# Second World War Plane Found in Ontario Lake



## 57Chevy (27 Jul 2011)

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http://www.sott.net/articles/show/232512-Canada-Second-World-War-Plane-Found-in-Ontario-Lake
Nanaimo Daily News
 26 Jul

More than 70 years after it went down, a Second World War aircraft has been discovered in the depths of Lake Muskoka, it was announced Tuesday.

The Ontario Provincial Police, Department of National Defence, the provincial Heritage Ministry and the Lost Airmen of Muskoka Project confirmed that the A-17 Nomad that crashed following a mid-air collision in 1940 was discovered in the lake.

Although the announcement was made this week, the wreckage was first discovered a year ago, in July 2010, by an OPP underwater search crew using sonar.

A remotely operated vessel was later used to explore the site, some 150 kilometres north of Toronto, and the two-seater aircraft was identified as one that went down on Dec. 13, 1940. It was searching for another plane when the collision took place. 

The personal belongings of the plane's occupants - 24-year-old Royal Canadian Air Force Lt. Peter Campbell and 27-year-old observer Theodore Bates - were removed from site by police dive teams.

The OPP and the coroner's office ruled the missing persons case closed and say the remains of the men are not recoverable.

An investigation by the Department of National Defence is continuing and all personal belongings - which are being treated for preservation - will be given to the men's families once the process is completed.

The exact location of the site is being kept secret to protect the wreckage.


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## 57Chevy (27 Jul 2011)

57Chevy said:
			
		

> the wreckage was first discovered a year ago



During WWII a crash into Lake Muskoka occurred involving a Northrop Nomad A-17A, which still contains the remains of British pilot, Peter Campbell, and Canadian pilot, Ted Bates. The pair collided with another Nomad over southern Lake Muskoka and crashed into the lake's icy depths on December 13th, 1940 while searching for another pilot that had gone missing in a snow storm the day before. The other plane they crashed into also plunged into the lake; however, it and its two dead crew members were brought to the surface in 1941, leaving Campbell and Bates behind on the lake's 140 foot bottom.

Between 1942 and 1945, at the Muskoka Airport, the RNAF trained Norwegian pilots during World War II at what was then called "Little Norway". One of the planes from a training mission crashed off of Norway Point, killing the pilot. The aircraft was accidentally recovered by a cable crew snagging the plane in 1960 and the pilot was found inside. For reasons unknown the plane was cut free and fell back to the bottom with the pilot still inside.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Muskoka


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