Sgt. Hubert John Burnham was probably dreaming of a warm beach in his homeland of Australia as he squeezed himself into the ice-cold cockpit of his Lockheed Ventura bomber aircraft on that chilly morning of February 8, 1943.
At the aggressive age of 19, Burnham was one of thousands of young pilots and aircrew members gathered from around the world to learn their new trade in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Burnham was described by his superiors at the No. 34 Operational Training Unit in Pennfield Ridge as an average student, "very keen and perhaps a little over-confident." He had more than 70 hours flying time in a Ventura.
It was still dark at 5:55 a.m. as the twin-engined Ventura bomber AJ211 swept down the runway at Pennfield Ridge1 and climbed into what was likely a foggy sky over the Bay of Fundy. According to weather records for Moncton on Feb. 8, 1943, the temperature was hovering at the freezing point and some snow fell later in the day.
Burnham, the pilot, was born in Worthing, England, on Sept. 5, 1923. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in Sydney on Oct. 11, 1941, a month after his 18th birthday. With him in the Ventura were Navigator Sgt. Philip Llewellyn Edmond, 27, of Adamstown, New South Wales, Australia; and Wireless Air Gunner, Sgt. John E. Hogan, 22, of Auckland, New Zealand.
Ventura AJ211 was one of five bombers in the day's exercise which all followed the same flight plan. It was described as a cross-country training exercise and all the planes were loaded with live training bombs which created a small explosion when dropped on target. They were to leave Pennfield and fly southeast across the Bay of Fundy and the southern tip of Nova Scotia to Bridgewater. From there, they would fly due north on a flight path that would take them over Sackville, Shediac and the Northumberland Strait to West Point, P.E.I. The next leg was southwest across central New Brunswick to Blissville, near Fredericton; then southeast across the Bay of Fundy again to Tusket, near Yarmouth, N.S., where they would drop their bombs on a training range before heading home to Pennfield. They were expected back at base by 8:40 a.m., making the total flight time a little over two and a half hours.
|
|
|
But somewhere along the line, possibly over the Moncton/Shediac area, something went wrong. The last radio contact with AJ211 was a broken communication at 6:27 a.m. What happened to Burnham, Edmond and Hogan over the last hour is unknown, but their fate is clear. At approximately 7:15 a.m., men fishing smelts along the Richibucto River looked on in horror as the Ventura bomber came out of the sky at a high rate of speed and then crashed into a boggy area approximately four miles northeast of Richibucto, just a quarter mile from the shoreline. The plane exploded into a huge ball of flame, lighting up the pre-dawn sky.
An RCMP search party found the plane within half an hour. It was completely destroyed. The crew had been thrown clear and killed instantly.
According to the crash report, the plane was nearly on course between West Point and Blissville, "which meant that the aircraft likely still had its payload aboard when it crashed, which also explained the large crater and the reason for the wreckage's heavy destruction."
The exact cause of the accident was not determined, but it was suspected that ice, snow and other weather-related factors contributed to the crash.
And so, these three young men were laid to rest far away from home -- Burnham and Edmond were buried in the Elmwood Cemetery in Moncton, Hogan was buried in St. Bernard's Roman Catholic Cemetery on Pleasant Street -- killed in a training crash before they the graduated and posted to a squadron overseas.
When Remembrance Day rolls around each year, our thoughts often turn to the soldiers, sailors and airmen who died in the service of their country in wars far removed from our peaceful homeland. But for pilots in training, peaceful Canada was a dangerous place to be during the Second World War.
Jason Gaudet, a New Brunswick historian who is writing a book about the Pennfield airfield during the Second World War, says his research indicates there more than 131 accidents2 at the station and more than 203 of those were fatal airplane crashes. Last year, he joined with veterans to unveil a monument4 to the 69 who died at the station.
Well-known aviation historian Don McClure5 of Shediac, citing various sources, says well over 1,000 young aircrew students died in training crashes during the war. Of those, 889 were with the Royal Air Force, 856 were Royal Canadian Air Force, 137 from the Royal Australian Air Force and 84 from the Royal New Zealand Air Force. In his book about the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada, author Spencer Dunsmore says training accidents in Canada accounted for more than 3,000 casualties during the five-year period. A daily diary of the No. 8 Service Flying Training School in Moncton shows 11 fatal training crashes over a three-year period. Those crashes occurred near the airport, at Lutes Mountain, Cocagne and Dawson Settlement. Most involved the Harvard, a single-engined, two-seat trainer that was the backbone of the training plan.
During the war, the air training program operated 107 training schools across Canada and graduated more than 130,000 students. McClure, who served as an instructor and was involved in a near-fatal crash himself, blames the high number of training crashes on the rush to get new aircrews overseas to do their part in the war effort.
"The training was too rushed," says McClure. "The pilots were going from Tiger Moth trainers to high-performance bombers too quickly."
McClure, who flew training missions out of Moncton and Chatham during the war, says they frequently had to go looking for planes from Pennfield that had gotten lost during training flights. Weather factors like fog, ice and snow were often associated crashes. But so was inexperience.
"There were a lot of landing accidents and mid-air collisions," he recalls. The story of the air training program is filled with incidents of stalling, spinning, flying too low and, smashing into trees or hillsides, getting lost and running out of fuel.
SOURCE: The Times & Transcript (Moncton, NB) - November 10, 2007.
Transcriber's Notes:
1 Ventura AJ211 actually took off from Yarmouth, NS. Course No.6 at No.34 OTU, Pennfield Ridge had been detached to No.34 OTU Detachment, Yarmouth on 16/17 January 1943 for armament training and returned back to Pennfield Ridge for graduation 10 February 1943.
2 There have been over one hundred and sixty-five (165) accidents and/or mishaps documented by "Pennfield Parish Military Historical Society
3 There were twenty-one (21) fatal airplane crashes at Pennfield Ridge which killed sixty-two (62) airmen and one (1) Royal Navy seaman (passenger aboard Ventura aircraft when it crashed). Also an additional four (4) airmen and one (1) US soldier were wounded in three (3) of those crashes.
4 There was a monument unveiled 24 September 2006 as a result of the hard work and dedication
of "The Charlotte County War Memorial Committee (2005)". However Jason Gaudet
was not a member of this committee. At the subsequent memorial service on 23
September 2007 a wooden memorial plaque was unveiled bearing the sixty-nine (69)
known training causalities from the Air Base. This plaque was contrived from work
of "The Pennfield Ridge Research Project" (Jason Gaudet) which was further explained in an e-mail from him dated 30 January 2009 in which he states: "My participation in the project was in terms of the historic
data, in particular the names of the training causalities." However the following errors and/or omissions occurred:
BARTS, Sgt. Roy Joseph and BATES, Sgt. Donald Stuart's names were reversed in the alphabetical listing; BURLEY, W/O1 Herbert Thomas Campbell and BURNHAM, Sgt. Hubert John (due to his surname being misspelled)
were reversed in the alphabetical listing; BURNHAM, Sgt. Pilot Hubert John Burnham was listed as BURHAM, Hubert John; CHRISTENSEN, P/O Carlyle George Christensen was listed as CHRISTENSEN, Caryle George; DAVIDSON, F/S William Gordon and DYASON, LAC William Henry's names were reversed in the alphabetical listing; FAULKNER, O/S Ronald Herbert's name was placed between WOODHAMS, Sgt. G.T.J. and YURKOWSKI, Sgt. J.S.' names almost like an afterthought. However O/S Faulkner's name should have been included in
the first "Honour Roll" listing. MALE, P/O Harold Otho was listed as MALE, Harold Otto; MULCAHY, Sgt. Cornelius Arthur Mulcahy was listed as MULCAHY, Arthur Cornelius; REYNOLDS, F/O Harold Charles Beresford and ROGERS, Sgt. Albert Ernest Edward' names were reversed in the alphabetical listing; SELF, Sgt. Keith Robert Self and SENCIALL, AC1 Frank Leslie's names were reversed in the alphabetical listing; and WHITE, F/L Albert Stanford White, DFC was listed as listed as WHITE, Albert Stanford.
5
Don McClure took off for his heavenly home on Saturday April 19, 2008 surrounded by his loving family. Enlisting in the RCAF in 1940, at the tender age of 17, his flying career spanned over
66 years and over 18,000 flying hours. Don won the Yorath Trophy, emblematic of excellence in flight school management an unprecedented sixteen times, but perhaps his greatest legacy has been his work in the Air Cadet League of
Canada where his guidance has been felt by literally thousands of young people across Canada. Don won many awards in his flying career including; The United States Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association Award "For the
Canadian who had contributed the most to the General Aviation in 1984". The Paul Tissander Diploma by the Federation Aeronautique International in Prague, Czechoslovakia, for "his contribution to aviation education in
Canada and throughout the world". The W.P. Paris Diploma "for his outstanding contribution to the flight training industry" The Distinguished Service Award, the RCAFA`s highest honor, "for his outstanding
contribution to Canadian Aviation". The Award of Excellence by the National Transportation Association of Canada and was made an Honorary Life Member of The Air Transport Association of Canada and the Air Cadet League of
Canada Certificate of Honor "in recognition of his outstanding service to the Air Cadet League". Don was made an Honorary Citizen of Moncton and in 1993 was awarded the Canadian Commemorative Medal :in recognition of his
contribution of Canadian Aviation". However, Don's greatest recognition was made in 2002 when he became the 179th Canadian to be inducted into Canada Aviation Hall of Fame and his citation read "His outstanding
dedication to the advancement of flight training coupled with his tireless efforts to teach and inspire the youth of Canada through the Air Cadet League have been of major benefit to Canadians." After retirement, Don
continued his efforts in the Aviation field and was appointed a member of the Civil Aviation Tribunal by the Gov. General of Canada. He also became very interested in the preservation of New Brunswick's aviation history and worked
tirelessly with the N.B. Chapter of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society and served five years as its president. Don was instrumental in creating the aviation historical gallery in the new terminal building at The Greater
Moncton International Airport, which in his honor, has been named "The Don McClure Aviation Historical Gallery."
Born in Moncton, NB he was blessed to be the child of Ivan Gerald McClure and Roma Belle McClure. He was
predeceased by his parents and his loving wife, Pauline (Rennison) in 1987 and leaves to mourn five loving children; Paula (Hans) Larsen, Lana (Al) O'Reilly, Michael (Carol) McClure, Nancy McClure (Mario Poulin) and Heather (Jim)
Anderson, 13 grandchildren; Terry, Tracy, Todd, Sherri, Angela, Sean, Robin, Donald, Colin, Aaron, Lacey, Brandon, Christian, 15 great grandchildren; Brennan, Kelsie, Julie, Noah, Lucas, Jessica, Cody, Skylar, Brady, Isabelle,
Daniel, Samantha, Trinity, Kyle and Dylan as well as his adored sister Connie. Also left to mourn, his very special companion Kay Taylor, and her loving family, who were part of Don's life and helped so much in contributing to his
happiness in the years after Pauline's death.
Resting at Fair Haven Funeral Home with visitation on Monday April 21, 2008 from 2 to 4 & 7 to 9 pm and Tuesday April 22, 2008 from 2 to 4 & 7 to 9 pm. Funeral service will be
held on Wednesday April 23, 2008 at the Wesleyan Church located at 945 St. George Blvd. at 2:00 pm with reception to follow. Interment in Fairhaven memorial Gardens cemetery followed by a celebration of Don, The Whip's, life at
the Air Force Veterans Club, 494 St. George Street. Arrangements entrusted with Fair Haven Funeral Home, 1177 Salisbury Road, Moncton. Memorial donations in Don's memory may be made to the Canadian Aviation
Historical Society (Turnbull Chapter), the Canadian Aviation Hall of Fame or a charity of the donor's choice.
"When you've flown enough years to have known much loneliness and many uncertainties, Why, then, you're a pilot and, on the walls of your memory are hung such frescoes as no other breed of man has ever seen and, because of
them, you can never grow too old or be too much afraid of what lies ahead." Don has flown his last flight. He now belongs to the ages.
SOURCE: Times & Transcript (Moncton, NB) - April 22, 2008.
Return to Pennfield Ridge Air Station Roll of Honour Page
Return to Pennfield Ridge Air Station Page
Return to Pennfield Home Page