David Hornell, Ferdinand St. Laurent and Donald Scott

PBY-5 'Canso' Flying boat in CWHM

 

 

The citation for valour in the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum (CWHM) to Flight Lieutenant David Hornell, VC can generally be found close to the Consolidated PBY-5 ‘Canso’ Flying Boat, the ‘Mary K.’, dedicated in his name and now bearing the livery of RCAF 162 Squadron to which he belonged. Beside it also is a copy of the London Gazette entry of July 1944 recording the posthumous award of Britain’s highest military honour for heroism in the face of the enemy to Hornell.

Three members of the crew died that day.  On patrol in the Atlantic on 24 June 1944 in a PBY-5, they spotted a U-Boat (U-1225) on the surface off Iceland. 

Hornell, as the pilot and commanding officer, pressed home the attack.  The aircraft took accurate and fatal fire from the guns of the U-Boat as they made their bombing run but they placed their depth charges accurately sinking U-1225 with all hands.  The flying boat, on fire, landed in the ocean.  In a single dinghy for 21 hours the crew took turns in the water but suffered extreme exposure before rescue. Hornell died shortly after rescue.

David Hornell’s bravery and record can also be found in various places on the internet, as befits any recipient of the Victoria Cross.  Schools and a ferry have been named after him.  He is buried in the Shetland Islands. 

The two other crew members who died did so of exposure while awaiting rescue; Flight Sergeants Donald Scott and Ferdinand St. Laurent.  Ferdinand St. Laurent was from la Pointe-au-Pere, Quebec.  He was 24 years old.  Donald Stewart Scott was from Pakenham, Ontario and was 22 when he died. Scott had enlisted in the RCAF in 1940, age 18 and went overseas at age 20.  Both their names are inscribed on the Runneymede War Memorial in Surrey, among 20,000 names of allied airmen based in Britain who died during World War II and have no known grave.

Whenever I pass the Canso during a visit to the CWHM, I think of the heroism of the entire crew, including all three of these men who died that day.