Remembering World War II

Name: Allan Parker Cann Rank: Radio Operator Service Number: Civilian Service: Ferry Command, Royal Air Force Date of Birth: June 9, 1922 Place of Birth: Georges River, Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia Address at Enlistment: Jamaica Plain, Boston, Suffolk Co., Massachusetts Height: 6 feet, 1 inch Complexion: Light Hair Colour: Brown Eye Colour: Blue Date of Birth: December 19, 1943 Age: 21 Cemetery: Reykjavik (Fossvogur) Cemetery, Iceland Grave: C48, Grave 5 Commemorated on Page 609 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa December 26 and 27 Allan Parker Cann was the son of Everett Davis Cann (1874-1933) and Agnes Wilson (Caldwell) Cann (1878-1972), and the brother of Thelma Louise Cann (1900-1985), Hilda Margaret Cann (1901-1991), Evelyn Agnes Muir Cann (1905-1993), Lillian Cann (1908-1927), and Everett Allan Cann (1916-1919). Allan and his family moved to the United States in 1936, settling in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. He attended elementary and secondary school in Jamaica Plain. His yearbook notes his intention to served in the Merchant Marine and train at the Nautical Academy in Halifax, Nova Scotia. One of his 1940 yearbook pictures confirms he was on the school’s hockey team and the school drill officers. Allan Arrived in New York from Liverpool, England on April 20, 1942 aboard the Lista that had sailed from Bergen, Norway. He signed on at Liverpool, a discharged seaman. He was aboard RCAF FL914 flying from Accra, Africa to Miama, Florida arriving November 5, 1942, as a passenger, likely returning to North America from a previous eastbound Ferry Command flight. There are records throughout 1942 and 1943 of Cann serving as a passenger aboard multiple US bound flights, likely all Ferry Command work. These include US Army aircraft US120144 arriving October 10, 1942 in Miami, Florida from Natal, Brazil; US Army aircraft C47-7775 arriving April 25, 1943, again from Natal to Miami; US aircraft 42- 32936 arriving July 22, 1943, from Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico to Miami; flight FD948 arriving July 31, 1943, from Nassau in the British West Indies to Miami with RAF Ferry Command; Army Transport Command flight A.T.C. 627 arriving August 31, 1943, again from Borinquen to Miami, having embarked in Natal, Brazil; and three more flights from Nassau to Miami, on arrival on Oct. 6, 1943 (US Army 5197), Oct. 23, 1943 (US Army 2283), and Dec 3, 1943 – (US Army 5192). Radio Operator Allan Parker Cann was serving on B-25 Mitchell II aircraft FW165 flying from Dorval, Quebec (Canadian headquarters of the RAF’s Ferry Command) to Reykjavik, Iceland with the United Kingdom as its final destination in December 1943. He was killed in the crash of B-25 FW165 on December 19, 1943, with pilot William Verne Walker (civilian), age 26, and RCAF Flight Officer Melvin Henry Ramsay (navigator, Service No. J/9904), age 29. The B-25 spun into ground 2 miles northwest of Reykjavík, Iceland on single engine approach to the Reykjavík Airfield. All three casualties are interred at the Fossvogur Cemetery in Reykjavik.

Allan Parker Cann

Source: Canadian Virtual War Memorial findagrave

Allan Cann, centre with high school drill officers