Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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168 Squadron Fortress IIA 9203 Fl/Lt. Horace B. Hillcoat

Operation: Mail delivery

Date: 15th December 1944 (Friday)

Unit: No. 168 (Heavy Transport) Squadron RCAF

Type: Fortress IIA

Serial: 9203

Code: ?

Base: Rockliffe

Location: French Morocco - Azores

Pilot: Fl/Lt. Horace Brougham Hillcoat AFC. AFM. C/21305 RCAF Age 31. Missing

Pilot 2: Fl/Lt Alfred John De Laune Ruttledge DFC. and Bar. FC. (Netherlands) J/15160 RCAF Age 30. Missing

Nav: Fl/Lt. Frederick Blair La Brish AFC. J/4763 RCAF Age ? Missing

W/Op/Air/Gnr: F/O. Cecil Alexander Dickson AFC. J/10870 RCAF Age 24. Missing

Aircrew: Cpl. Robert Emerson Bruce R/192653 RCAF Age ? Missing

Passengers: Pilot: Fl/Lt. William Stewart Pullar DFC. J/18049 RCAF Age 26. Missing

Passenger: Nav: Fl/Lt. Douglas Haig Sharpe J/11485 RCAF Age 28. Missing

Passengers: Admin Officer: Fl/Lt. William Laurel Wilson C/12659 RCAF Age ? Missing

REASON FOR LOSS:

No details known. Lost on a flight from Africa to Rockliffe Airbase, We would be interested in hearing from anyone with further details regarding this loss.

              

Above left: Fl/Lt. William Stewart Pullar D.F.C. Right: The Pullar Memorial at the renamed "Pullar Lake" Alberta, Canada. (courtesy Airman's Memorial Cairns Committee, Royal Canadian Legion, McGrane Branch No 28, Lac La Biche, Alberta and also to Geographical Names Board of Canada)

              

Left: Newspaper cutting from the Globe and Mail December 22nd 1944. Right: Fl/Lt. Frederick Blair La Brish A.F.C. (courtesy Mike Harrison)

              

Ottowa War memorial

Burial details:

Fl/Lt. Horace Brougham A.F.C. A.F.M Ottawa War Memorial Panel 3. Column 3. Son of Harry A. Hillcoat and Maude Bent Hillcoat, husband of Verna P. Hillcoat, of Lethbridge, Alberta.

Fl/Lt. Frederick Blair La Brish A.F.C. Ottawa War Memorial Panel 3. Column 3. Son of Francis E. La Brish and Kate La Brish, of Montreal, Province of Quebec, husband of Winifred Clare La Brish, 58 Grenfell Apartments, Regina, Saskatchewan.

Fl/Lt Alfred John De Laune Ruttledge D.F.C. and Bar. Ottawa War Memorial Panel 3. Column 3. Flying Cross (Netherlands). Son of John H. Ruttledge and Daisy Bagley Ruttledge, husband of Marguerite I. Ruttledge, of Simcoe, Ontario.

F/O. Cecil Alexander Dickson A.F.C. Ottawa War Memorial Panel 3. Column 4. Son of T.A. Dickson, 12417 86th Street, Edmonton, Alberta.

Cpl. Robert Emerson Bruce. Ottawa War Memorial Panel 3. Column 5. Son of H.S. Bruce, 1246 Angus Road. R.R.3, Victoria, British Columbia

Fl/Lt. William Stewart Bruce D.F.C. Ottawa War Memorial Panel 3. Column 3. Son of Andrew Clyde Pullar, and of Verna E. Pullar, of Calgary, Alberta.

Fl/Lt. Douglas Haig Sharpe . Ottawa War Memorial Panel 3. Column 3. Son of Whippe W. Sharpe and Emma Sharpe, husband of Nancy L. Sharpe, of Edmonton, Alberta. B.Comm. (University of Alberta).

Fl/Lt. William Laurel Wilson. Ottawa War Memorial Panel 3. Column 4. Husband of Mrs. W.L. Wilson, 105 Victoria Avenue, Chatham, Ontario.

We are working very closely with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Manitoba geographical names project and the Saskatchewan Tourism Parks, culture and sports department to show with the aid of Google maps where many of the WW2 Aviators are being remembered. 

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