Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.

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15/16.06.1944 No 425 Squadron Halifax III LW715 KW-Q F/O. Kirk

Operation: Boulogne

Date: 15/16th June 1944 (Thursday/Friday)

Unit: No. 425 Squadron

Type: Halifax III

Serial: LW715

Code: KW-Q

Base: RAF Tholthorpe

Location: Desvres, France

Pilot: F/O. Earl Edward Kirk J/23788 RCAF - Evaded capture

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Clifford Adams 1450691 RAFVR Age 21. Killed

Nav: F/O. Harold G. Facey RCAF J/23944 RCAF PoW No: 6281Camp: Stalag Luft Sagan and Belaria L3.

Air/Bmr: F/O. Dave Stubbs J/27390 RCAF PoW No: 6310 Camp: Stalag Luft Sagan and Belaria L3

W/Op/Air/Gnr: F/O. Frederick D. Hagen J/26861 RCAF - Evaded capture (1)

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Donald Ralph McEvoy DFM. J/88896 RCAF Age 21. Killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Robert Vernon Furneaux R/193367 RCAF Age 21 - Evaded capture (2)

Air/Gnr: P/O. O.R. Collins J/36710 RCAF - Evaded capture

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from Tholthorpe at 20:45 hrs. on an operation to destroy light enemy naval vessels gathering in Boulogne Harbour. 227 aircraft taking part 155 Lancasters, 130 Halifaxes and 12 Mosquitoes of 1, 4, 5, 6 and 8 Groups. Although visibility was not so clear as the previous night the reported results was that this was the greatest destruction carried out of the war in this area with around 200 people killed on the ground.

After being hit by flak and sustaining a hit to the starboard inner engine, the Halifax caught fire and crashed at Desvres (Pas-de-Calais) 20 km SE of Boulogne. This was the only aircraft lost during this operation.

(1) F/O. Frederick D. Hagen - died 07th October 1996.

(2) Fl/Sgt. Robert Vernon Furneaux - died 30th January 2016.

Five of this crew escaped an earlier incident in the early hours at 03:40 hrs. on the 16th March 1944. During the return trip from an operation to Stuttgart the Halifax III LW413 KW-Q ran out of fuel. The crew successfully abandoned the aircraft with slight injuries. However 1 person was killed when the aircraft fell onto houses in Adelaide Street, Halesowen, Birmingham.

Burial details:

Sgt. Clifford Adams. Marquise Communal Cemetery. Plot 1. Row A. Grave 22. Son of Doris Lillian Adams of Hexthorpe, Doncaster, Yorkshire, England. Inscription on headstone reads: ”Precious Memories Silently Treasured.” Also remembered on the Doncaster War Memorial.

Sgt. Donald Ralph McEvoy DFM. Marquise Communal Cemetery. Plot 1.Row A.Grave 21. Born on the 18th April 1923 the son of Bernard and Inez McEvoy of Lindsay, Ontario, Canada. Sgt. McEvoy was awarded the DFM on the 29th August 1944 for destroying two enemy aircraft in an operation, June 1944. His DFM was sent to his next of kin on the 11th June 1946. Inscription on headstone reads: “He Served Well May His Dear Soul Rest In Peace.”

Researched by Linda Ibrom for Aircrew Remembered - June 2017 and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Denise Pannell (cousin) of Sgt. Adams, Operation Picture Me of Canada for photo of Mcevoy - Len from Find-A-Grave for grave photographs.

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