Anthony Pinhorn’s sister, Wendy, and their aunt Miss Anne Blackwell, MBE, after receiving Anthony Pinhorn’s Distinguished Flying Cross at Buckingham Palace on July <strong>17</strong>, 1945. Wendy Hopkins in front of the mountain named after her brother. Fire-damaged remains of Hudson V AM595 ‘6’ of 1 OTU after it crashed on landing at Ronaldsway, Isle of Man, on August 26, 1942. Anthony James Pinhorn’s logbook for January 1944. 14
Richard John Weatherhead It is unlikely that residents of Weatherhead Court in Mission, British Columbia, know how their street came <strong>by</strong> its name. So called after passage of a municipal <strong>by</strong>law on December 4, 1995, it commemorates the life and sacrifice of a local young man who was lost with his crew some 60 years earlier while on patrol in a Fortress while flying over the Bay of Biscay. Richard John ‘Dick’ Weatherhead was born in New Westminster, British Columbia, on November 1, 1912, the only son of John and Florence Weatherhead. His father was killed just six years later while serving with the Canadian Army Medical Corps in France, leaving his wife Florence – who subsequently married Colin Solloway – daughter Nellie and son Dick. Dick Weatherhead attended elementary school in his home town of Mission from 1919 to 1925, moving to Mission High School and then West Vancouver High School for his secondary education. He was a member of the Mission Cadets and an enthusiastic marksman, participating in a February 1926 competition staged <strong>by</strong> the Dominion of Canada Rifle Association. From 1928 to 1929, Weatherhead took a Business Methods Course and, after being turned down for training in the army, joined the Wabasco Cotton Company in Vancouver. In 1934, he secured a sales and advertising position with the British-American Tobacco Company in Shanghai and served as a Private with the Shanghai Volunteer Corps (Armoured Car) and, after moving to Hong Kong towards the end of his tenure, with their Volunteer Corps as a Private (Anti-Aircraft). Following the outbreak of war, Weatherhead returned to Vancouver and on September 3, 1940, was interviewed in Vancouver for service with the Royal Canadian Air Force. The recruiting officer described him as “alert, keen as mustard... good natural ability... distinctly above the average and is recommended strongly.” On October 28, 1940, Weatherhead enlisted in the RCAF and, after initial training at Regina, Saskatchewan, was posted back to Vancouver to begin his flying training on de Havilland Tiger Moths with 8 Elementary Flying Training School. He moved to 3 Service Flying Training School, Calgary, Alberta, on May 28 to begin multi-engine training on Avro Ansons and was graded as a pilot and promoted to Sergeant on August 20 – he was commissioned effective that date. Weatherhead attained high marks throughout his training, in both flying and academic subjects, and was fifth in a class of forty-seven at 3 SFTS. The RCAF assessed Weatherhead as best suited to maritime reconnaissance work so his next posting, on September 13, was to 31 General Reconnaissance School at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, flying Ansons. This was followed, from November 22, <strong>by</strong> a month with 31 OTU at Debert, Nova Scotia, this time on the Lockheed Hudson. Weatherhead moved to Halifax on January 6, 1942, in readiness for service overseas and on January 21 disembarked in the UK. His first posting was to 6 (Coastal) OTU at Thorna<strong>by</strong> in Yorkshire on February 27, followed <strong>by</strong> 1 (Coastal) OTU at Silloth on March 10. His first squadron posting, on Future Fortress pilot Richard Weatherhead attended Mission Public School. In this 1923/24 Grade 8 photograph the eleven yearold Weatherhead stands on the far right of the second row from the back. (Mission Archives) 15