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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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183 Squadron Crest
06.06.1944 No. 183 Squadron Typhoon Ib MN478 F/O. Melsom H.W. Gee

Operation: Patrol

Date: 6th June 1944

Unit: No. 183 Squadron

Type: Typhoon Ib

Serial: MN478

Base: Normandy, France.

Location: Caen, France

Pilot: F/O. Melsom Henry Walter Gee J/18681 RCAF Age 22. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Shot down at around midday at Caen by Me 109. 

His brother describes the action:

"He and four others were strafing armour south of Caen on D-Day. They were jumped by 12 Messerschmitts and a dogfight ensued. He radioed the Squadron Leader saying “am heading south to draw them off, so break for home.”  

He crashed in an orchard and was buried by French peasants. Was “missing” for 15 months until War Graves Commission caught up. A survivor visited my parents at war’s end. Brought his logbook and personal effects. He stated that none of the four who reached base would have survived without his sacrifice (4 September 1997)."

Gee Lake southwest of Nejanilini Lake was named after F/O. Melsom H.W. Gee in 1975.

Burial details:

F/O. Melsom Henry Walter Gee. Banneville-La-Campagne War Cemetery. XVII. B.8. Son of Fred M. and Edith M. Gee. of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Acknowledgements: Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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