1952 Air Force Day

[FSS]

In 1952 Air Force Day at Saskatoon, #406 Auxiliary Squadron christened 7 Mitchell bombers. One was called "Hartney's Fighting Spirit", a tribute to Saskatoon pilot Harold Hartney who was decorated with a Purple Heart and a Distinquished Service Cross. Any idea how to go about finding out what happened to this aircraft? Where to look? Thank you.

[Moose47]

G'day

I could not match up the aircraft named after the First World War R.F.C. / U.S.A.A.S. ace.

Here is a list of all the Mitchells that flew with No. 406 'City of Saskatoon' (LB) Squadron (Auxiliary).

Mitchell Mk. II
s/n KL144, coded AH*M

Mitchell Mk. 2BT
s/n FW237

Mitchell Mk. 2LB
s/n FW251
s/n FW260
s/n HD320, coded AH*T
s/n HD331, coded XK*331, nicknamed 'Saskatoon Sassy'
s/n HD335
s/n HD340, coded AH*X
s/n HD334 coded XK*344 and nicknamed ‘Gabriel Dumont’

Mitchell Mk. 2PT
s/n KL150

Mitchell Mk. 3AIA
s/n 5242, coded XK*242, nicknamed “Rider of the Plains”

Mitchell Mk. 3LB
s/n 5259, coded XK*259, nicknamed “The Moose”
s/n 5260
s/n 5266, coded XK*266, nicknamed "Tiger Lily"
s/n 5267
s/n KJ641
s/n KL149

Mitchell Mk. 3PT
s/n 5203
s/n 5239
s/n 5242
s/n 5244

Extracted from the Saskatoon StarPhoenix -
"Moose, a lumberjack and gold prospector, was the first commanding officer of Saskatoon's 406 squadron for night missions in the Second World War. Moose was a flying ace."

Moose was not the first commanding officer of No. 406 (NF) Squadron. It was Wing Commander D. G. Norris DFC, Royal Air Force. Moose became the first Canadian commanding officer of the squadron on the 25th of August, 1943.

Cheers...Chris

[Tom H]

Moose47

Where do you get this vast reservoir of information?

The reason I ask is my father flew with 406 in Saskatoon and I never seem to be able to find as detailed information as you do.

Gonna hafta start beating on my curator, but would prefer to do it myself (lol)

Tom

[FSS]

Thanks Moose47. I got my information from the Starphoenix, an article on Margaret Vavra, who drew the cartoon "Sassy", which was named to one of the aircraft. The article mentions one aircraft called "Fort a la Corne", one "Chief Thunderchild", one the "The Moose", one "Saskatoon Sassy", and one called "Hartney's Fighting Spirit". There is a small town in south western Manitoba called Hartney after his father James Hartney who settled there in 1881. So, that's all the info I have and where I got it. Apparently there are two more bombers whose name they didn't mention. By the way, Margaret just turned 90!

[Beefitarian]

Here's an article about World War One aces that includes a comic with a short story on Hartney.

http://acepilots.com/wwi/us_luke.html

If someone can finda picture of the plane you might be able to see it's number. Then Moose47 will probably find info on it.

[Moose47]

G`day FSS

Saskatoon Sassy was lost in the late evening on the 12th of August, 1954 during a trip from Regina back to R.C.A.F. Station Saskatoon. The Mitchell was turned to port after encountering a severe hailstorm but sadly crashed at Simpson, Saskatchewan. It was speculated that the Mitchell may have been struck by lightning. The crash left a 20 foot deep crater

The crew were:
Pilot - Squadron Leader Neville Barson DFC, CD
Co-Pilot - Flying Officer Frank Isaac Klassen
Radio Officer - Flying Officer Victor John, Loewen

Squadron Leader Barson is an interesting character. He was an Aussie from Broken Hill, Northern Territory that trained at No. 4 Service Flying Training School (Avro Ansons and Cessna Cranes) at Saskatoon during the war. He served in Canada and overseas. Neville left the Royal Australian Air Force post-war and emigrated to to Canada (Saskatoon), where he married Mary Thorburn. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on the 30th of June, 1949.

Cheers...Chris

[fleet16b]

From my collection (:

[FSS]

That Frank Luke was some character, wild man. Where is this Hall of Fame that Hartney was inducted to? A few years ago in a aviation museum in Phoenix, there was a picture and a write up of a Canadian who had gone down there during WW2 and trained a bunch of pilots. I think the name was Atkinson or something. It's too bad that the states honours our heros and no one here knows anything about them, or at least I haven't. Hartney was well decorated and was involved in a lot of stuff after the war, writing books, etc. Thanks guys for the help. Sure would like to know what happened to the Hartney's Fighting Spirit, probably busted up for scrap like a lot of others. Stories tell of a bunch of Tiger Moths that were bulldozed into a pit at the Neepawa Manitoba airport after the war. Sad.

[406historian]

Hopefully some of you are still on this forum. I'm the current 406 Squadron Historian, and I'm currently going through and cataloging our archives, most of which have been stored away for decades, with no proper recording of information. I have just come across a photo of Hartney's Fighting Spirit, B-25, with four aircrew standing in front. I'll get the photo scanned, and post on here as soon as I can.

[Moose47]

G'day 406Historian

Can you send me a PM at: ccharlandATcogecoDOTca

Cheers...Chris

[fleet16b]

From my personal collection and archive
This is an original almost new condition RCAF hard board poster approx 3' x 2'

[kemm]

I came across this picture of my father in front of Hartney's Fighting Spirit.