Ian Mckenzie's Story.
Ian McKenzie Caldwell was born in Manitoba on 22nd September 1915 to parents Colin and Annie Caldwell.Prior to enlisting in the RCAF he worked as a clerk. He also obtained a private pilot’s license as a civilian but when he enlisted in the RCAF at Winnipeg on 31st July 1939 he enlisted as a clerk. In 1940 he was selected for aircrew duty and underwent pilot training in Canada which he completed in April 1941. He also completed instructor training and served as an instructor in Canada until he embarked for the United Kingdom on December 12th, 1942. After arriving in the United Kingdom, he joined 225 Squadron RAF. He flew in Hurricanes and Spitfires with the squadron performing Tactical Reconnaissance missions in North Africa and Italy until March 1944 when he completed his tour of operations having flown over 1650 hours. He was then posted back to the United Kingdom where he was assigned to 41 OTU based at Hawarden near Chester where he was appointed as an instructor training pilots for the Tactical Reconnaissance role flying Hurricanes. On 31st July 1944 Ian was flying Hurricane LF324 on a dogfighting training mission along with a pupil pilot in another Hurricane when his aircraft spun out of control and crashed into the ground killing him instantly. He was 28 years old when he died. The cause of the accident was never officially determined but it was suspected that he had failed to properly monitor his airspeed whilst carrying out dogfighting manouevres causing his aircraft to spin out of control
Whilst reports by his superiors during Ian’s service were generally positive, he was officially reprimanded for carelessness after having been involved in three taxiing accidents two of which occurred within one five day period. He was also mentioned in dispatches.
Ian with a Havard Trainer in Canada.
Mission Report 3 November 1943.
Court of Enquiry 1
Court of Enquiry 2
Service Report 1. Note reference to Mentioned in Dispatches
Report 2 Note references to taxiing incidents