WorldWar II
FallenSoldiers - RockwoodCenotaph
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DONALDFRASERTITT
R271259Sergeant
Born:
31 January 1925 inDetroit, Michigan. Raised inRockwood,
Ontario
PreviousOccupation:
Woodworker building aircraft parts.
Enlisted:
23August 1943 in anunknown location
Died:
22October 1944 at the age of 19
Buried:
Chester (Blacon) Cemetery inCheshire, England
DonaldFraser Titt was bornon 31 January 1925 inDetroit, Michigan,
U.S.A. andwas the only child of Cyril Ernest andMargaret Ethel Titt
of Rockwood. He grew up inRockwood andattendedhigh school at
GuelphCollegiate. After graduating fromGrade 8, hewent towork in
Weston (Toronto) at theMasseyHarrisPlant as awoodworker building aircraft parts.
On23August 1943, DonaldFraser Titt enlisted (location unknown) in theRCAF andwas sent for
basic training beforebeing sent onCourse 72 at #10Bombing andGunnerySchool at RCAFStation
Mount Pleasant, near Summerside, PrinceEdward Island. Upon completion on 16March 1943, he
received hisAir Gunner badge. Donald embarked for England and arrived on 10May 1943. He
was soon transferred to the #82Operational TrainingUnit at RAFOssington to train night bomber
crews andwas promoted toSergeant. Hewas next transferred toBomber Command’sNo. 6Group
(RCAF), No. 61Base for further operational training inYorkshire, England before being transferred
again toNo. 1659HoldingCompositeUnit, flyingHalifax bombers at RCAFTopcliffe, Yorkshire.
Sergeant Titt never flewan operational mission. The evening of 22October 1944, hisHalifax aircraft
andher crewwere ona night navigation training flight inbadweather and crashed and burned on
impact near Little Langdale, in the LakeDistrict of Cumberland (North-West England). All eight crew
(sevenCanadians and oneBriton) were killed. The accident report indicates they had turned off
their navigation lights andwere practicing flying specific headings andaltitudes as instructed byAir
TrafficControl (ATC). While they acknowledgedATC’s instructions, they failed to carry them out.
Theaircraft was reported to be circling at very low altitude so a fighter aircraft was sent to help guide
themback to their home base. Unfortunately, it arrived just in time towitness them crash into a peak
known asGreat Carrs, near Little Langdale. Theexact reason for the crashwas never determined
but navigational error combinedwith disorientationwas suspected. It is possible that the pilot
attempted to descend out of the heavy clouds andmist to get a visual fix on the ground, but hit the
peak in the process.
Sergeant Titt’sCommandingOfficer, GroupCaptainG.A. McKenna, wrote toDonald’s father that
the “aircraft was off course and flying at a lower altitude at the time than it should have been. Exact
reasonof the crashwill never be known.”
Sergeant DonaldFraser Titt was buried in theChester (Blacon) Cemetery inCheshire, England. A
memorial servicewas heldat Rockwood’sSt. John’sAnglicanChurchon 5November 1944. His
name is alsomemorialized in theBooks of Remembrance in thePeaceTower of theCanadian
Parliament Buildings, Ottawa.
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Amemorial cairnwas rected at the crash site to the eight aircrew of HalifaxMk.V, LL505 and it is
still surroundedwith a large amount of aircraft wreckage. In 2005, CanadianEmbassy staff and
representatives of theRAF participated in the re-dedicationof thismemorial. It is themost visited
WWII aircraft crash site inCumbria (formerlyCumberland).
Halif xCr shSiteMemorial, Cumbria
