The Death of P/O Douglas Burnell
RCAF Flying Goose Squadron #408

A closer check of the report of the plane crash indicated that the plane contained eight personnel. There was one survivor, so seven airmen had been killed. Adding the ground crew serviceman meant eight had died in the plane crash. Yet the list of the “KIA” contained nine names. Were there really nine men on the airplane that crashed even though only eight were “officially” on board? Or was one of the dead not killed in the plane crash at all?

During WWII, when a soldier, seaman or airman died overseas, the military registered his death in his Province of residence in order that a local Probate Court could settle his estate. Therefore, the Ontario Archives holds Burnell’s death record. Reading this death record just deepened the mystery. It says that, according to an informant identified as an R.C.A.F. Records Officer, Douglas Burnell had died in a “public place” in England of an “accidental gunshot wound to the head”. Ont. Archives' Record

To this point we have found three different versions of Burnell’s death: (a) KIA in France, (b) KIA in a plane crash in England, and (c) killed by an accidental gunshot in a public place in England. What is the truth in this story?

The sources of information used so far have been an RCAF Records Officer, the R.C.A.F. Director of Records in Ottawa, and an R.C.A.F. Officer at the Linton-on-Ouse airbase in Yorkshire who completed the report of the crash at the airbase. They gave conflicting and confusing accounts of Burnell’s death. At least two, and maybe all three, have provided false accounts. All three of these people might have a reason to hide the truth because none is independent of the military. Could a non-military source be found to provide an independent account of Burnell’s death?

An e-mail to a source in Yorkshire, England quickly turned up an entry for Burnell’s death in the English death register index. For sure, Burnell was not killed in action over France. He died in England. The entry in the death index included a reference to the location of Burnell’s death certificate. This would surely have been prepared by an independent, civilian, medical official.

When retrieved, the death certificate stated that, according to a Coroner’s report, Burnell’s death was a suicide. So, the first independent account of Burnell’s death contained a cause of death which might explain why the non-independent sources concocted different stories – all falsehoods. It's unlikely that there was a formal conspiracy to hide the truth. If there was a conspiracy, the conspirators would have concocted a single consistent story about Burnell’s death. It’s more likely that three military personnel with similar aims covered up the truth, each in his own way.

The death certificate indicated that a Coroner’s inquest was held into Burnell’s death. A Coroner’s file would contain witness statements. Unfortunately, the file containing the original Coroner’s report could not be found. Apparently, many of the Yorkshire Coroner’s files from the war years are missing.