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Wartime Heritage
ASSOCIATION
Remembering World War II
Yarmouth Connections
William Frank MacKenna
Rank:
Sergeant (Air Gunner)
Service No:
R/153207
Regiment/Service:
Royal Canadian Air Force
10 Royal Air Force Squadron
Date of Birth:
November 17, 1923
Place of Birth:
Dayton, Yarmouth Co., NS
Date of Enlistment:
May 7, 1942
Place of Enlistment:
No. 16 Recruiting Station RCAF Halifax, NS
Address At Enlistment:
Dayton, Yarmouth Co., NS
Age at Enlistment:
18
Height: 5 feet, 9 inches
Complexion: Medium
Eyes:
Brown
Hair: Brown
Previous Military:
2nd Battalion West Nova Scotia Reserve Regiment,
1941 for one month
Trade:
Farming
Marital Status:
Single
Religion:
Baptist
Next of Kin:
George Hartley MacKenna [Father] Dayton, Yarmouth Co., NS
William Frank MacKenna was the only son of George Hartley MacKenna and Sarah [Pippy] MacKenna, of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia,
Canada. He had two younger sisters Ruth Isabelle and Patricia Elizabeth. He attended the Dayton School between 1930 and 1938
and the Yarmouth Academy between 1938 and 1941 completing Grade 11. He worked with his father on the farm until he joined the
RCAF.
He was a stamp collector and enjoyed carpentry. He played baseball and softball and liked to swim and hunt.
He completed his Initial Training and Air Gunner training in Canada and embarked at New York on May 4, 1943 for the United
Kingdom arriving on May 11, 1943. He was posted to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre (3 PRC) in Bournemouth on May 12 and taken
on strength with No. 10 Operational Training Unit on May 25, 1943. He was then assigned to No. 1653 Conversion Unit RAF on July
20, 1943 and on August 31, 1943 assigned to RAF 10 Squadron.
On September 15, 1943 as part of the air operations over Montlucon, France on the Dunlop tire plant near the town of
Montlucon in central France, within the Vichy region, the Halifax aircraft [HR920 X1D ZA-L] crashed at Ecorcei, Orne, 6 km south-
west of Aigle, France.
Four of the crew were killed and are buried in Ecorcei Churchyard: Sergeant (Air Gunner) MacKenna; Pilot Officer James Miller
Dunlop, age 22 of Glasglow, UK [Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve], Pilot Officer Charles John Lindsay Dunlop, age 20, of
Glenreasdell Mains, Argyllshire, UK [Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve];
Sergeant Frederick George Cowler, age 34 of Exeter, Devon [Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve]. Pilot Officer S. E. Stapley and
Sergeant H. Lewis were captured and were interned as prisoners of war. Sergeant William Henry Brian Bilton evaded captured from
France to Spain.
Date of Death:
September 15, 1943
Age at Death:
20
Cemetery:
Ecorcei Churchyard (Orne, France)
Grave Reference:
Grave 5.
The 74th name on the WWII list of the Yarmouth War Memorial
(McKenna on the Yarmouth War Memorial)
Commemorated on page 184 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance
Displayed in the Memorial Chamber of the Peace Tower in Ottawa on April 15
Sources and Information:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Veterans Affairs Canada
http://www.fallenheroesofnormandy.org
http://www.inmemories.com/Cemeteries/ecorcei.htm
William Frank MacKenna
Photo Courtesy Paul Smith
L. to R.: M. Metcalfe - F. G. Cowler - C. J. L. Dunlop - J. M. Dunlop - W. F. MacKenna - N. W. Hayter - G. W. F. Duckett - A. B. Robinson -
H. G. Ansell - F. Boles - D. A. J. Cameron - A. G. Foster