Harold Stanton MacPherson was born at Halifax, NS, on August 1, 1921, the third and youngest child of John Charles and Margaret “Maggie” Belle (Ferguson) MacPherson. John was a native of Boylston, Guysborough County, the son of Charles and Mary Jane (McKay) MacPherson, while Maggie was born at Intervale, Guysborough County, the daughter of Donald and Mary Ferguson.
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| Flight Sergeant Harold Stanton MacPherson | |
John and Maggie’s oldest child—a daughter, Florence Louise “Flo”—was born at Boylston, Guysborough County, on April 15, 1896. Flo married Fred McChesney, a native of Afton, Antigonish County, at St. James United Church, Antigonish, on March 29, 1930. The couple established residence at Afton, where they raised a family of four children—one son and three daughters. Flo passed away in 1992.
Harold’s older brother, Wesley Whitfield, was born at Intervale, Guysborough County, on May 15, 1897. Wesley enlisted with the 193rd Battalion at Guysborough on April 1, 1916, and spent the spring and summer months training with the unit at Guysborough and Aldershot. When a thorough medical examination in September 1916 uncovered respiratory issues related to a 1914 case of pleurisy, Wesley was discharged as “medically unfit” on October 20, 1916.
Wesley eventually relocated to Oxford Junction, where he worked as a lineman. On September 14, 1926, he married Jennie Evelyn Lowerison, a native of West Sackville, NB, in a ceremony held at Holy Trinity Church, Dorchester, NB. The couple settled in New Brunswick, where they raised a family of three sons and one daughter. Wesley passed away at Fredericton Junction, NB, in 1977.
Sometime after Harold’s birth, the MacPherson family settled at Afton Station, where John operated a farm. Harold attended the local Afton school from Grade 1 to 11, moving on to complete Grade 12 at Morrison School during the 1937 - 1938 school year. In September 1938, he enrolled in the teacher training program at Provincial Normal College, Truro.
Upon graduating from Normal College, Harold obtained a teaching position at Hadleyville, Guysborough County, for the 1939-40 school year. He was employed at Afton school from September to December 1940, and accepted a position at Meadowville, Pictou County, from January to June 1941. At the end of the school year, Harold submitted his resignation, as he applied to enlist with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
On July 29, 1941, Harold completed a pre-enlistment RCAF interview at Halifax, NS. One month shy of his twentieth birthday, he was five feet and 11 inches tall and weighed 151 pounds at the time. The interviewer described Harold’s approach as “confident” and “easy,” his responses as “quick” and “deliberate,” and his manner as “alert” and “confident.” He received an “excellent” rating and was initially recommended for “pilot.”
The following day, Harold formally attested for service with the RCAF. One week later, he was “taken on strength” at Toronto, ON, with the initial rank of “AC2” [Aircraftman 2nd Class]. On August 21, he reported to Trenton RCAF Base, where he completed basic training and was selected for the “air observer” stream.
In late September, Harold commenced the first of several training programs at No. 5 Initial Training School (ITS), Belleville, ON. According to a Report on Pupil Air Observer, dated December 17, 1941, he achieved a grade of 86 % and ranked 30th in a class of 150 cadets. Four days later, Harold was promoted to the rank of Leading Aircraftman (LAC) and assigned to No. 9 Air Observers’ School, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, where he commenced specialist training for his assigned trade.
Over the following three months, Harold logged more than 80 hours in an Anson aircraft, the majority of the time as a navigator. He achieved an overall grade of 70.1 % and placed 18th in a class of 25. While his navigational work was rated “average,” his armament skills warranted an “above average” ranking and a recommendation for service as “air observer.”
On April 12, 1942, Harold reported to No. 6 Bombing and Gunnery School, Mountain View, ON, for the next phase of training. During a six-week course, he logged approximately 28 hours in Anson and Bolingbroke aircraft, during which time he received experience in bombing and gunnery duties. While his bombing skills were rated “average,” his air gunnery performance was “very satisfactory.” Harold completed the course with a mark of 72.9 % and a rank of fifth in a class of 26 cadets.
Harold received his Air Observer’s Badge and was promoted to the rank of “T[emporary]/Sergeant” on May 23, 1942. Two days later, he commenced the final stage of training at No. 19 Air Navigation School, Rivers, MB. Over the next five weeks, he underwent Advanced Air Observers’ Training in an Anson aircraft, logging more than 90 hours as 1st and 2nd Navigator in day-time and night-time conditions, along with an additional 26 hours of flight training in bombing and gunnery. While “carelessness” and “minor inaccuracies” negatively impacted his performance, instructors noted that Harold “can do excellent work when he applies himself.”
His performance in all three courses—air observer, bombing and gunnery, and air navigation—earned Harold an overall grade of 69.9%. While acknowledging his intelligence, instructors mentioned that Harold was prone to inaccuracy and lack of effort at times. Nevertheless, his performance warranted a passing grade and a pending overseas assignment.
Meanwhile, Harold received a two-week pre-embarkation leave on July 4, after which he reported to No. 1 Y Depot, Halifax. On July 23, he was formally “taken on strength” by No. 31 Operational Training Unit (OTU), Debert, the final stage of his training in Canada. Formed in May 1941, No. 31 OTU’s crews conducted general reconnaissance operations over the western Atlantic Ocean in Lockheed Hudson and Avro Anson aircraft.
Harold spent two months with the Debert unit, after which he proceeded overseas. On October 10, 1942, he reported to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre, Bournemouth, UK. One month later, Harold was assigned to No. 22 OTU, Wellesbourne Mountford, UK. Part of No. 6 Group Bomber Command, the unit specialized in training night bomber crews aboard Vickers Wellington aircraft.
Harold logged three months with No. 22 OTU, during which time he was promoted to the rank of “T[emporary]/Sergeant.” He officially completed his training on February 12, 1943, comments on his evaluation indicating a distinct improvement in both performance and effort: “Slightly above the average. Keen and conscientious. Consistently good bombing results.” Overall, his supervisors rated Harold “an above average bomb aimer.”
On February 25, 1943, Harold was assigned to No. 427 (RCAF) Squadron, RAF. Known as the “Lion Squadron,” a reference to its crest’s lion imposed upon a maple leaf. The unit, formed at Croft, Yorkshire, UK, on November 7 1942, was the eighth RCAF bomber unit and 25th RCAF squadron established at that point in the war.
On the night of March 2/3, 1943, Harold took part in his first active mission with No. 427 Squadron—“three [Wellington] aircraft…detailed for…mine-laying” near the Frisian Islands, along the northwestern coast of the Netherlands. Two of the aircraft completed the operation and safely returned to base. The third, piloted by Sgt. Leo M. Lymburner, Fonthill, ON, “did not return from this operation.” Harold was the “bomb aimer” on the six-man crew, all of whom were reported missing.
On March 6, 1943, Canadian officials wrote to Maggie Belle MacPherson, informing her that “your son was a member of the crew of an aircraft which failed to return to its base after air operations on the night of March 2nd and the early morning of March 3, 1942.” A subsequent letter from Wing Commander D. H. Burnside, No. 427 Squadron, dated March 15, indicated that the plane had departed at approximately six o’clock “and we have heard nothing from it or any member of the crew since take-off.” WIng Commander Burnside continued:
“We lost one of our best crews when this aircraft did not return for it had already been mapped out for a great future with this Squadron. Your son was very popular with this Squadron and fast becoming an ace Bomb Aimer. He is greatly missed in the Sergeant’s Mess, and his loss is regretted by all.”
An April 15, 1943 news item in The Casket informed local readers that Sgt. Observer Harold Stanton MacPherson was officially reported missing following an operational flight. “In a recent letter home[,] he told his parents that one of his [recent training] crew members was Joe Beaton, with whom he had gone to school at Nova Scotia [Normal College].”
Throughout the summer months, Harold’s family received no further word on his fate. Finally, on October 25, 1943, a telegram from Canadian authorities informed Maggie that T/Sgt. H. S. MacPherson and his crew mates, previously reported “missing” after air operations overseas, were now “presumed dead” as of March 3, 1943. In mid-February 1944, Maggie received “the Memorial Cross[,] a posthumous decoration to Sgt. Observer H. S. MacPherson.”
On October 27, 1944, T. K. MacDougall, RCAF Records Officer, wrote to John C. MacPherson, informing him that “your son, Harold Stanton MacPherson, has been promoted to the rank of Flight Sergeant with effect from November 23, 1942.” Almost five years passed before military authorities received any further news concerning the crew of Harold’s aircraft.
A “missing crew report,” dated March 12, 1949, provided an update on the crew of Wellington X3390, which crashed at sea on March 2/3, 1943: “Information on file shows one body of this crew washed ashore and buried at Cuxhaven now identified by Canadian Flashes and German docs. [sic—documents]” as Sgt. H. R. Millson, the navigator aboard Harold’s aircraft. The remainder of the crew was “assumed lost at sea.”
A letter from Wing Commander W. R. Gunn, RCAF Casualties Officer, dated September 20, 1949, informed Harold’s father of this development, adding:
“Nothing is known of the aircraft or any other member of the crew, and in view of the fact that they were engaged in a mine-laying operation, it can be accepted that the aircraft was lost at sea, and with the exception of Flight Sergeant Millson, your son and the remaining members of the crew have been registered as not having a ‘known’ grave.”
Two months prior to Wing Commander Gunn’s letter, Maggie had received a set of “operational wings and Certificate in recognition of the gallant services rendered by your son.”
Flight Sergeant Harold Stanton MacPherson’s name is engraved on the Runnymede Air Forces Memorial, officially opened at Englefield Green, Surrey, UK, On October 17, 1953, in memory of 20,456 British and Commonwealth air personnel lost during Second World War operations, all of whom have no known final resting place.
Flight Sergeant MacPherson's photo obtained from Betty M. (Kinney) Pettipas' book on Tracadie and area veterans, “We Remember Those Who Served, 1914 – 2002.”
