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« on: Friday 09 September 22 22:36 BST (UK) »
I found the old letter my dad wrote to my mother a few months before they married in which he refers to the plane crash he was in during the war - that I referred to in a prior post here. The letter was dated 10 May 1955. In it he writes:
"I am nervous - I was in a plane crash during the war. I was one of the lucky ones. I was badly hurt, in a way I never got over it, as I am still very nervous, perhaps Shirley can tell you a bit what I was like after I came home for awhile. Me I try to forget all the horror I saw, but I like a veteran you see things so horrible it hard to forget and to horrible to talk about."
Shirley was a sister. This sounds a lot like there were a number of fatalities. Looking a crashes in Goose Bay during the war (that I noted in a prior post here) the most likely candidate was the one in November as he started having continual problems needing hospitalization starting in December. However, the one month gap is a problem. The amount of fatalities in the crash of the previous July would be more traumatic, but that leaves an even bigger gap.
So my hope is that a reader of this thread would be familiar with the history of RCAF Goose Bay to solve this mystery for me and my family. Was there a plane crash in December? Perhaps local records or newspaper clipping refer to it. My father was clearly traumatized by it. I found an early 1950s writeup about him and he had redacted what was said about his war service. To the point of being completely unreadable.
I appreciate this forums help and patience with this post. Perhaps someday a researcher will come along and at least appreciate this family lore/tibit of this fatal and mysterious plane crash apparently at RCAF Goose Bay.
Thanks!