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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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RAF Crest
06.05.1942 No. 13 OTU Blenheim IV Sgt. Crawford

Operation: Training

Date: 06th May 1942 (Wednesday)

Unit: No. 13 Operational Training Unit. 7 Group

Type: Blenheim IV

Serial: L8755

Code: Not known

Base: RAF Bicester, Oxfordshire

Location: North Sea

Pilot: Sgt. Thomas Alvin Crawford R/87315 RCAF Age 21. Killed

Obs: Sgt. Donald John Mckenzie NZ/404388 RNZAF Age 27. Missing - believed killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Wesley Newell Ward 905163 RAFVR Age ? Missing - believed killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 11:05 hrs. on a cross country and sea navigational exercise. 12 aircraft from the unit taking part.

Nothing further was heard from them and it is thought they came down in the North Sea.The body of the pilot was washed ashore on Ameland on the 21st July 1942.

Burial details:

Sgt. Thomas Alvin Crawford. Ameland General Cemetery (Nes), Plot D. Row 15. Grave 17. Born on the 06th June 1916 at Harris, the son of Ernest Garfield and Ethel Jane Crawford (née Clayton). Husband of Grace Patricia (nee Kavanagh) Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Worked for his father as a truck driver prior to service.

Sgt. Donald John Mckenzie. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 117. Born on the 28th November 1914 at Invercargill, New Zealand, the son of Colin and Jane McKenzie (nee Sheppard), of Awarua Plains, Southland, New Zealand. Prior to service worked as a farm hand on his fathers farm.

Fl/Sgt. Wesley Newell Ward. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 76. No further details - are you able to assist?

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Jenifer Lemaire and to the research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland Library Heritage Collection, Weekly News of New Zealand, other sources as quoted below:

KTY 19.09.2019

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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 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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