Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 33 Allan Fenwick Coggon was born in Dartmouth in 1919 and his family moved to Clearland, just outside Mahone Bay, when he was a child. In 1946 Allan became a member of Branch 49 Mahone Bay. He was a tireless advocate of our Canadian veterans’ legacy. Here is some of Allan’s story – a story of four decades of flying. Allan went for his first airplane ride in February 1927 when he was eight years old. A de Havilland Gipsy Moth, equipped with skis, landed in Mahone Bay and was offering rides for a dollar. Allan was hooked on becoming a pilot. In October 1939 he applied to the RCAF for a chance to fly. He was accepted into the RCAF on 1 June 1940, which just happened to be his 21st birthday. After basic training in Toronto, he did pilot training in Thunder Bay, Saskatoon, and Trenton. Allan was presented with his pilot wings in November. The RCAF decided that his talent and skill as a pilot would be best suited for a position within the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan; consequently, Allan became a pilot instructor. His instructional duties saw him posted to Dauphin and Winnipeg, MB; Picton, ON, and Pennfield Ridge, NB. In June 1942 Flying Officer Coggon was posted to St Hubert, QC, as a staff pilot for the RCAF Training Command Headquarters. His duties consisted primarily of flying military and civilian VIPs to various locations (which sometimes included secluded fishing camps). Allan had been requesting an overseas posting for over a year, but to no avail. In July 1943 he had 1,260 flying hours in his logbook and again requested a posting overseas – he wanted to get into the fighting war. The RCAF posted him to 164 Heavy Transport Squadron in Moncton. Allan was inducted into the permanent force of the RCAF in January 1944 and posted to Ottawa as a staff pilot. In September, with 2,240 flying hours in his logbook and numerous requests to go overseas, was posted to England. Allan was amongst a large group of RCAF men being trained for operations in the far east. Their role was to fly troops, ammunition, and supplies into battle – often behind enemy lines. Allan left for India in January 1945. In Comilla he joined 31 Squadron, RAF, and on 9 February, while at the controls of a C-47, he made his resupply mission flying over ‘the hump’ (Himalayan Mountains) into Burma. His squadron’s main tasks were close-support missions for the ground troops (in Allan’s case it was usually the troops of the 81st East African and 82nd West African divisions). Many of his ALLAN COGGON – an Aviatore Story by Gary Silliker continued ... Allan Coggon (left) during training in Saskatoon, Sask. Allan Coggon in Burma
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