A number of them were delivered in fuselage only, without their engines, so the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) turned for the United States of America for help. This way, by fitting American engines into British-made airframes, a new variant, the Mk.III was born, which was similar to an experimental Mk.I fitted with a pair of Jacobs L-6 MB radial engines with a power of 330hp each. These engines were similar to those of the Mk.II variant, which by this year, 1941, was already being manufacturing in Canada by Federal Aircraft, in Montreal. At the same time, the Canadian variants were all retrofitted with hydraulically retractable undercarriage.
In most of the cases, turrets were taken out, and the cristal area was reduced to make the aircraft more suitable for Canadian climate.
The first Anson Mk.III was converted from an Mk.I at the National Steel Car Co. (some sources claim it was done in Manchester, England) in March 1941 and was delivered to the RCAF in May. The first Mk.III made totally in Canada was completed by De Havilland Canada in late May.
The RAF initiated another engine change for the Anson when, in late 1941 and early 1942 an Mk.I was fitted with Wright Whirlwind engines, was tested at RAE Boscombe Down and received the denomination of Mk.IV.
This prototype, which initially conserved its turret, was shipped to Canada and was taken by the RCAF on 19th March 1942. Shortly later it was loaned to the USAAF for five months, between July and November. It seems that in 1942, with the Mk.II rolling out of the factories, there was no need for an Mk.IV. However, given the possibility of the Jacobs engines running out of supply, an unknown number of Mk.I and Mk.III were converted to the Whirlwind engine as an interim measure.
Given the hurry to get the Ansons available for the training facilities of the RCAF it's no clear which variant was used in every situation. Furthermore, to add more confusion, some Anson were modified locally in many RCAF stations.
Canadian manufacturing process of the Anson went one step further than the steel and canvas covered airframe. Given the availability in large numbers of wood, Canadian engineers decided to built an all-wooden version employing almost the same techniques as those used in the Mosquitoes during the same period of time. This new variant, called Mk.V and nicknamed as the 'Canadian wooden wonder' had three portholes on the fuselage sides hydraulic undercarriage and was powered by two Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior engines which yielded each of them 450 hp of power.
It was officially manufactured by Federal Aircraft Co., in Montreal, even if the prototype was built by a company named 'Vidal' in Bristol, Massachusetts, in the USA. It flew for the first time in early 1942 and was the first of the 1.070 exemplars that would be made of this trainer and transport variant. This variant was built in three Canadian factories and was again modified with the inclusion of a Bristol B.1 turret. This variant, called Mk.VI, was intended to be used for bombing and gunnery training, however, just a single prototype was built.
The Mark V proved to be an excellent machine and remained in service with the RCAF and Royal Canadian Navy well until after the war when, as many of the training stations set in the Commonwealth Air Training Plan were being deactivated, they were sold onto the civilian market.
The Avro Anson served with most of the Service Flying Training Schools (SFTS) set up in Canada, of which no less than 19 of them were established. Apart of those SFTS they served also with the No.10 Air Observers School, No.11 Bombing and Gunnery School and five Air Navigation Schools. They also served in Nos. 1 and 31 General Reconnaissance Schools and Nos. 312, 32, 34 and 36 Operational Training Units as well as the RCAF Central Flying School, three Flying Instructor Schools and many Fleet Requirement Units of the Royal Canadian Navy.
Sources:
1. Hall Park Books - Warpaint 53 - Avro Anson
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avro_Anson
3. https://www.valka.cz/Avro-Anson-t54872 (translated when needed)
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