Stanley Edwin Steeden Leading Aircraftman R/218408 No 5 Bombing and Gunnery School Royal Canadian Air Force May 31, 1925 Colonsay, Saskatchewan June 14, 1943 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Colonsay, Saskatchewan 18 5 feet, 10½ inches Ruddy Hazel Black Single Farming Anglican William Thomas Steeden (Father) Colonsay, Saskatchewan May 24, 1944 18 Colonsay Cemetery, Saskatchewan, Canada

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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Leading Aircraftman Steeden trained in Brandon, Manitoba, Vancouver, British Columbia, and Winnipeg, Manitoba. On April 22, 1944 he was taken on strength at No 5 Bombing and Gunnery School at RCAF Dafoe, Saskatchewan. On the morning of May 24, Bolingbroke 9881, departed RCAF Dafoe for a routine camera gun exercise, with a crew of four. Pilot Officer Frederick Butcher, age 24, Warrant Officer Air Gunner William Mitchell, age 23, and Leading Aircraftsmen Stephen Newton, RAF, age 2, Stanley Steeden, age 18, and Howard Rolls, RCAF age 26. The crew completed their camera gun exercise at approximately 9:00 am and were returning to No 5 Bombing and Gunnery School. About six miles south-west of the airfield, the aircraft was observed climbing and diving as well as banking steeply to the left and the right. The aircraft’s right wing suddenly dipped and the plane fell into a spin from an altitude of approximately 4 to 5 thousand feet. During the spin the engines sputtered and then quit. A couple of hundred feet above the ground the aircraft ceased spinning and dove straight into the ground at a high rate of speed. All aboard were killed on impact.