Packhard Merlin 29 Aero Engine: Flight Sergeant R Bellhouse; 1 Operational Training Unit (1 OTU) British Commonwealth Air Training Plan

Packard-built engine with US splined propeller shaft. The three metal propeller blades were bent on impact with the upper blade sawn off close to base. The engine was recovered from underwater wreck of Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Hawker Hurricane Mk XII fighter, serial no. 5715 of 1 Operational Training Unit (1 OTU) and shows considerable corrosion.

The relic consists of the remains of an aircraft engine from a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Hawker Hurricane Mk XII fighter (No. 5715 ) which was retrieved from the northeast corner of Gasperau Lake, Novia Scotia in 1984. The aircraft crashed at 12:15pm on 16 November 1944, while on a training flight from RCAF Station Dartmouth, Nova Scotia (now known as RCAF Shearwater) . The Australian pilot was 22 year old Flight Sergeant Reginald Bellhouse (436712) who lost his life flying in zero visibility weather conditions. Bellhouse and another pilot, Pilot Officer P F O'Hanlon of the RAFVR collided at 12:15pm with both aircraft coming down into Gaspereau Lake.

At the time of the crash, Bellhouse was flying with the No. 1 Advanced Tactical Training Detachment of 1 Operational Training Unit (1 OTU) of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP). In order to assist with any possible confusion, during the Second World War the RAAF and RAF both had a unit with the same name (1 OTU) in their respective countries.

An RCAF memorial service was held with the pilot was buried with full military honours at Holy Old Trinity Churchyard cemetery, Kingston Ontario, Canada.