Mission to Recover 1945 Aircrew Heads to Burma

Ottawa - Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) will lead a Reconnaissance/Recovery Team to Burma (also known as Myanmar) to search for the remains of the crew of a Second World War RCAF aircraft that was declared missing over Burma on June 21, 1945.

Remains of aircraft wreckage were discovered in the jungle by a Burmese hunter. Veterans Affairs, with the full support of National Defence and Foreign Affairs, and the cooperation and logistical support of the Government of Myanmar, will travel to the crash site to confirm the reports and endeavour to recover the remains of the six crew members.

The Team Leader, Mr. Philip MacDonald of Veterans Affairs Canada, is expected to arrive in Rangoon on Wednesday, November 20. The Recovery Team is expected to depart within the next few days. Once on site, there will be more information available on the recovery plans. A local Burmese hunter discovered aircraft wreckage in the northwest section of Burma and retrieved a watch inscribed with the name of William Kyle. Mr. Kyle was a member of a C-47 Dakota that had departed from Tulihal, India on the morning of June 21, 1945 to drop supplies to the British 14th Army at Myitkyina in Burma approximately 250 miles away. It never returned. The other crew members were pilot William Rogers of Halifax, Nova Scotia; David Cameron of Oshawa, Ontario; Stanley Cox of Beresford, Manitoba; Charles McLaren of Campbellville, Ontario; and Cornelius Kopp of Duchess, Alberta. All were declared missing, presumed dead and are commemorated on the Singapore Memorial.

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