On Sunday morning, 15 Sept 1946, RCAF Douglas Dakota III (#962) transport aircraft crashed at Estevan Airport, in Saskatchewan, with the loss of 21 RCAF personnel; all airmen had served honourably during the Second World War, many of them having been decorated for their war-time acts of valour. The Dakota was engaged in ferrying airmen from Fargo, North Dakota to Estevan, Saskatchewan. The airmen had ferried Fairchild PT-19 Cornell planes to Fargo and were returning for another series of ferry flights. One of those airmen, passenger F/L Louis ('Lew') Eric John MURPHY DFC, was a casualty of this tragic accident.
The twenty-one casualties of this tragic accident were-
Flight Lieutenant Henry Hugh COWAN DFC,
Flight Lieutenant Joseph Alphonse Camille BOUCHARD DFC,
Flying Officer Raymond Avard BRANDSER,
Flight Lieutenant Clifford Somerville COPPIN,
Flight Lieutenant Maurice Crosby CUTHBERT,
Flight Lieutenant William Murdoch JACKSON,
Flight Lieutenant James Pyle JESSEE DFC,
Flying Officer Ned JORDAN DFC,
Leading Aircraftman Vitantos Luke KIRKO,
Flight Lieutenant Lawrence Victor KIRSCH DFC,
Flight Lieutenant James Stewart LEES DFC,
Flying Officer Robert James McINTYRE,
Flight Lieutenant Robert Cowan McROBERTS DFC,
Flight Lieutenant Louis Eric John MURPHY DFC,
Flying Officer William Albert PERRY,
Flight Lieutenant Charles Stanley Wright PROCTOR DFC,
Flight Lieutenant Edward Chester STEWART DFC,
Flight Lieutenant Leonard Edgar TURTLE and
Flight Lieutenant William Jacob Louis WEICKER DFC & BAR.
From the Canadian Virtual War Memorial-
Military Service:-
Rank: Flight Lieutenant
Trade: Pilot
Service Number: J/20191
Age: 23
Force: Air Force
Unit: Royal Canadian Air Force
Division: 427 Squadron
Honours and Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross
Single, a student, residing at McGregor Lake in Quebec, Canada, he enlisted in the RCAF on 27 August 1941 in Ottawa, Ontario.
Son of S/L Ernest Eric and Edith Gladys Victoria (née Ranson) Murphy of Britannia Heights, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada [father born in Cardiff, Wales; mother born in Cambridge, England].
He was the father of twin daughters born during the June Quarter of 1946 in Yorkshire, England.
Flight Lieutenant Louis Eric John Murphy is commemorated on Page 588 of Canada's Second World War Book of Remembrance.
He is also commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
*In 2021, on the 75th Anniversary of this RCAF tragedy a memorial service was held at RCAF 15 Wing in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan: Lester Hinzman's wooden sculpture, honouring the 21 airmen was unveiled; and Marie Donais Calder's book, "Together Forever, In the Clouds" [Commemorating the RCAF Air Disaster of September 15, 1946 in Estevan, Saskatchewan] was highlighted.*
On Sunday morning, 15 Sept 1946, RCAF Douglas Dakota III (#962) transport aircraft crashed at Estevan Airport, in Saskatchewan, with the loss of 21 RCAF personnel; all airmen had served honourably during the Second World War, many of them having been decorated for their war-time acts of valour. The Dakota was engaged in ferrying airmen from Fargo, North Dakota to Estevan, Saskatchewan. The airmen had ferried Fairchild PT-19 Cornell planes to Fargo and were returning for another series of ferry flights. One of those airmen, passenger F/L Louis ('Lew') Eric John MURPHY DFC, was a casualty of this tragic accident.
The twenty-one casualties of this tragic accident were-
Flight Lieutenant Henry Hugh COWAN DFC,
Flight Lieutenant Joseph Alphonse Camille BOUCHARD DFC,
Flying Officer Raymond Avard BRANDSER,
Flight Lieutenant Clifford Somerville COPPIN,
Flight Lieutenant Maurice Crosby CUTHBERT,
Flight Lieutenant William Murdoch JACKSON,
Flight Lieutenant James Pyle JESSEE DFC,
Flying Officer Ned JORDAN DFC,
Leading Aircraftman Vitantos Luke KIRKO,
Flight Lieutenant Lawrence Victor KIRSCH DFC,
Flight Lieutenant James Stewart LEES DFC,
Flying Officer Robert James McINTYRE,
Flight Lieutenant Robert Cowan McROBERTS DFC,
Flight Lieutenant Louis Eric John MURPHY DFC,
Flying Officer William Albert PERRY,
Flight Lieutenant Charles Stanley Wright PROCTOR DFC,
Flight Lieutenant Edward Chester STEWART DFC,
Flight Lieutenant Leonard Edgar TURTLE and
Flight Lieutenant William Jacob Louis WEICKER DFC & BAR.
From the Canadian Virtual War Memorial-
Military Service:-
Rank: Flight Lieutenant
Trade: Pilot
Service Number: J/20191
Age: 23
Force: Air Force
Unit: Royal Canadian Air Force
Division: 427 Squadron
Honours and Awards: Distinguished Flying Cross
Single, a student, residing at McGregor Lake in Quebec, Canada, he enlisted in the RCAF on 27 August 1941 in Ottawa, Ontario.
Son of S/L Ernest Eric and Edith Gladys Victoria (née Ranson) Murphy of Britannia Heights, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada [father born in Cardiff, Wales; mother born in Cambridge, England].
He was the father of twin daughters born during the June Quarter of 1946 in Yorkshire, England.
Flight Lieutenant Louis Eric John Murphy is commemorated on Page 588 of Canada's Second World War Book of Remembrance.
He is also commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
*In 2021, on the 75th Anniversary of this RCAF tragedy a memorial service was held at RCAF 15 Wing in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan: Lester Hinzman's wooden sculpture, honouring the 21 airmen was unveiled; and Marie Donais Calder's book, "Together Forever, In the Clouds" [Commemorating the RCAF Air Disaster of September 15, 1946 in Estevan, Saskatchewan] was highlighted.*
Inscription
MURPHY
F/L LOUIS E. J. MURPHY D.F.C.
R. C. A. F.
BORN IN MOBBERLEY
ENGLAND AUG. 22, 1923
KILLED IN AIR CRASH AT
ESTEVAN, SASK. SEPT. 15, 1946.
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