Edward Frederic Knibbs

Eddie Knibbs was the only child of Frederic William Knibbs (b. ca. 1888) and Jessie Louise Taylor (b. ca. 1889). They both were English and Jessie was born in London. Frederic came to Toronto before the First World War and lived near Broadview and Queen with his family. Similarly, Jessie came to Canada with her family in 1911. She was the daughter of a packer and was working as a salesclerk at Eaton's department store. The couple married in 1923 when they were in their early 30s and they were living on Redwood Avenue near Greenwood Avenue and Gerrard Street when Eddie was born on July 30, 1924. They moved to Coxwell Avenue and when Eddie started at Norway in 1931, their address was 726 Woodbine Avenue. Frederic was a travelling salesman, eventually taking a job as a stock keeper. The family remained in the Norway district, moving to 38 Firstbrook Road in the late 1930s and several years later living at 610 Woodbine. They were members of St. John's Norway church.

Eddie was involved in the Boy Scouts at Norway School and graduated Grade 8 in 1939. He started the Industrial course at Danforth Tech but left halfway through Grade 10. He returned several months later, in September 1941, and took a special Math course at night school. His interest in sports was limited to some baseball and playing the occasional hockey game. He also enjoyed photography.

He was eager to be in the RCAF and tried to join in May 1942, but was told that he couldn't enlist until he turned 18 on July 30. Danforth granted him his Intermediate certificate, which was given to anyone with enough credits as long as he/she enlisted or joined the farm service.

Finally on August 13, 1942 Eddie joined the RCAF. The next day he was sent to RCAF Lachine, on what is now Trudeau Airport in Montreal. Eddie was given basic training there and was tested to see which position he was best suited for, which turned out to be wireless air gunner. In 1942, five weeks of this RCAF stream were devoted to basic training, then Eddie was transferred to Guelph in October for four to eight weeks of tarmac duty, then twenty-eight weeks of wireless (radio) school. There he had lectures in Mathematics, radio theory, Morse code, visual signalling with lamps and flags, aircraft identification and radio troubleshooting and repair. Toward the end of the course, the students began practising on daylight flights and after approximately 30 flying hours, training was complete.

Eddie graduated on May 14, 1943 and then was sent to Mossbank in Saskatchewan for bombing and gunnery school. There he placed 7th out of 38 in the class. During most of his training, he didn't see his parents much, apart from a Christmas leave, nine days at the beginning of February and a two week leave at the end of June prior to embarking for England. He arrived in England on July 29, 1943 and promptly began further courses for Wireless Air Gunners. Eddie trained from November 30 at RAF Stranraer at the most southwestern tip of Scotland. He trained to be crew on aircraft that provided coastal protection. When he graduated, he was posted to RCAF Squadron 423 on March 2, 1944.

The 423 was formed as a coastal squadron to counter U-boat threats and equipped with Sunderland Mark III flying boats. These planes had large crews of 10 to 12 men as they patrolled for 10 to 14 hours at a time. The Sunderlands had a galley and 6 cots for crew breaks. They were able to land on water and rescue sailors whose ships had been torpedoed and downed airmen. The squadron was based in Northern Ireland, on Lough Erne in the southwest. The base was shared by five RAF and two RCAF squadrons, making it very crowded. The patrols ranged as far as the Shetlands and Norwegian waters. The weather in the first half of May was poor and only 4 operational trips were flown. Before, during and after D-Day in June 1944, all planes were on hand for anti-submarine patrols over the English Channel. Usually a crew flew once every five days, but during the D-Day invasion, all leave was cancelled and the squadron flew more operational hours that month than ever before. By the end of the summer, things returned to normal and Eddie was on crews flying daylight U-boat patrols.

Short Sunderland flying boat. Imperial War Museum photo.

On February 11, 1945, 20 year old Eddie climbed aboard Sunderland NJ183 to provide a convoy escort. The Captain was 20 year old John McLennan from Victoria, B.C. The first pilot was also from B.C, Terence Hailstone, 20 years old. The second pilot was James Seeger from Welland, Ontario, aged 22. The navigator was John Ross, 25, from Manitoba and the flight engineer was Charles Cruickshank, 42, from Red Deer, Alberta. Along with Eddie, the other wireless operators were an English RAF airman, Philip Woollatt, aged 24 and 23 year old Jean Marie Soucie from Moonbeam, Ontario. The air gunners were Jack Gingrich, 38, from West Calgary; Morley Wilbee, 21, from Stratford, Ontario and an RAF man, C. Ramsden.

The weather was cloudy, but not poor. The Sunderland took off at approximately 1230 hrs and witnesses soon spotted black smoke coming from the starboard side of the plane. It was flying at 1500 feet. In less than five minutes the plane crashed about five miles to the east of the base. All of the crew were killed instantly. An inquiry determined that the fire originated behind the firewall of the starboard inner engine, but could find no evidence of mechanical failure. Unusually, the families were told that the airmen died returning from an anti-submarine patrol and were specifically not told about the fire on board.

The funerals for Eddie and the others were held five days later, on February 16. Eddie was described in a letter to his parents as “a popular and efficient officer.” He is buried in Irvinestown Church of Ireland Churchyard, Northern Ireland.

Eddie's grave, Irvinestown Church of Ireland churchyard. Photo: Martyn Boyd, Canadian Virtual War Memorial.

Mr. and Mrs. Knibbs moved to 221 Coleridge Avenue near Lumsden and Woodbine and appear to have passed away in the 1960s.

To show the nature of the Norway community, it is interesting to note that another casualty of Woodbine Avenue was William Shearstone whose mother lived at 714 Woodbine. William graduated from Corpus Christi school that was on Edgewood Avenue. His sister was married to Kenneth Ferron's brother and they lived at 610 Woodbine, in the same house as Mr. & Mrs. Knibbs. (Prior to the 1970s, many houses in the Beach were rentals, which were divided into apartments.) William Shearstone was killed 10 days after Kenneth Ferron. Mrs. Shearstone expressed her sympathy for both Eddie and Kenneth with In Memoriam remembrances in The Toronto Star.

The Shearstones' In Memoriam to Eddie. KNIBBS - In loving memory of a dear friend, W.O. Eddy Knibbs, accidentally killed in a plane crash in Ireland, February 11, 1945. There's a sad but sweet remembrance, There's a memory fond and true, There's a token of love, dear Eddy, And a heartache still for you. - The Shearstone Family. The Toronto Star, February 11, 1946.

Flying Officer William Joseph Shearstone (1921-1944). Source: Libary and Archives Canada.