Operation: Training exercise

Date: 22nd March 1941 (Saturday)

Unit: No. 612 Squadron (Coastal Command)

Type: Blenheim IV

Serial: T4287

Code: WL-?

Base: RAF Dyce, Scotlan

Location: Stoneywood, Scotland

Pilot: Sgt. Ronald Charles Durbridge 754753 RAFVR Age ? Killed

Obs: P/O. William Finlay Crockart 91231 RAF (Auxiliary) Age 28. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Brendan James Holden 650357 RAF Age 23. Killed

We are indebted to Jacky Rodger who submitted comprehensive information on P/O. Crockart to Aircrew Remembered in March 2017.

REASON FOR LOSS:

On approach to Dyce airfield hit a house and crashed at Stoneywood Railway Station killing all the crew.

Additional information on P/O. William Crockart:

Perth Advertiser Wednesday 26th March 1941 - A Perthshire airman who was to have been married in Perth on Saturday first has been killed on active service. Mr. and Mrs. William Crockart, Westdene, Perth Road, Blairgowrie, have been informed of the death of their only son, Pilot Officer W. Finlay Crockart, RAF

He was to have wed Miss Hilda H. Kilgour, youngest daughter of the late Mr. David Kilgour and of Mrs. Kilgour, Inverkeithing. Well-known in Perth, Pilot Officer Crockart was aged 28. He joined the Auxiliary Air Service in 1939, was called up at the outbreak of war, and was commissioned last summer.

He served his apprenticeship in Perth branch of the National Bank of Scotland and for 4 1/2 years was accountant in the Coupar Angus branch. After a period of relief duty, mostly in the North of Scotland, he was appointed to the Union Street branch, Aberdeen, in 1938.

An all-round sportsman, Pilot Officer Crockart took a keen interest in Blairgowrie Hockey Club, for which he played and acted as secretary and treasurer for a number of years. It was largely due to his initiative that the club was able to balance its yearly budget; he organised an annual “treasure hunt” in aid of funds, introducing photographic clues. He also played a leading part in the formation of Blairgowrie F.P. Club, in which he held the office of secretary. He was secretary and treasurer of the F.P. Badminton Club, and member of Blairgowrie Golf Club.

Amateur photography occupied a large part of his leisure, this being a hobby at which he was very efficient. A member of Blairgowrie South Church he served the board of management.

Burial details:

Sgt. Ronald Charles Durbridge. Guildford New Cemetery (Stoke). Block P. Grave 227. Son of Charles and Rosina Durbridge, 37 Addison Road. Guildford, Surrey, England.

P/O. William Finlay Crockart. Dyce Old Churchyard. Grave 8. Born in 1912 in Blairgowrie, the son of William and Christina Crockart, of Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland. Also remembered on the Blairgowie War Memorial, Blairgowie High School

Sgt. Brendan James Holden. Kilcurley Catholic Cemetery. Grave E.84. Son of William and Christina Holden, of Moate, County Westmeath, Ireland.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Jacky Rodger, Kate Tame and the Beitish Newspaper Archives and other sources indicated below:

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