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RCAF ansons at Patricia Bay Vancouver island


brewerjerry

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Hi All 

          A long shot just seen a video on you tube , the history of Pat Bay airfield 

   Nice wartime photos 

 

 

 

 

   In it are a couple of  photos of ansons ,with the RD code but using numbers for a/c I/d instead of letter I/d 

 

   i.e.  16- RD , 7-RD 

 

  Anyone have any info on a code/ serial tie up for the type of a/c code/serial combo 

    Cheers. 

      Jerry

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by brewerjerry
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59 minutes ago, tonyot said:

I think that code `RD' was associated with 32 Operational Training Unit,....

Try out this link;

http://www.rwrwalker.ca/RCAF_N1078_N5041_detailed.html

 

 

Hi. 

     Yeah I am slowly trawling thro that site but only finding codes like 

 

N1078  RD-H
N1107 RDJ 

 

So far , no codes like 

 

 16-RD or 7-RD 

 

  I fancy doing an Anson with this type of code I/d 

    Cheers. 

       Jerry

 

 

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I started an Anson project a few years back and never finished it. One of the subjects I considered was L7056, an Anson Mk I of 32 OTU that was lost on Vancouver Island in 1942 and was discovered by loggers in 2013. At the time of my search for a scheme, there was a profile circulating on the net for this aircraft with the code 2-OP that I later discovered was created by @Juanita Juanita Franzi as credited on page 3 of this article: https://www.cahs.com/uploads/1/2/4/8/124898761/observair_vol_52_no_1_-_web_edit.pdf

 

A colour version of the profile which I downloaded at the time was contained in an on-line article that I can no longer find but here is that profile:

 

2822dec100000578-3060832-image-a-8_14304

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Hi. 

    Many thanks for the info and link

 

 I didn't know the code of L7056 was     2-OP

    I wonder if it previously carried the codes 2-RD 

  ( I see the linked article doesn't show that. ) 

 

 I might consider this as an option, if I can't find any other serial/code tie ups for 32otu ansons

  I think an RD coded Anson would look nice next to a 32otu RD  Beaufort and a 32otu Hampden and maybe an Oxford

  mainly as I have RD code letters and more coming 

 

I wonder if I can find a timescale when OP codes were used by all the aircraft ? 

    Cheers 

      Jerry

 

 

 

 

Edited by brewerjerry
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According to this site the squadron codes for 32 OTU was RD from Sept 1941 to May 1942, then switched to OP. As for the colour scheme, I know there is an extant photo of the original L7056 in an all-yellow scheme and I don't know enough about if, how, and when the scheme shown in the profile emerged.

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I have contacted Carl Vincent, to see if he had any intel on 32 OTU Ansons, but alas, he doesn't. He did ask that I post this for him, as he thought it may be relevant.

 

1.            I fear that I could be of no assistance as far as 32 OTU Ansons are concerned but I thought that it might be interesting to post a few photos primarily to show the code letter variants.

 

2.         May I precede this with this caveat. The official allocation date of code letters may not be particularly relevant as to when that they were actually painted on the unit’s aircraft. A prime example of this is the code letters issued in September 1939. There is no photographic evidence whatsoever that they were ever applied to any aircraft before early 1940. I am, of course, susceptible to correction.

 

3.         BEAUFORT. This was the initial service equipment of the OTU and they bore the code letters RD from the beginning until, in April 1942, in common with all other RCAF units it was changed. In this case as the new letters were OP. By the time, in November 1942, that they had been transferred to 149 (BR) Squadron, the use of unit codes had been abandoned and the squadron’s Beauforts only had a single letter.

 

 

49363708061_c6227b5558_b.jpg

Lineup on 20 January 1942.

 

49358565511_b5b31fa7ca_b.jpg

Beaufort W6484 on 21 June 1942. (This is an interesting photo as it represents what is the sole operational RCAF Beaufort sortie. On the night of 20 June this was 32 OTU’s duty aircraft and was sent off in response to the shelling by a Japanese submarine of a lighthouse. It crashed, alas, on takeoff).

 

49358775937_8ddef926c3_b.jpg

Beaufort of 149 (BR) Squadron showing the single letter N.

 

50237134243_984fc9d67c_b.jpg

One of 32 OTU’s first Hampden accidents, June 1942.  

 

50237587071_05466a3b53_b.jpg

A torpedo drop by a Hampden carrying an example of the new code lettering.

 

 

50899153336_98414d6176_b.jpg

The first Oxfords appear in the unit records in April 1942 so they probably never carried anything but OP. This is the only photo I could locate – a fairly coarse zoom from a lineup photo.

 

While looking through some of the other photos Carl has sent to me prior to this, I did find this one of a Hampden, with an Anson parked behind it. Unfortunately, no code is visible.

 

50237134318_504aa681d6_b.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Chris, for Carl

 

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5 hours ago, dogsbody said:

.......

 

50899153336_98414d6176_b.jpg

......

Chris, for Carl

 

 Hi Chris/Carl 

                         Many thanks for the info and photos, it helps a lot 

    Great photo of the Oxford with the Hampdens. 

  Looks like I need to get some OP codes next 

      Cheers.  

         Jerry 

Edited by brewerjerry
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On 2/1/2021 at 7:37 PM, Finn said:

Hi Jari 

            Thanks for the links 

               Cheers.  

                  Jerry 

 

 

 

 

Edited by brewerjerry
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