November 11, 1911 - December 15, 1941
Donald Clark MacDougall was the son of John Wesley MacDougall and Sarah Effie (nee Munger) MacDougall, of Winnipeg, Manitoba. He had one brother, John, who served with the Canadian Army Medical Corps, and a sister, Margaret Jeanette Robinson of Bellingham, Washington, USA. The family was Baptist.
He studied engineering 1930-1932 at the University of Manitoba, registered for the 1932-33 term, but did not graduate. He liked golf, swimming, and badminton, plus enjoyed photography.
Stranraer 927 sank in Nanoose Bay on December 15, 1941. It has been on patrol duty, observing and noting position, course of all vessels including fishing boats carrying W/T. Duration of patrol: 1230 hours to dusk. “Radio silence to be observed except when reporting enemy intelligence. Operators will remain on the alert for information which may be passed from time to time from this office. Particular attention and vigilance to area at entrance Juan de Fuca Strait.”
MacDougall had 102.40 hours as first pilot on Stranraer aircraft and as second pilot, 8:05 hours solo. Dual: 3:55 hours.
“From the accounts of eyewitnesses, it has been established that the aircraft was attempting a landing, the sea was very rough at the time, the waves being 10-12 feet, which caused the aircraft to bound, nose over, and sink immediately. CREW: AC1 Robert William Adams (crew); Sgt. Gordon Herbert Andrews (co-pilot); AC1 Robert Albert Blakely (crew); Sgt. Russell Tremaine Mitchell (crew); LAC William Denis Riley (crew); P/ O Richard Wood (crew); Sgt. John Cunningham Gunn (passenger). Donald MacDougall was able to escape the aircraft, but his body was never found due to the water being extreme and “a heavy tide flowing out to sea…his body washed out to sea.” An unsuccessful search of the coast was made. The aircraft, found under 35 fathoms of water, was brought ashore, where the bodies of the other crew were found.
From the crash card: “Pilot endeavoured to effect a landing on exceeding rough water. The left wing tip apparently dropped and came into contact with a large wave causing the a/c to slew violently to the left and force the nose into the water crashing the forward part of the hull and breaking all cockpit windows. The a/c then sank nose first in approximately four minutes. Wing tip and tailplane only visible during this period of time. CONCLUSIONS: Heavy landing in extremely rough water during a gale. A/C damaged seriously in slighting sank almost immediately. The body of the pilot, F/L MacDougall is still missing, but from the evidence, he may be presumed ‘dead’. Body of F/L MacDougall recovered December 19, 1941.” Letters dated January 24, 1942 and February 14, 1942 indicated that MacDougall’s body still had not been found. In the summary of the accident, seven months later, MacDougall’s body was not recovered.
The first witness, S/L H. J. Winny, C1410, stated that F/L MacDougall’s body was not in the aircraft when it was raised to the surface, as he had apparently “escaped through the emergency escape hatch immediately over the pilot’s cockpit. It is thought that, due to heavy flying equipment he was wearing, and the turbulent conditions of the sea at the time of the crash, that it would be impossible for him to reach shore. There was an ebb tide at the time of the crash, so it is reasonable to suppose that any bodies or wreckage went below the surface would be carried out to see.” There were questions about why there were eight men aboard the aircraft when the full normal crew consisted of seven.
Blakely, 20 years old, was buried Riverview Cemetery, Kamsack, Saskatchewan. Gunn, 32, and Adams, 20, were buried in the Royal Oak Burial Park Cemetery, Victoria, BC. Riley was 20, and buried at the Regina Cemetery, Regina, Saskatchewan. Mitchell was 20 and buried in the Crescent Road Cemetery, Strasbourg, Saskatchewan. Wood, 30, was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Andrews, 24, was buried at the Hazelwood Cemetery, Abbotsford, BC.
For more information, please visit the links below and consult the microfiche and images above.
Stranraer 927 Microfiche T12341 Image 1150
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