Aircraft History
Built by Consolidated. USAAF serial number 44-10673. Delivered to the RAF as Liberator B.VI with serial number KH-108 on August 9, 1944. Transferred to the RCAF and assigned to 5 OTU to the Abbotsford Detachment based at Abbotsford Airfield. Assigned squadron code "AT".

Mission History
The entire crew were members of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR). Took off on November 9th from Abbotsford Airfield on a night navigation mission. At approximately 3:30am crashed into a mountain near Flora Lake on Vancouver Island. The entire crew was killed in the crash.

Wreckage
The crash site was not found until almost a year after the mission. During 2005, the wreckage included an engines, propeller, main landing gear, tail fin and fuel tank plus other scattered wreckage.

Ron Mills visited the crash site in 2005:
"I am logging near KH-108, and found out about it through my work mates. It took a lot of investigating to get any info on it. A very moving experience to visit, and soon the grave marker will be replaced."

Memorials
The entire crew was declared dead on November 10, 1944. All are memorialized on the Ottawa Memorial. Brown, Cooke, Morganstein and Kingdon on panel 3, column 2. Hafford, MacDonald, May, Westwater and Helper on panel 3 column 3. At the crash site, a memorial plaque and grave marker were erected at the crash site.

References
AviationSafety.net - accident 11-Nov 1944 B-24 Liberator
SEAC Liberator Bombers page 8, 30

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Last Updated
March 5, 2013

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