Harry Woodward Donkersley J8203

December 30, 1919 - January 16, 1944

Clerk at men’s wear store and all-round athlete became pilot. Stationed first in Malta, he was awarded the DFC and Bar. Posted to Ferry Command, he was flying Beechcraft HB100 to Patricia Bay from Rockclife, with a stop in Lethbridge. During bad weather, the aircraft was lost in the mountains east of Vancouver.

Harry Woodward Donkersley was the son of Harry Dyson Donkersley (d. 1945), store clerk, and Gladys (nee Woodward) Donkersley (1899-1988) of Powell River, British Columbia. He had one younger sister, Constance Rita, who became a nurse.

Aboard Beechcraft HB100 travelling from Rockcliffe to Patricia Bay via Winnipeg and Lethbridge, the crew of four were lost over the mountains east of Vancouver: Pilot, P/O Harry Donkersley, Navigator S/L James Flaherty, passenger S/L Terence Pringle, (RAFVR), and WAG P/O Ernest Sowerby.

See links below for more information. The full Court of Inquiry can be found on microfiche C5937, starting with image 5299.

LINKS:

• Canadian Virtual War Memorial
• Harry Donkersley’s story, courtesy of BCAM
• Powell River Museum’s profile of Harry Donkersley
• Terence A. Pringle’s story courtesy of BCAM
• Find a Grave