Curtiss JN-4 Crash - Oshawa, Ontario, Canada 28 April 1918

[force136]

J Hill provided us with an excellent overview of RFC Canada (below) and I have been asking a few questions on here having just begun to collect

a niche of Royal Flying Corps so I thought I would post this photo in thanks. I believe this aircraft JN-4 was from Borden and crashed into the power lines on, I believe Simcoe Street & Bond Street area in Oshawa (about 30+ km from Toronto). My family used to own a candy store on Simcoe up until the end of 1917. We then bought a dance hall and cottages at the lake. My grandmother sold these postcards from her tea stand at the lake....They say both pilot and passenger only had minor injuries and were able to crawl out of the plane and on to the roof of the building. 

 

>>>>From S.F. Wise Canadian Airmen and the First World War, I gather the following:

Royal Flying Corps (Canada), later Royal Air Force (Canada)

formed early in 1917. There were to be twenty training

squadrons, known as 78 to 97 (Canadian) Reserve Squadrons,

which in June 1917 were redesignated as Canadian Training

Squadrons (CTS). Eventually they were all located in Southern

Ontario, with the exception of those moved temporarily to Fort

Worth, Texas over the winter of 1917 - 1918.

While waiting for nucleus flights to arrive from England, a

unit called 'X' Squadron began flying at Long Branch in February

1917.

79 Squadron began flying at Camp Borden in March 1917. By 10

April Squadrons 78 to 82 were flying there.

In May 'X' Squadron moved to Camp Rathbun, to be joined there

by the new 86 Squadron, while 83, 84, and 87 were at Camp

Mohawk.

By early July Long Branch hosted 'Y' Squadron as well as 88,

89, and 90 Squadrons, previously formed at Deseronto, and 91

Squadron.

In October, 1917, the structure was this:

42 (BORDEN) Wing

No 78 CTS

No 79 CTS

No 81 CTS

No 82 CTS

School of Aerial Gunnery

43 (DESERONTO) Wing

No 80 CTS

No 83 CTS

No 84 CTS

No 85 CTS

No 86 CTS

No 87 CTS

44 (NORTH TORONTO) Wing

No 88 CTS

No 89 CTS

No 90 CTS

No 91 CTS

No 92 CTS

In the spring of 1918 42 Wing moved from Camp Borden to

Deseronto and 44 Wing from North Toronto to Camp Borden.

Between November 1917 and April 1918 42 and 43 Wings were at

Fort Worth Texas. The complex was known as Camp Taliaferro,

with three aerodromes, Hicks, Everman, and Benbrook Fields.

Also under RFC/RAF (Canada) were the 17th, 22nd,27th,28th, and

139th Aero Squadrons, although as the arrangement was a

delicate one I don't know how it stood on official documents.

I hope I have transcribed these accurately.

[mickdavis]

C526            JN4 Hybrid. 91 CTS by 27.3.1918 (Cdt J.E. Berry) and wrecked 22.4.1918 (Cdt Weiss OK, landed on roof of Dominion Bank Building, Oshawa, Ontario).

[force136]

Thanks Mick - Great info. 

[observer]

A second postcard version of this aircrash appeared in "American Heritage Magazine" april/May 1979 in section "readers Album" entitled "Nose Job" only this showed the plane wreck from the side and back (not the front), At least the fate of the pilot and passenger are known

[force136]

Thanks observer

Obviously the photo I posted above is reversed. The writing on the negative goes one way while the image goes another. 

Here is the same photo flipped properly.