WorldWar II
FallenSoldiers - RockwoodCenotaph
Page 26
Pilot Officer (P/O)
is the lowest commissioned officer rank in theRCAF andRAF. It can be
confusing because it does not alwaysmean the holder is a qualified pilot.
FlyingOfficer (F/O)
is
thenext highest rank and it too does not alwaysmean the holder is a qualified pilot, but it usually
means the holder is an aircrewmember.
408 “Goose”Squadron
was part of the
RCAFGroup 6of Bomber Command
. At this time, they
were flying Lancaster andHalifax bombers onnight missions over occupiedEurope andGermany.
ByVictory inEuropeDay (“VEDay”) the 5,700 airmen and the aircraft of theRCAF had flown over
40,000 operational missionswith the loss of 814 aircraft and 4,277 airmen, for an operational loss
rateof 75%. Only theGermanU-Boat crews suffered higher loss rates duringWWII. During this
time, approximately eight thousand decorations for braverywereawarded toGroupVI aircrew,
including twoVictoriaCrosses. Canada’sBomber CommandMemorial lists the names of 10,659
menwhowere killed due to all causeswhile servingwithBomber Command during thewar.
TheBritishCommonwealthAir TrainingPlan (BCATP)
was conceived byPrimeMinister
MackenzieKing in 1939.
“Across the country, Canadiansmobilized to take part in this gigantic undertaking—an army of
experts had to be assembled, airfields developed and equipment, including airplanes, had to be
obtained. Between 1940and1945, some 151 schools had beenestablished acrossCanadawith a
groundorganization of 104,113men andwomen.
By the end of theSecondWorldWar, theBCATPhad produced 131,553 aircrew, including pilots,
wireless operators, air gunners, and navigators for theAir Forces of Great Britain,Australia, New
ZealandandCanada.”
Pilotswere also trained fromBelgium, Czechoslovakia, FreeFrench, Norway andPoland.
Inall, 107 schools and 184 other supporting units at 231 locations acrossCanadawere constructed.
This created anetwork of airports acrossCanada andmany of them still exist today, alongwith their
characteristic triangular runway pattern.
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7
WASLEYPASMOREHARRIS
J28300Pilot Officer
Born:
16February 1917 inToronto, raised inRockwood, Ontario
Pr viousOccupatio :
Engineer
Enlisted:
18May 1942 inHamilton, Ontario
Died:
6November 1943 at the ageof 26
uried:
Rockwo dCemetery
WasleyPasmoreHarriswas born inToronto on 16February 1917 to his
rec ntlywidowedmother,AnnieMatilda (neePasmore) Harris. His f th r,
WesleyHarris, farmed near Rockwood and later near Font Hill, in the
NiagaraPeninsula, where hedied in a farming accident on 8 July 1916.
Wasley’s paternal grandparentswereSamuel andSusanna (neeStarr)
Harris of Rockwood, and his paternal great-grandparentswere some of Rockwood’s first 1821
settlers, Johnand Ja e (neeWeatherald) Harris. His great-grandmoth r was the sister ofWilliam
Weatherald, the founder of theRockwoodAcademy. Hismaternal grandparentswereRobert and
Sarah (neeMickle) Pasmore of Rockwood. Wasley and his older sister, Clara Laura, were raised
inR ckwood. Since hewas a s all boy, hewas always interested in flying ndwas known as
anexpert builder of model aircraft. A a youngman inRockwood, hewas very popular nd had
a reputation of having “particularly fine character”. After HighSchool,Wasley graduated from the
University of Toronto in 194 with hisBASc. d gree inMechanical Engineering. While at theUofT,
he joined theNon-PermanentActiveMilitaryCadet Officer TrainingCorps (NPAMCOTC) and then
itsAuxiliaryBattalion from 1937 until 1941. He thenmoved toHamilton towork for Proctor and
Gambleuntil enlisting there in theRoy l C nadianAir Force on18May 1942. About the time of his
enlistment, hemarriedKatherineLouiseWhitehead (1923-2007) of Toronto.
Hewas posted to the newly createdR AFN . 9ServiceFlyingTrainingSchool (No.9SFTS)
Centralia, Ontario (part of theBritishCommonwealthAir TrainingPlan). After receiving his pilot
wings and the rank of Flight Sergeant, hewas recognized as being on cientious, eag r to learn
and possessingaboveaverage skills tobecome a pilot instructor. Hewent through further instructor
trainingandwas promoted to the rank of Pilot Officer. At this same time, on 16February 1943, his
wifeKatherinegave birth to their twins (GordonWasley andKatherine Louise). Sevenmonths later,
P/OWasleyHarriswas transferred to another newly openedRCAFNo. 17SFTS inSouris, Manitoba
as an instructor in single engineHarvard and twin engineAnson aircraft. HiswifeKatherine and
their young twinsmoved toSouris to join him.
On 6November 1943, P/OHarriswas killed alongwith two trainee pilots in a crash near Eden,
Manitoba during a cross-country instrument training flight in a twin engineAnson aircraft. The
subsequent accident review concluded that they likely encountered aircraft icingwhile training to fly
on instruments only, became disoriented and crashed.
P/OWasleyPasmoreHarris is buried inRockwoodCemetery. His name is alsomemorialized in the
Books of Remembrance in thePeaceTower of theCanadianParliament Buildings, Ottawa.
