For Posterity's Sake         

A Royal Canadian Navy Historical Project

In memory of those who have Crossed the Bar

HARE, Mervin Charles (Butch), Lt (P), RCN, died - 30 Jun 1950, HMCS YORK - Son of William Charles and Martha Gladys Hare of Toronto, Ontario. Husband of Barbara (Vokes) and father of Karen Barbara Hare. Brother of Warrant Officer 2nd Class Ronald William Hare.

Lt Hare died when his plane crashed in Maine, USA, while enroute from Montreal to Dartmouth, NS on 30 Jun 1950

Awards and Decorations:  Pacific Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-1945, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal, Maple Leaf Clasp.

LIEUT.(P) MARVIN C. HARE, RCN

Lieut. (P) Marvin C. (Butch) Hare, RCN, of Toronto, Naval Air Test and Liaison Officer and Staff Officer (Air) at HMCS York, Toronto, and HMCS Star, Hamilton, was reported missing during a flight from Quebec City to Dartmouth, NS, on June 30.

Despite an intensive search by RCN, RCAF and United States aircraft, no trace of Lieut. Hare or his Sea Fury single seater aircraft has yet been found.

Born in Ottawa on August 13, 1924, Lieut. Hare was living in Toronto prior to joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve for duty with the Fleet Air Arm in January, 1943. The following year he transferred to the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve but continued flying training overseas in ships and air stations of the Royal Navy.

He returned to Canada late in 1946 and in February 1947 was appointed to the RCN Air Section at Dartmouth in 743 Squadron. Later he took an Accident Prevention Course, during which he transferred to the RCN with a short service commission.

In May 1947 Lieut. Hare joined 883 Squadron for instructional duties and shortly afterwards took up similar duties with No. 1 Training Air Group. A year later he became Naval Air Test and Liaison Officer, Montreal. He transferred to the permanent force in April 1949, a month before his appointment as Naval Air Test and Liaison Officer and Staff Officer (Air) at York and Star.

Excerpt from "What Happened to Lieutenant Hare?" by Peter Noddin, East Millinocket, Maine (website: http://katahdingateway.com/seafury/index.htm )

Around noon on Friday, June 30, 1950 Royal Canadian Navy Lt. Mervin C. Hare took off from Quebec City in Hawker FB 11 “Sea Fury” number TF 997 and proceeded to put on a brief show of high speed aerobatics before flying off to the east. The brief stop at the Armament Establishment at Ancienne Lorette, so that some internal measurements could be taken, was the third stop on his ferry flight from Toronto to HCMS Shearwater in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The plane had just completed an overhaul at A.V. Roe LTD and was being returned to his squadron, the 803 Naval Fighter Squadron, at Shearwater.

Twenty minutes later, Gene Duprey at a camp on Allagash Lake saw TF 997 pass over on course, on schedule, but low, “on the deck”. The 8000 foot ceiling that existed over Quebec when he took off was rapidly closing in to 2000 feet as a warm front moved westward. This was the last certain sighting of TF 997 for nearly 18 years.

When Lt. Hare failed to arrive at Shearwater, a massive international air search was launched. After five days, the U.S. search was called off. No evidence of a crash could be found in the search area from Mt. Katahdin to the New Brunswick border, and it was felt that the plane had made it to New Brunswick before going down. Seven days later, the Canadian search was also called off. Hawker Sea Fury Crash Site

The fate of Lt. Hare remained a complete mystery until the wreckage of the Sea Fury was discovered in February 1968 by two foresters north of Millinocket. An RCN examination of the wreckage located parachute parts and other evidence that the pilot had not bailed out. However, the pilots remains were never recovered, so a small ridge in the thick Maine woods is the final resting place of the 25 year old Lieutenant who began his career in 1944, trained in the U.S. as a Royal Navy F4U Corsair pilot and served in the Pacific aboard the HMS Victorious in the closing days of WW II.