Date:	Tuesday 9 December 1941
Time:	day
Type:	Fairey Battle Mk I
Owner/operator:	1 B&GS RCAF
Registration:	RCAF 1814
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	3 miles west of Fisherville, Ontario -   Canada
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RCAF Jarvis, Ontario
Destination airport:	RCAF Jarvis, Ontario

Narrative:
Fairey Battle RCAF 1814, 1 B&GS (Bombing & Gunnery School) RCAF Jarvis, Ontario; Written off (destroyed) 9 December 1941 when collided with another Fairey Battle of 1 B&GS (RCAF 1604) three miles west of Fisherville, Ontario. All three crew of Battle RCAF 1814 were killed:
Crew:
Leading Aircraftman Frederick George BARBER (1253026) RAF VR - killed on active service 9/12/1941, buried at Guelph (Woodlawn) Memorial Park, Ontario, Canada
Flying Officer Edwin Jackson BOUNDS (C/2990) RCAF (pilot) - killed on active service 9/12/1941, buried at Hickory Grove Cemetery, Laurel, Mississippi
Leading Aircraftman John Samuel Willis GRAY (R/70980) RCAF (Wilrelss Op/Air Gunner) - killed on active service 9/12/1941, buried at Hillcrest Cemetery, Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada

The other Fairey Battle involved in the collision (RCAF 1604) sustained damage to its port wing, but managed to land safely back at RCAF Jarvis, Ontario. According to a biography of one of the crew, LAC John Willis Gray:

"GRAY, JOHN SAMUEL WILLIS LAC (Wireless Op/Air Gunner) Service Number R/70980 – under training. From Weyburn, Saskatchewan. Killed Dec 9/41 age 20. With 1 Bombing and Gunnery School, Jarvis, Ontario. Fairey Battle aircraft 1814 and Fairey Battle 1604 were engaged in routine gunnery exercises and were flying at 1,700 feet when Battle 1814 crashed into Battle 1604. Battle 1814 crashed three miles north-west of Fisherville, Ontario. F/O E.J. Bounds and LAC F.G. Barber (RAF) were also killed, Battle 1604 landed safely. Leading Aircraftsman (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) Gray is buried in the Hillcrest Cemetery at Weyburn, Saskatchewan".

Fairey Battle RCAF 1814 was ex-RAF Battle P6492. Delivered to the RAF at 12 MU on 8 November 1939. No operational RAF service known. Transferred to 47 MU RAF Sealand, Flintshire, for packing and crating for overseas shipment on 1 November 1940. Transferred to RCAF charge 28 November 1940. Taken on charge by the RCAF on 8 January 1941. After the above accident, Struck Off RCAF Charge on 18 April 1942

1. The Battle File (Sidney Shail, Air Britain, 1997 p.172)
2. Royal Air Force Aircraft P1000-P9999 (James J Halley, Air Britain, 1979 p.37)
3. Saskatoon Star-Phoenix 10 December 1941, p18
4. http://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=57395
5. https://www.rcafassociation.ca/heritage/history/fallen-aviators/rcaf-casualties-second-world-war/glover-to-groulx/
6. http://www.rwrwalker.ca/RCAF_1800_1849_detailed.html .
7. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2686668/FREDERICK%20GEORGE%20BARBER/
8. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2719819/EDWIN%20JACKSON%20BOUNDS/
9. https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2850948/JOHN%20SAMUEL%20WILLIS%20GRAY/

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
24-Jan-2018 14:45	TB	Added
24-Oct-2020 23:01	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Registration, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative]
24-Oct-2020 23:02	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type]
25-Oct-2020 14:45	DB	Updated [Operator, Location, Narrative, Operator]
25-Oct-2020 20:15	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Source, Narrative]