Joseph Tucker, was born on Valentine’s day, 1923.

Eighteen years later whilst training to be an engineer with International Nickel at Sudbury, Ontario he made a brave decision that would impact on his family for the rest of their lives.

Joseph Tucker on street in Cobalt before enlisting

Joseph was well aware of the war erupting all over Europe and whilst under no obligation to join that war, he elected to leave his employment and join other Canadian citizens involved in resisting Hitler and the threat he posed to the world. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942.

He was awarded his ‘wings’ in 1944 and sent to Europe where he was posted to Operational Training Unit 19, Forres on the shores of the Moray Firth, Scotland, to train as a Bomb Aimer in the Mk V, ZV-L, Whitley Heavy Bomber.

About 08.00 hours on 30th August 1944, four Whitley Heavy Bombers, took off from RAF Kinloss to participate in a cross country, navigational exercise.

One of these Whitley Bombers, AD712 had six crew members; four Canadian, the Pilot, Sgt Frank, the Bomb Aimer, Flight Officer Joseph Tucker, and Air Gunners, Sgt Barr and Sgt Dickie, as well as two British crew members, Sgt Moran and Sgt Cooper.

The four Whitleys had just passed to the south of Stirling, and were heading west through thick cloud, over the Gargunnock Hills in the direction of Fintry, when they encountered an electrical storm.

I will now let the words of Derek Hemingray, air crew on one of the accompanying Whitleys, tell the story from that point;

“We were flying in loose formation when after an hour or so we ran into an electrical storm. I immediately earthed all the aerials. Our aircraft then began to ice up along the leading edge of the wings with huge chunks intermittently flying off. Blue sparks were dancing along the leading edge and wind-milling round the props, it was a bit of a frightening do. We pressed on and as I was looking out at all this I could see the other aircraft as we kept breaking cloud now and again. Observing first two of the aircraft then again just one below to port. Seeing this aircraft break cloud once more, it just exploded.”

The stricken Whitley, AD 712, quickly lost height, before crashing into the ground in a vertical dive. On hitting the ground the Whitley burst into flames.

John Struthers, a schoolboy and local farmer’s son, remembers seeing pieces of fabric falling to the ground a few miles east of where the Whitley came down, suggesting it was breaking up whilst in the air. At the crash site the tail landed in a burn amongst a pile of smouldering wreckage. That was all the visible evidence of the tragedy that remained.

There were no survivors.

Sixty one years later, in 2005, members of the Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum and the Midland Aircraft Recovery Group, located and investigated the crash site, midway between Kippen and Fintry at Grid Reference OS Sheet 57 : 622912. They conducted the search using magnetometers from the EOD. Two deep signals were traced. John Struthers, a local farmer’s son, who witnessed the crash all these years before, assisted in the search.

Numerous pieces of fragmented wreckage were located. Perhaps the most interesting item found was the remains of the Mk XIV bomb sight, probably an OTU modification.

That is where I came into the story.

It was in 2022 when carrying out research into another aircraft crash site, for a book I was writing in partnership with Dr Murray Cook;

The Bannock Burn ‘journeys along and across the world’s most famous burn,’ that I encountered members of the previously mentioned, ‘Midland Aircraft Recovery Group’ and local amateur historian, Campbell Chesterman.

Campbell gave me the bomb sight, with the request, ‘will you try and find a relative of the Canadian airman who would have handled this item?’ I agreed.

In January 2025, nearly three years later I, with the help of the, Cobalt Historical Society, made contact with Joseph Tucker, nephew of Airman Joseph Tucker, the Bomb Aimer killed on 30 August 1944 between Kippen and Fintry.

I then, with the help of the Belgian Military Attache, obtained details of a senior officer of the Royal Canadian Airforce. Once I explained the story, he agreed to help. Soon afterwards one of his officers, based in Scotland, contacted me and arranged to pick up the sight.

On 26th February, I handed over the **Mk XIV bomb sight** to a member of the Royal Canadian Airforce at a hotel in Stirling. I am the white haired person on the right.

On Friday 27th June 2025, nearly 81 years after the crash, Brig.-Gen. Ryan Deming, who also serves as RCAF, director of general air and space readiness, presented Joe Tucker – Joseph’s nephew – with the bomb aimer’s handle artefact, recovered from the crash site.

The Brig.-Gen said;

“The year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War – it is fitting that even so many years later we recognise the ultimate sacrifice made by so many, so that we may continue to enjoy the freedoms they secured for us,”

Telegraph intimating Joe’s death. Dated 2 September 1944.

Poem written by Bernard Tucker after learning of the death of his brother Joe;

World War ll Comes Home

On Saturday morning

from our August garden

sweet succulent corn

ripe for shucking.

From the railway station

a telegram boy on his bicycle,

this time it's our house he measures,

his nose impels the screen door.

In the kitchen the message implodes;

metal and flame

shriek across the heavens,

bring down the parlour blinds.

A tolling bell summons

a file of neighbours to bless the memory of this lad,

help the smitten behind wet handkerchiefs

find some kernel they can accept.

Each time I take up this verse

another plane goes down.

Bernard L. Tucker

The Canadian airmen who perished that terrible day on 30 August 1944 in the hills near Fintry, Scotland, are all interred at Cadder Cemetery, Lanarkshire, near Glasgow, Scotland.

Flt Sgt F.L. Frank (Windsor, Ontario) Pilot

Flying Officer Joseph William Tucker, (Cobalt, Ontario) Air Bomber

Sgt G.H. Barr (Toronto, Ontario) Air Gunner

Sgt R.M. Dickie (Welland, Ontario) Air Gunner

The Britsh airmen who died were interred near their home towns;

Sgt F.C. Moran (interred Northwood, UK)

Sgt E.F. Cooper (interred Sheffield, UK)

ian mcneish

Footnote; Campbell Chesterman, who handed me the challenge to locate relatives of Joseph Tucker, sadly passed away more than a year ago and did not live to smile at my luck.

Thank you Campbell for thinking of the Tucker family.

Joe Tucker

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