Remembering Second World War RCAF crew buried in Ghana

News Article / May 2, 2017

To see more images, click on the photograph under “Image Gallery”.

By Lieutenant-Colonel Colin Coakwell

On September 7, 1943, eight Royal Canadian Air Force members were waiting for their flight back home to Canada from Accra, Ghana, on the African Gold Coast.

They had just completed a ferry flight over the Atlantic, delivering a C-47 Dakota aircraft to Accra. Shortly after completing the mission, Pilot Officer John S. Cram, from Morden, Manitoba; Pilot Officer William A. Gardner, from Kelowna, British Columbia; Pilot Officer Ronald C. Lounsbury, from Windsor, Ontario; Flying Officer John S. MacLean, from Toronto, Ontario; Flying Officer Eric O. Smith, from Seattle, Washington, U.S.; Warrant Officer Class II Samuel J. Donen and Warrant Officer Class II John Macrae, both from Winnipeg, Manitoba; and Flight Sergeant Erle Rennick, from Burnaby, British Columbia, boarded a Consolidated C-87 Liberator Express transport aircraft to start the return flight to Canada, via Brazil.

Shortly after departing Accra, the aircraft crashed in the dark, killing all the passengers on board. The eight RCAF members joined a long list of Canadians serving during the Second World War who lost their lives on the African continent. Conducted in secrecy, their mission had been one of many logistical flights conducted to bring aircraft and supplies to support war efforts in the Northern African campaign, and to amass forces for the assault on mainland Europe. The September 7 crash of their aircraft took place just one day before Italy surrendered.

In April 2017, staff and students from the National Security Programme’s Experiential Learning Visit to Africa visited Canadian embassies abroad, and government and military organizations in several countries, to gain a better appreciation of African regional and national security issues.

On April 4, the group visited the Christiansborg War Cemetery in Accra to commemorate the service and sacrifice of the eight fallen RCAF members. Before the visit, the families of three of the aircrew facilitated the exchange of information and provided the opportunity to share photos. During the ceremony, Lieutenant Colonel Udi Tsur, a National Security Programme student from Israel, offered a prayer of remembrance for Warrant Officer Class II Sam Donen, who was Jewish-Canadian. The prayer included items sent by his family, who had not been able to visit the cemetery since his death in 1943.

As with many of the Commonwealth War Cemeteries around the world, the ‎Accra Cemetery is well and beautifully maintained, providing a dignified and serene resting place for military members who have sacrificed so much in the service of their country.

Other members of the National Security Programme visited the Nairobi War Cemetery in Kenya, where they laid wreaths to commemorate the Commonwealth and Canadian personnel who are buried there.

The National Security Programme is a ten-month post-graduate program conducted at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. It prepares senior Canadian and international military officers and executive-level public servants for employment at the strategic level.

Lieutenant-Colonel Coakwell is a staff officer with the Canadian Armed Forces’ National Security Programme.