McLACHLAN, William John Andrew
- 20 years
- Canadian
- Flight Sergeant
- R/74892
- Hurricane II b, BE484
- 29th June 1942
- North East of Alderney
-
Runnymede Memorial
[Panel 66]
On 3 March he was sent to No. 8 Elementary Flying Training School at Sea Island Airport, Vancouver, British Columbia. Upon completion of this course he was sent to No. 10 Service Flying Training School at Dauphin, Manitoba where he would learn the military aspects of flying, such as formation and night flying and precision navigation. On 16 July he graduated, was promoted to sergeant and was posted overseas. On 14 August 1941, Sergeant McLachlan was transferred to the RAF and on 14 October posted to No. 56 Operational Training Unit. On completion of his training on 16 December, he was sent to No 43 Squadron.
On 15 March 1942 he was posted to No. 245 Squadron but was quickly posted to No. 175 Squadron flying Hurricanes. By this time he had served long enough that his leadership skills had been noted and on 22 June 1942 he was medically examined for consideration for commissioning. This was not to be.