On Thursday, July 29, 2021 the ‘Antiques Road Trippers’, a branch of the YARA Seniors’ Happy Gang Walking Group, took another of their now famous road trips, the second this summer.
Present were Roy Champion — who answered crop-science questions; Jim Williams, responsible for muffins; Dale MacBain, honoured guest, and driver Richard Dowson.
The purpose of this trip was to visit a site near St. Boswell’s where RCAF AVRO Anson aircraft #7431 crashed on August 24, 1943, followed by lunch and a tour of the Cathedral in Gravelbourg.
The fatal crash of Anson 7431 took the lives of two of the four men on board. Killed were:
- 30-year-old Sergeant Pilot Bertram (Bertie) George Warren, son of John George and Alice L. Warren of Lucky Lake, Saskatchewan and husband of Jean Grace Warren of Lucky Lake
- LAC Thomas Millard, Service Number R/183105, Age 18, son of Thomas and Pauline Millard of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
- Sergeant Pilot Bertie Warren, who was the uncle, by marriage, of former Moose Jaw Mayor Dale MacBain.
First Stop
First stop on the drive out of Moose Jaw was a short tour of Coderre, and I mean short. Then another quick tour of Shamrock, the home of Saskatchewan writer Robert Collins (Butter Down the Well) and then on to Hodgeville for a muffin stop, followed by a potty-break at the Co-op store. The young clerk at the Co-op was most tolerant of all idiotic questions.
The Crash Site Location – Bill Golding of Moose Jaw
The Location is: 49degrees 57 min 44.82” N and 106degrees 51’54.31” W at an elevation 2312 feet. All that is left of the house is a foundation covered with Caragana bushes.
Mr. Bill Golding, RCAF (Retired) of Moose Jaw identified the RCAF AVRO Anson site in 2013 after a couple of failed attempts by myself. The directions in the news article were correct but getting there was another thing. Bill sorted it out and we visited the site in September 2013.
On that trip I wondered, [in conversation with] Bill, why all the farmers in the RM of Glen Bain drove the same tractors. He pointed out that I had been driving in a circle and it was the same tractor.
On the July 29, 2021 trip to the site nothing was straight forward. I got lost again. A sympathetic farmer pointed me in the right direction.
Bill Golding volunteered at the Western Development Museum for years and knows aircraft. He discovered that parts of an Anson, like the one that crashed, were on a farm in the area. It was not determined if the parts were from the Avro Anson Mk. II 7431 aircraft that crashed in August 1943. Bill said the parts were sold and sent to Australia.
August 24, 1943 Anson Crash
RCAF records for AVRO Anson Mrk II, s/n 7431 show it as assigned to No. 8 Bombing & Gunnery School at Lethbridge. This is incorrect, but it may have been on loan to No. 2 B and G at Mossbank.
The three boys in the Anson with Sergeant Pilot Bertie Warren were on a six week Bomb Aimer course at No. 2 Bombing and Gunnery School at Mossbank. On the day of the crash they had been out over Old Wives Lake dropping Practice Bombs from the Anson. These ‘dummy’ booms gave off smoke when they hit. At night they made a flash.
Following bombing practice, at about 4:45 p.m., the Anson had flown west about 25 miles to six miles south and a little west of Saint Boswell’s. The flight would take them back to the base at Mossbank well south of Old Wives Lake.
People in the area still debate why the Anson was flying low in the area when it clipped the chimney of the William and Dorothea Karius Family, St. Boswell’s home.
The Karius family had twin, 18-year-old daughters, Hilda and Anna, and this may have been a factor in the aircraft buzzing the farm house.
At the time of the crash only the youngest daughter, 11-year-old Donalda Margrete was home. She was uninjured and later moved to Swift Current where she married Richard Rees.
The area was prone to flooding. As noted in the community history book: “Notuken Creek runs through the land and a flood was common each spring, completely isolating the buildings. There was no telephone, but dry wood and coal and a good supply of food held the family survive.
“One time the water did not recede for longer than usual, and Bill Fehler swam his horse in to see if the family was all right.”
Reference: The 1988 Glen Bain Historical Society book, Whispering Winds of Yesterday.
The Moose Jaw Times Herald article provides the best description of the crash.
Moose Jaw Time Herald, Saturday, August 28, 1943
“Two Airmen Killed, Two Others Hurt When Plane Strikes House Chimney
“Sergeant Bertram G. Warren of Lucky Lake, Saskatchewan and Aircraftman Two, Thomas Millard, Yarmouth, Nova Scotia were killed in a plane crash Tuesday afternoon (August 24, 1943), near St. Boswells, Saskatchewan, and two other airmen, injured in the crash, are now recovering at the military hospital at No. 2 Bombing and Gunnery School, R.C.A.F., Mossbank, Royal Canadian Air Force officials announced.
“Sergeant Warren was buried Saturday afternoon at Lucky Lake, and the body of AC2 Millard was sent to Yarmouth, N.S., and will be buried next Thursday.
“The bomber that crashed was on a routine flight and about 4:45 o’clock Tuesday afternoon struck the chimney of the farm home of William Karius, six miles south and one mile west of St. Boswells. Donald Karius, eleven years old, was alone in the house at the time.
“After striking the chimney the plane went down and skidded several rods, somersaulted and then rested upside down on the creek bank.
“Neighbors who had seen the machine crash hurried to the scene and one of them, Michael Busch, handed a knife to one of the men inside so that he could cut his way out. Bill Feller, extinguished flames that started burning up the parachute on the back of one of the men.
“First aid was given the injured airmen until Squadron Leader Williams arrived to take charge. The two injured fliers were taken to Mossbank about ten o’clock Tuesday night, and the two bodies were removed from the plane.
“By Thursday night the investigation was concluded and the wreckage of the plane cleared away.”
Cause of the Crash
The cause was “deliberate and unauthorized low flying” to buzz a farmhouse.
Leading Aircraftman Thomas Millard, Service Number R/183105, Age 18, of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, was killed when RCAF Avro Anson - Serial No. 7431 crashed on Thursday, August 24th, 1943 at St Boswells, Saskatchewan. He was the son of Thomas and Pauline Millard, of Yarmouth. Thomas enlisted in the RCAF on October 15, 1942 at Halifax after completing his first year of Engineering studies at Acadia University. He was only 17 at the time of enlistment.
Reference: Remembering World War II - Yarmouth Casualties (wartimeheritage.com)
Gravelbourg Visit
From the crash site the ‘Relics’ travelled on to Gravelbourg for a late lunch, followed by a tour of the massive cathedral. Then it was a drive up through Mossbank – cross country and home.
In Memory
The road trip was dedicated to the memory of Roger Butterfield and Wayne Proudlove, two YARA Happy Gang Moose Jaw members lost in 2021.
