Flight Lieutenant Evan Campbell Devine (J/5705) served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. He was the son of Evan Wellington Devine and Muriel Eleize Devine of Grand Valley, Ontario, Canada. He was the husband of Mary Joan Devine of Orillia, Ontario, Canada.
Cam, as family and friends knew him, died on 12th August 1944 aged 22 years old. He was the pilot of Short Sunderland NJ175. The Flying Boat took off at 1155hrs on 12th August 1944 from R.A.F. Castle Archdale, Co. Fermanagh.
Royal Canadian Air Force 422 Squadron crew led by Evan Campbell "Cam" Devine. Three of this crew died in a crash after taking off from R.A.F. Castle Archdale on 12th August 1944. Photo from WW2 Talk Forms.
The crew was from Royal Canadian Air Force 422 Squadron flying with the Royal Air Force Coastal Command. Their mission for the day was a convoy patrol over the Atlantic Ocean. The plane came down on flat ground near Cashelard, Co. Donegal causing a fire, which burned out the forward section and wings of the plane.
Evan Campbell Devine’s grave is in Plot 2, Grave 51 of Irvinestown Church of Ireland, Irvinestown, Co. Fermanagh. His headstone bears the inscription:
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. St. John XI.25.
A memorial to the crew of Short Sunderland NJ175 stands near Belleek. Pieces of melted aluminium from the wreck are visible around the memorial erected by Gary Pentland and James McGarrigle.