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Operation: Circus 103B
Date: 27th September 1941 (Saturday)
Unit: No. 603 Squadron (motto: Gin ye daur - 'If you dare')
Type: Spitfire V
Serial: W3233
Code: XT-?
Base: RAF Hornchurch, Essex
Location: Gravelines, France
Pilot: Fl/Sgt. William James Archibald R/68551 RCAF Age 21. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
12 aircraft took off at 13:35 hrs from the squadron were sent as close escort to 12 Blenheim's that were to bomb Mazingarbe, Pas de Calais. The French coast was crossed at 17000 ft over Mardyke. The bombers then when to the west to their target. Heavy and accurate flak was encountered considering the height.
Enemy aircraft were then encountered with 2 Me109's claimed as 'probables' and 1 destroyed. In this action Sgt. Allard flying Spitfire R7221 and Sgt. Archibald in W3233 were engaged by enemy aircraft and while no one has been able to report on them from the sweep, they have mot returned, and are officially 'missing'. Sgt. Allard was last seen in the Hazebrouck area, both pilots were over land when last seem.
P/O. Marland Spitfire W3130 made a forced landing on the beach at Dungeness. Sgt. Beanett Spitfire W3502 crash landed at Lymph. Sgt. Mokelvie in Spitfire R7305 had its rudder shot away and the tail plane was damaged, but he brought his plane home safely, The remainder all returned by 15:35 hrs.
A disastrous day for fighter command. Also lost on the same operation:
72 Squadron Spitfire Vb AB843 Flown by Sgt. Albert Frederick Binns 1375801 RAFVR missing - believed killed.
72 Squadron Spitfire Vb P8560 Flown by Sgt. John Graham Merrett AUS/402294 RAAF Killed.
129 Squadron Spitfire Vb W3824 Flown by Sgt. J.A Spence-Ross 778253 RAFVR PoW No. 436 Camp: Stalag Kopernikus
308 Squadron Spitfire Vb W3940 Flown by Sgt. Ernest Feliks Watolski 783288 PAF PoW No: 9680 Camp: Stalag Luft Sagan.
402 Squadron Spitfire IIb Z5005 Flown by P/O. S.A. Graham J/3707 RCAF PoW No. 3807 Camp: Stalag Luft Sagan.
403 Squadron Spitfire Vb AD207 Flown by Sq/Ldr. Roland Anthony Lee Knight DFC. 37772 RAF Killed
603 Squadron Spitfire V R7221 Flown by Sgt. W.J. Allard 1253159 RAFVR PoW No: 9687 Camp: Stalag Luft Sagan.
611 Squadron Spitfire Vb W3442 Flown by Sgt. G.T. Evans R/65407 RCAF PoW No: 9663 Camp: L6
Many others returned to units with various degrees of damage.
Burial and other details:
Fl/Sgt. William James Archibald/ Dunkirk Town Cemetery. Plot 2 Row 2 Grave 34. Born on the 28th January 1920 in Dunneville. Ontario. Educated at Oakville Public School and Oakville High School. Worked briefly for Canada Life Society. Enlisted at Fort William on the 13th April 1940.
Son of Robert Harvey Archibald and Susan Beattie Archibald, of 61 Reynolds Street, Oakville, Ontario, Canada. Epitaph: 'Greater Love Hath No Man Than This, That A Man Lay Down His Life For His Friends'.
Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the Paradie RCAF Archive, National Archive Kew AIR-27-2079/30
Other pages that may interest you:
KTY 16-10-2023
History Airborne Forces • Soviet Night Witches • Bomber Command Memories • Abbreviations • Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained • USA Flygirls • Axis Awards Descriptions • 'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination • Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis • SOE Heroine Nancy Wake • Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
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 Captain 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', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. 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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