Operation: Night Ranger

Date: 19th/20th April 1943 (Monday/Tuesday)

Unit No: 151 Squadron, Fighter Command.

Type: Mosquito NF.II

Serial: DZ755

Code: DZ:?

Base: RAF Wittering, Cambridgeshire

Location: Smeerling, Netherlands

Pilot: Fg Off. David Alistair Sparrow 126770 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

Nav: Fg Off. Victor Gordon Brown 50223 RAFVR Age 21. KiA

We welcome contact from the relatives - in particular the pilot, his fiancee's son would like to hear from you.

REASON FOR LOSS:

The crew attached from HQ, fighter Command. There were no Bomber Command missions on the 19th/20th April 1943 only a small-scale Mosquito night Ranger missions. Part of a flight of four Mosquitos from the squadron on this patrol. Lost after crossing the Frisian Islands over the coastline of Holland.

DZ755 was one of two Mosquitoes lost this night.

The second Mosquito was from 410 Squadron. DZ694 flown by 21 year old Flt Sgt. William James Reddie R91868 RCAF of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, with his navigator, 21 year old Sgt. Kenneth Evans 1321850 RAFVR of Morden, Surrey, England. This was the first Mosquito of the war to be shot down by a night fighter. Both crew members were posted as Missing in Action (MiA) and commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

Reddie Lake north of Gauer Lake in Manitoba, Canada was named after Flt Sgt. William James Reddie in 1995.

Not records have been found for Flak or night-fighter claims but it is probable that the aircraft was lost due to Flak damage.

Burial Details:

Fg Off. David Alistair Sparrow. Onstwedde General Cemetery. Plot A. Row E2. Grave 9. Grave inscription: ‘WHEREVER HE WENT THERE WAS HAPPINESS’. Born in the 2nd Qtr of 1922 in Gravesend, Kent. Son of Joseph Albert and Janet Marian (née Thomson) Sparrow, of Gravesend, Kent, England.

Also commemorated on the memorial plaque in St. Peter and St. Pauls Church Luddesdowne and a stall carrying his name in the church of St. George, Gravesend, Kent depicting the RAF NCO Service No. 932291.

Fg Off. Victor Gordon Brown. Onstwedde General Cemetery. Plot A. Row E2. Grave 8. Grave inscription: ‘ALWAYS HAPPY AND SMILING AND LOVED BY ALL. ESPECIALLY JOHN, VI, PAM AND JEAN’. Born in 1st Qtr of 1922 in Wisbech, Cambridgshire. Son of Reginald L. and Eleanor (née Scott) Brown; nephew of Mr. J. H. Bailey, of Friern Barnet, Middlesex, England.

Researched by Kelvin Youngs (Webmaster) and dedicated for Will Atkinson, whose mother was engaged to the pilot prior to his loss. Also to the relatives of this crew (Aug 2015). Updated by Aircrew Remembered (Sep 2023).

Others sources listed below:

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
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