Flight Lieutenant John Leonard Kingwell was 22, and came form Southgate, Middlesex.

Ronald Simmons was on a 10 Squadron raid on Essen, but was lost near Hotton, Belgium, with 4 members of his Halifax crew. 2 other crew members survived. Pilot Officer Ronald Alfred Simmons came from Upton Manor, in Essex. He was 26. Ronald’s plane was lost on 10th/11th March, but he may have died of injuries, as his date of death was over 2 weeks later, 27th March 1944.

Another British colleague, sandy haired Stan Neighbour, took part in a 156 Squadron raid on Schweinfurt, in which 35 aircraft were lost, with 245 aircrew. Pilot Officer Stanley William George Neighbour’s grave is at Schalbach.

Flight Lieutenant A. G. Jira was one of the Canadian flying instructors on our Yorkton, Saskatchewan, course. Clearly he was later posted to Britain, on operations, as his 433 Squadron Halifax was lost in a raid on Magdeburg, in which A. G. Jira and his 6 Canadian and British crew also died on 21st/22nd January 1944.

One of the very few Bomber Command lost aircraft documented which was not fatal to all crew members was the 626 Squadron Lancaster flown by our British colleague B. J. Grindrod. He was on a Wiesbaden operation, but must have crashed in France, as one crew member is buried at Abbeville. Flight Lieutenant B. J. Grindrod and 5 other crew members survived.

The last sad fatality of our group in the War was that of stocky, cheery Bob Southey, who I cannot remember without a smile on his face. Flight Lieutenant Robert Clifford John Southey, aged 21, was lost on a 271 Squadron mission, over the English Channel, on 28th April 1945. Bob came from Newbury, Berkshire, and as I was stationed nearby I was able to visit Bob’s parents to express my condolences.

Those members of Course No. 60 at Yorkton, Saskatchewan, who survived WW2, like the writer, will always recall the shared camaraderie, and will have memories of the lost colleagues, and sorrow for the long years denied to them. We salute them all, and their families.

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