November 20, 1942, crash near RCAF Station Yarmouth 34 Operational Training Unit (34 OTU) based at Pennfield Ridge Aircraft: Lockheed Ventura AE932 Crashed at Caledonia, Nova Scotia with the loss of the following 3 men: Harold Otho Male Rank: Pilot Officer (Pilot on the flight) Service No.: 188825 Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Date of Birth: October 5, 1919 Place of Birth: Stourbridge, England Age at Death: 23 Cemetery: Yarmouth Mountain Cemetery Grave: Lot 1. Section A.K., Grave 2 Harold was the son of Mr. Harry (1881-1944) and Mrs. Ethel Mary (Briggs) Male (1877-1963), of Wollaston, on the outskirts of Stourbridge, Worcestershire (now in the West Midlands), England. Harold had a sister Madelaide Ethel Male (1907-2000). Thomas Frederick Sargeant Rank: Aircraftman 1st Class (Flight Mechanic – Engines, on the flight) Service No.: 1125256 Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Date of Birth: October 7, 1914 Place of Birth: Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England Age at Death: 28 Cemetery: Yarmouth Mountain Cemetery Grave: Lot 1, Section A.K., Grave 1 Thomas was the son of Thomas Arthur and Ellen (Lehan) Sargeant (1891-1965), of Middlesbrough, in Yorkshire, England. He had one brother Arthur (1916-1982), and five sisters; Gwendoline, Doris, Ivy, Ellen and Joan. Stanley Evan Sutherland Rank: Pilot Officer (Wireless Operator/ Air Gunner on the flight) Service No.: J/15455 Service: Royal Canadian Air Force Date of Birth: January 8, 1921 Place of Birth: Brookfield, Colchester, NS Age at Death: 21 Cemetery: Brookfield Cemetery, Nova Scotia Grave: Plot 3, Row 3 Stanley was the son of George R. Sutherland (1890-1977) and Carletta Ellis Sutherland (1891-1990), of Brookfield; and husband of Gwendolyn ‘Gwen’ Mildred (Carter) Sutherland (1920-2003), of Brookfield. Stanley had one brother – Charles Kent Sutherland (1928-1997). Charles married the widow of another Nova Scotian WWII casualty – Trooper Merle Vincent Hamilton (1919-1945), Service No. F/56567, who died April 19, 1945 and is interred at the Holten Canadian War Cemetery. He served with the 12th Manitoba Dragoons, Royal Cdn Armoured Corps. The incident: Ventura II AE932 was attached to No. 34 OTU Pennfield Ridge in New Brunswick. Two passengers were dropped at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (Flight Lieutenant Charles S. Turner (Service No. C/2144) and Corporal Hubley). The flight was then to go on to Yarmouth, NS. The fatal flight was en route from Dartmouth to RCAF Station Yarmouth when it crashed 4 miles north-east of Caledonia, Queens, County, Nova Scotia at 2130 hours. The plane was carrying hydraulic oil from Dartmouth to Yarmouth. At the time of take-off there was a ceiling of 500 ft. with a visibility of 3 to 4 miles and raining moderately. At the time of crash there was drizzle rain and low clouds and a visibility of 4 to 5 miles. P.O. Male, the pilot, was detailed to fly Ventura aircraft AE932 to Dartmouth and collect certain freight. P.O. Sutherland was wireless operator. Three passengers also made the trip to Dartmouth. The Aircraft arrived at Dartmouth at 1640 hrs. Two of the passengers remained there and at 1740 hrs. the aircraft took off on its return journey. Messages were received from the aircraft at 1803 hrs. and 1823 hrs. The last message was to the effect that the pilot had nothing to communicate. No difficulty whatsoever was had in exchanging signals with the aircraft. At 1828 hrs. the signals officer at base called the aircraft to tell the pilot he had a message for him, there was no reply. At 1830 hrs. the signals officer asked pilot for his estimated time of arrival and received no acknowledgement, and calls were continued until 1940 hrs., but with no reply. Then word came that the aircraft had crashed. Residents of the districts of Westfield and Caledonia in Queens Co., NS heard the aircraft at about 1820 hrs. as it flew in a south westerly direction. About 3 minutes later the aircraft was heard circling from the south east to north east; then at about 1825 hrs. the sound of the engines ceased and within a minute there was a large flash of light followed by a loud explosion. The aircraft was totally destroyed, and the occupants were killed instantaneously. An examination of the wreckage by the O.T.C. disclosed that the aircraft was in a steep left-hand turn and losing height when it struck the top of the trees. That the aircraft was approaching the ground at an angle of 45°. Circling at a low altitude in conditions of poor visibility, the aircraft struck trees with the port wing tip and crashed. There were no indications of structural failures in flight. The C.T.C. further stated: "The aircraft was so badly wrecked and scattered that it was impossible to make any observations on the instruments, flying controls, engine controls or fuel tanks."