Catalina (Canso) in Ucuelet ,1944
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Catalina (Canso) in Ucuelet ,1944
Does anybody have any information about this aircrew/aircraft in Ucluelet ? Pictured here with Consolidated Canso A aircraft 9752, “Shady Lady,” of No. 4 (BR) Squadron, RCAF. Ucluelet, British Columbia, May 21, 1944 ? Any info would be much appreciated ..message me or e mail olyvr80@hotmail.com
Re: Catalina (Canso) in Ucuelet ,1944
Nothing on your pic, but related to you post is that there is a good hike in Pacific Rim park just to the north of Ucluelet that takes you to the site of a crashed Canso. It's about a 30-40 minute hike in. There will be mud!! Crew walked away from it. Nearby is a circular pond created when the EOD crew detonated the bomb load later on (post crash) rather than hump all the bombs back to the road. Amazing that they all walked away when you see how it pancaked into the upslope of the hill and that the bombs didn't go off. Ask at the tourist center for exact directions or look online.
Re: Catalina (Canso) in Ucuelet ,1944
Squadron Daily Diaries shows Canso 9752 flying on May 19, 20 and 22, 1944 but not on the 21st.
All flights were with different crews so if the date is correct, the individuals in the photo would be hard to identify.
Maybe posing with "Shady Lady" that day because she was available at the time.
All flights were with different crews so if the date is correct, the individuals in the photo would be hard to identify.
Maybe posing with "Shady Lady" that day because she was available at the time.
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Son of a gunner
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Re: Catalina (Canso) in Ucuelet ,1944
Greetings to all,
I'm researching a nearly two month mission by Canso 9752 "Shady Lady" for the period from February 2nd to March 27, 1943 when it flew from Ucluelet to Vancouver then north to the Aleutian Islands accompanying a flight of 15 P-40 "Kittyhawks". This is the period when American and Canadian forces re-took Kiska and Attu from the Japanese. My father was a wireless operator/air gunner on this journey which was captained by a Squadron Leader Mitchell. An earlier flight of apparently unaccompanied P-40s lost a number of aircraft and pilots due to poor flying conditions and possibly travelling without a navigator. A navigator would have been part of the Canso crew. A flying boat would have provided the possibility of rescue if they went down in the sea.
I have my father's original logbook which names the stops along the way. Several books mentions some of the problems encountered during nearly one month it took to reach Kodiak Island.
Bob mentions that he accessed 4 BR Squadron's daily diary. I have not been able to locate this document and am hoping that he can help me find additional detail for the above mentioned period. Hopefully some more information can be added to the story.
Refs. "War on our Doorstep" by Brendan Coyle
""First Steps to Tokyo - The Royal Canadian Air Force in the Aleutians" by Fllying Officer D. F. Griffin
An interesting sidelight to the story is a Japanese bayonet that my father acquired sometime during or not long after this mission. I still have it.
He went on to serve with 160 BR flying the east coast out of RCAF Station Yarmouth, Nova Scotia before being sent overseas where he was killed on November 26, 1944 with ten other Canadian airmen when Sunderland DD-851 crashed soon after takeoff from RAF Station Alness/Invergordon, Scotland, on an anti u-boat patrol over the North Sea.
I'm researching a nearly two month mission by Canso 9752 "Shady Lady" for the period from February 2nd to March 27, 1943 when it flew from Ucluelet to Vancouver then north to the Aleutian Islands accompanying a flight of 15 P-40 "Kittyhawks". This is the period when American and Canadian forces re-took Kiska and Attu from the Japanese. My father was a wireless operator/air gunner on this journey which was captained by a Squadron Leader Mitchell. An earlier flight of apparently unaccompanied P-40s lost a number of aircraft and pilots due to poor flying conditions and possibly travelling without a navigator. A navigator would have been part of the Canso crew. A flying boat would have provided the possibility of rescue if they went down in the sea.
I have my father's original logbook which names the stops along the way. Several books mentions some of the problems encountered during nearly one month it took to reach Kodiak Island.
Bob mentions that he accessed 4 BR Squadron's daily diary. I have not been able to locate this document and am hoping that he can help me find additional detail for the above mentioned period. Hopefully some more information can be added to the story.
Refs. "War on our Doorstep" by Brendan Coyle
""First Steps to Tokyo - The Royal Canadian Air Force in the Aleutians" by Fllying Officer D. F. Griffin
An interesting sidelight to the story is a Japanese bayonet that my father acquired sometime during or not long after this mission. I still have it.
He went on to serve with 160 BR flying the east coast out of RCAF Station Yarmouth, Nova Scotia before being sent overseas where he was killed on November 26, 1944 with ten other Canadian airmen when Sunderland DD-851 crashed soon after takeoff from RAF Station Alness/Invergordon, Scotland, on an anti u-boat patrol over the North Sea.
