AR banner
Search Tips Advanced Search
Back to Top

• Kracker Archive
• Allied Losses
• Archiwum Polish
• Paradie Canadian
• RCAF
• RAAF
• RNZAF
• USA
• Searchable Lists

Info LogoAdd to or correct this story with a few clicks.
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.
Check our Research databases: Database List

.

We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via the Helpdesk.

418
418 Squadron Mosquito FB VI HJ830 F/O. John Lees Darrell Armstrong MiD

Operation: Night Intruder

Date: 09th November 1943 (Tuesday)

Unit: No. 418 Squadron (motto: Inuktitut Piyautailili -  'Defend even unto death') 11 Group

Type: Mosquito FB VI

Serial: HJ830

Code: TH-J

Base: RAF Ford, Sussex

Location: Near Poix-de-Picardie, Somme, France

Pilot: F/O. 'Arnie' John Lees Darrell Armstrong MiD. J/22452 (R82222) RCAF Age 26. Killed

Obs: F/O. 'Brownie' Arthur John Brown J/14164 (R/138325) RCAF Age 26. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off at 19:02 hrs alone for a night intruder mission to Poix airfield. Failed to return.

We have been unable to establish of they were hit by flak or a victim of a night fighter. But considering they crashed in the target area more likely to have been hit by anti-aircraft fire.

Burial and other details:

Both of the crew were buried on the 11th of November 1943, The graves were looked after by a Miss Christine Depestel who places flowers on the graves.

F/O. John Lees Darrell Armstrong MiD. Poix-De-Picardie Churchyard. Row D. Grave 16. Born on the 16th October 1917 in Fort William, Ontario, Canada.. Worked at the Royal Bank of Canada as a teller. Enlisted on the 10th December 1940. Trained at 60 Operational Training Unit. Son of John Thomas and Elizabeth Armstrong, (née Lees) of Westmount, Province of Quebec, Canada. The People's Mosquito.


F/O. Arthur John Brown. Poix-De-Picardie Churchyard. Row D. Grave 17. Born on the 23rd October 1917 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Worked at the Royal Bank of Canada as n accountant. Enlisted on the 30th October 1941. Trained at 60 Operational Training Unit. Son of Arthur and Nellie Brown (née Edwards), of Sidney, British Columbia, Canada.


Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to the National Archives Kew Air 27-1820-41/42, Government of Canada Service Files.

Other pages that may interest you:

Pages regarding 1943 losses

Pages detailing RCAF losses

KTY 07-03-2024

Pages of Outstanding Interest
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
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', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, 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.
Click any image to enlarge it

Click to add your info via ticket on Helpdesk •Click to let us know via ticket on Helpdesk• Click to explore the entire site
If you would like to comment on this page, please do so via our Helpdesk. Use the Submit a Ticket option to send your comments. After review, our Editors will publish your comment below with your first name, but not your email address.

A word from the Editor: your contribution is important. We welcome your comments and information. Thanks in advance.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2024
Last Modified: 07 March 2024, 16:29

Monitor Additions/Changes?Click to be informed of changes to this page. Create account for first monitor only, thereafter very fast. Click to close without creating monitor