Flying Accident - April 20, 1944

Flying Accident of De Havilland Mosquito Aircraft KB126 from RCAF Station Greenwood RAFVR Pilot Officer James Gerald Brown and RAFVR Flying Officer Hugh Edward McCann tragically lost their lives during a flight training exercise when their de Havilland Mosquito dh.98 KB126 crashed approximately 12 miles south- southeast of Bridgetown, Nova Scotia. Both airmen were serving with No. 36 Operational Training Unit (36 OTU), operating out of RCAF Station Greenwood. Originally formed in February 1942 in the United Kingdom, 36 OTU was relocated to Greenwood under No. 3 Training Command as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). Its primary mission was to train general reconnaissance crews, particularly for maritime operations. The unit operated a variety of aircraft, including the Lockheed Hudson (used extensively for reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare), the Avro Anson (employed for training support), and the Westland Lysander (used for drogue towing). Later, De Havilland Mosquitos operated from Greenwood. The BCATP saw trainees from Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, Ne Zealand, and included men from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Free France. Others came from Finland, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Argentina, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and Fiji. There were also recruits training from Trinidad, Jamaica, Barbados, and Guyana. This was not the first fatal Mosquito accident involving 36 OTU. On June 10, 1944, Mosquito KB163 was lost in the Bay of Fundy during a training flight. Both crew members, Sergeant Ronald Allen Fuller (RAFVR) and Flying Officer John Nelson McDowell (RCAF), were killed in the crash. There were also at least another 4 fatal crashes or accidents which flew from RCAF Stn. Greenwood earlier in 1944 with 10 casualties in total. An Airspeed Oxford (EB506) suffered engine failure after takeoff which led to a stall and crash with 4 casualties on January 18, 1944. Three other accidents of Mosquitos occurred on February 17, April 18, and April 20, 1944, with 2 crew lost in each incident. On the evening of August 19, 1944, RAFVR Pilot Officer James Gerald Brown and RAFVR Flying Officer Hugh Edward McCann were flying a night reconnaissance and searchlight training flight. practice. They died later that night on April 20, 1944, at 03:00 hours, in Dalhousie West, Annapolis County, NS, when their Mosquito crashed in the woods. The aircraft was later scrapped on site, which was common for Mosquito crashes due to their airframes being built of wood. James was interred in Middleton, Annapolis Co. and Hugh was interred in Kingston, Kings Co., NS. A memorial marks the site where the aircraft crashed. The site is part of the “Plane Crash Trail”. Name: James Gerald Brown Rank: Pilot Officer Service Number: 163982 Date of Birth: November 29, 1923 Place of Birth: Middleborough, North Yorkshire, England Marital Status: Single Age at Death: 20 Cemetery: Old Holy Trinity Anglican Church Cemetery, Middleton, Annapolis Co., NS Grave: Section 2, Grave 13 James Gerald Brown was the son of James Brown (1889-1936) and Martha Julia (Jordan) Brown (1896- 1941) of Mossley Hill, Liverpool, Lancashire, England, and the brother of Beryl Mary Brown (1920-2009), and John Malcolm Brown (1922-1923). His grave inscription reads, “AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM. LOVING MEMORIES, DAD, BERYL, MARION.” Name: Hugh Edward McCann Rank: Flying Officer Service Number: 149386 Date of Birth: June 28, 1923 Place of Birth: Liverpool, Merseyside, England Marital Status: Single Age at Death: 21 Cemetery: St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Cemetery, Kingston, Kings Co., NS Grave: Air Force Plot Hugh Edward McCann was the son of Hugh F. McCann (1897-1965) and Edith Annie (Pollard) McCann (1902-1976) of Aigburth in Liverpool, England. He was the brother of George McCann (1925-1943), Edward McCann (1927-2020), William McCann (1928- 2001) and John McCann (1930-1987). His family endured the loss of not one but two sons in service. Hugh’s brother, RAFVR Sergeant George McCann (Service No. 3010802), was killed on active service on August 7, 1945, and is interred at the Toxteth Park Cemetery in Liverpool, England. Hugh’s grave inscription reads, "OH, FOR THE TOUCH OF A VANISHED HAND AND THE SOUND OF A VOICE THAT IS STILL. R. I. P.”

Sources: Commonwealth War Graves Commission findagrave

Crash site