Photo source: 439 Sqn Archives

For by this time the few old Hurricane Is which the Squadron had been flying since November 1942 had also departed,  It had been an endless struggle to keep the “old wrecks” serviceable. The machines that No. 123 received were ones that the fighter squadrons had discarded;  consequently it took about ten hours maintenance work for every hour of flying. The only consolation was that even decrepit fighters were better than none at all. The old Hurries made their swan song in an accident, which resulted in the only serious injury in the Squadron’s history in Canada. 

 

 

On 16 July P/O J. Hunter was flying Hurricane 842 over the airfield when a connecting rod broke, smashed through the side of the crankcase and the engine burst into flames.  The aircraft crash-landed just off the end of a runway, knocking the pilot unconscious.  P/O B.H.H. Cavendish (R.A.A.F. Royal  Australian Air Force) and three RAF airmen of No. 31 O.T.U., AC-ls (Air Craftsmen First Class – equivalent to a private trained in the Army) J.A. Bridges, J.M. Bevan and E.D. Riggs, were fortunately close by and ran to Hunter’s aid. The sliding cockpit hood was jammed shut, but Cavendish, despite a sprained wrist, tore off the emergency exit panel and with the aid or the three airmen pulled the pilot out of the blazing wreckage.  Hunter received severe burns about the arms and legs and painful cuts on the face,

Photo source: 439 Sqn Archives

Had it not been for the prompt and efficient action of his four rescuers he almost certainly would have died in the flames.  This was the first accident No. 123 Squadron had had in which anyone was injured. "Having been organized for more than a year and half, it would seem that we are more than fortunate in that regard."  A fortnight later the one remaining Hurricane I was flown to Scoudouc and the Squadron awaited the delivery of new twelve-gun Mark XIIs, which finally began to arrive on 12 August.