A Second War Birks Bar to Flying Officer John Lockwood McKinnon RCAF, Killed as the Result of a Flying Accident Canada; Sterling silver, officially engraved (F/O J.L. MCKINNON / R.C.A.F. / DIED IN HIS COUNTRY'S SERVICE / 2 MAY 1944), 67 mm (w) x 14.5 mm (h), in its card of issue, very light contact, near extremely fine. Accompanied by a letter of instruction from the Minister of Veteran Affairs, Hugues Lapointe (1950-1957), the bar and letter in their original envelope, the embossed Canadian coat-of-arms on both the letter and envelope.
Footnote: John McKinnon was born on November 16, 1923 in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), Ontario, the son of William Archibald McKinnon and Mary Helen (nee Street) McKinnon. He was a college student when he enlisted for service with the Royal Canadian Air Force on April 24, 1942 at Port Arthur. After basic training in Canada he was awarded his pilots' flying badge and also a commission on June 25, 1943. McKinnon was posted to the United KIngdom the following month and trained at No. 6 Pilot-Advanced Flying Unit (6 (P)AFU), No. 1517 Beam Approach Training (1517 BAT Flight) and No. 82 Operational Training Unit (82 OTU), before being posted to No. 1659 Heavy Conversion Unit (1659 HCU) on April 17, 1944. During the afternoon of the May 2, 1944 at Topcliffe Airfield, the crew of seven of this No. 1659 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft, a Halifax BB247, were undertaking training, which included six members of the Royal Canadian Air Force and one member of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. There was a noticeable gusty wind at the time. At 14:00 hrs, they had initially taken off from Topcliffe, to begin a dual instruction short local flying exercise with Flying Officer John Towse RCAF (J/17133) so that the instructor could assess them, but also so that he could check that the wind was not too strong for them to then practice three engine flying. The wind was too gusty for the three engine flying at the height the aircraft was to be flying so they made a brief circuit of the airfield and landed. Prior to leaving the aircraft the instructor informed the trainee crew to then commence a local flying exercise to take in beam flying training, three engine flying (above 3,000 feet, where the wind would not be an issue) and a general local flying exercise. Across the runway in use at Topcliffe, there was a noticable cross wind but this was not excessive. Minus the flying instructor the aircraft began to take off at 14:18 hrs. It was seen to make a normal run down the runway, to the point it left the ground. It then began to increase the angle of climb to around 90 feet and climbed sharply to around 400 feet off the ground, the airspeed then decreased, it then stalled, turned to port and dived into the ground within the airfield boundary.
On impact with the ground, near the base sewage works, the aircraft exploded. With this being during the day and within the airfield site, all of the brief flight and subsequent crash were witnessed by many people at the Topcliffe base. The base crash team and medics were immediately on the scene and cut their way into the rear of the aircraft, they managed to get to the rear gunner and dragged him clear but he was already dead. The rest of the aircraft was well alight, so any rescue attempt for the other members of the crew was not possible. As there were numerous witnesses to the whole of the flight, it was found that the aircraft had appeared to take off normally but that a problem must have been apparent immediately as the aircraft left the ground, as no attempt to raise them was made. As the undercarriage had not been raised, it led the investigators to suspect that the pilot (McKinnon) and flight engineer must have been busy with some other situation. Due to the aircraft's forward part being destroyed by fire, no firm reason for the crash was ever found. Nothing appeared to have been set incorrectly in the aircraft's control system, so it was suggested that the pilot had become incapacitated as the aircraft left the ground, pulling back on the control column causing the aircraft to climb rapidly.The flight engineer would normally have stood next to him at that time, so it was suggested that he had then tried to grab the controls to level the aircraft out but this had not worked. This would then account for the undercarriage having not been raised by the flight engineer, as he was busy fighting to control the aircraft instead. The crew of seven perished, including the six members of the RCAF (the Pilot, J/27633 Flying Officer John Lockwood McKinnon RCAF, aged 20, of Port Arthur, Ontario; the Navigator, J/28866 Flying Officer William Alexander Pope, aged 32, of Halifax, Nova Scotia; the Bombardier, J/28965 Flying Officer Malcolm Thomas Seabrook, aged 28, of Kitscoty, Alberta; the Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, R/193801 Sergeant Edward John Donnelly, aged 21, of Toronto, Ontario; the Air Gunner, R/212758 Sergeant Herbert Russell Davies, aged 18, of Toronto, Ontario; and the Rear Gunner, R/196182 Sergeant Harry Astrand, aged 21, of Port Arthur, Ontario) and the RAFVR member (Flight Engineer, 1605178 Sergeant Douglas William May Giles, aged 20, of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England). J/27633 Flying Officer John Lockwood McKinnon, RCAF is buried in Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery, Harrogate, Yorkshire, United Kingdom, Grave Reference: Sec. B. Row B. Grave 16 and is commemorated on page 388 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. The five accompanying RCAF members are also buried in the same cemetery, while 1605178 Sergeant Douglas William, RAFVR is buried in Trowbridge Cemetery, Trwobridge, Wiltshire.