B-17 CC Additional Material by Robert M Stitt

Richard John Weatherhead
It is unlikely that residents of Weatherhead Court in Mission, British Columbia, know how their
street came by its name. So called after passage of a municipal bylaw 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 by 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, by 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 Thornaby in Yorkshire
on February 27, followed by 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