Took off from Sigiriya at 15:25 on an air firing and depth charge dropping practice flight.

On completion of the air-to-air firing exercise the aircraft flew out to sea west of Puttalam, where a marker was dropped shortly after 17:00 in preparation for the depth charge practice. Running in at 50 feet a stick of two charges was dropped, but exploded prematurely and threw FL911 about violently. The aircraft began to climb out of control, being brought back to level flight only through the combined efforts of the captain and 2nd pilot at the controls using throttle adjustments to fly a straight course. However, the Liberator was losing height and was forced to ditch. Only two of the thirteen on board escaped before it broke up and sank (11 crew, 2 passengers).

Killed includes Cooper:: F/O George Korski RCAF J/26959 KIA Singapore Memorial Column 442. WO2 Franklin Thomas Mabee RCAF R/156988 KIA Singapore Memorial Column 444. Sgt Andrew Cameron RAF KIA Singapore Memorial Column 435. Sgt Jack Dunkley RAF KIA Singapore Memorial Column 436. F/O Duncan Farquhar MacDonald RAF KIA Singapore Memorial Column 432. F/O Richard Holt Morgan RAAF KIA Singapore Memorial Column 443. F/Sgt Douglas Henry Skinner RNZAF KIA Singapore Memorial Column 446. F/Sgt William Robert Wiseman RAF KIA Singapore Memorial Column 435.

Two New Zealanders escaped the downed aircraft wearing their Mae Wests. F/O John David Dean and W/O Pumau Baker, both injured, spent 17 hours in the sea before a rescue launch arrived.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave.com

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Warrant Officer 2nd Class George Edgar Cooper has no known grave.

Home
Westmount, Quebec

Singapore War Memorial, Singapore
Column 444

Crew on Liberator B. Mk. lll FL911

Warrant Officer 2nd Class Cooper, George Edgar (RCAF)
Wireless Air Gunner
Killed in Action
Age: 32
Singapore War Memorial, Singapore - Column 444

Flying Officer Korski, George (RCAF)
Air Gunner
Killed in Action
Age: 21
Singapore War Memorial, Singapore - Column 442

Warrant Officer 2nd Class Mabee, Franklin Thomas (RCAF)
Wireless Air Gunner
Killed in Action
Age: 20
Singapore War Memorial, Singapore - Column 444

Consolidated Liberator B-24 / F-7

(DND Photos via James Craik) (Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)
Consolidated Liberator G.R. Mk. VIII, RCAF (Serial No. 11130) ex-USAAF Consolidated (Vultee) B-24L Liberator USAAF (44-50154)
ex-RAF (Serial No. 5009), ex-Indian Air Force (Serial No. HE773).
Currently preserved in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum Ottawa Ontario.

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber flown by the RCAF during the Second Word War. It was designed with a shoulder-mounted, high aspect ratio Davis wing which gave the Liberator a high cruise speed, long range and the ability to carry a heavy bomb load. Early RAF Liberators were the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a matter of routine. In comparison with its contemporaries the B-24 was relatively difficult to fly and had poor low speed performance; it also had a lower ceiling compared with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Of the roughly 18,500 B-24s built in the USA during the war, 148 were flown by the RCAF on long range anti-submarine patrols, with the B-24 serving an instrumental role in closing the Mid-Atlantic gap in the Battle of the Atlantic. The RCAF also flew a few B-24s post war as transports.

Roughly half of all (RAF) Liberator crews in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre were Canadian by the end of the war. John Muir of Vancouver flew the longest mission of the war: 24hrs, 10mins from Ceylon to Burma and back. (Kyle Hood) Harold Skaarup web page

Liberator bomber

Wikipedia Liberator bomber

Harold A Skaarup Web Page

CASPIR Aircraft Groups:

RCAF On Strength (148), RCAF 400 Squadron (19), Canadian Aircraft Losses (145), Canadian Ferried (1)

last update: 2021-09-18 19:06:22

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Liberator B. Mk. lll FL911