Operation: Chemnitz

Date: March 5 1945 (Monday)

Unit: 426 RCAF Squadron - Motto: On Wings of Fire

Squadron Badge heraldry: A Thunderbird

Type: Handley Page Halifax VII

Serial: PN228

Code: OW-A

Base: RAF Linton on Ouse, North Riding of Yorkshire

Location: Crashed near Linton on Ouse following collision with 425 Squadron aircraft MZ845

Pilot: S/L Eric Thomas Garrett J10741 RCAF Age 24 - Killed (1)

Fl/Eng: P/O Eric Stanley Jerome 195710 RAFVR Age 24 - Killed (2)

Nav: F/O John Leslie Atkinson J35829 RCAF Age 32 - Killed (3)

Air/Bmr: F/O Kenneth George Parker J36081 RCAF Age 22 - Killed (4)

W/Op/Air/Gnr: P/O William Gordon Miller J94338 RCAF Age 20 - Killed (5)

Air/Gnr: P/O John Blair Linstead J94527 RCAF Age 19 - Killed (6)

Air/Gnr: P/O Harold Dick Mcleod J94365 RCAF Age 20 - Killed (7)

We appeal to anyone with further information and/or photographs to please contact us via our HELPDESK

REASON FOR LOSS:

Collision with another aircraft, Halifax MZ845. With no surviving crew members it is impossible to exclude the possibility that the pilot had lost control as a result of severe icing conditions that existed at the time. For further details see JB122 ADDENDUM: AIRFRAME ICING - Loss 4

BURIAL DETAILS, MEMORIALS AND EPITAPHS

(1) Sqn Ldr Eric Thomas Garrett was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 12.

His epitaph reads

O valiant spirit

R.I.P.

Son of Charles E.C. and Sheila Garrett, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Your mission completed,

(2) P/O Eric Stanley Jerome was buried at Acton Cemetery - Section M, Row V, Grave 55.

His epitaph reads:

“Until the day break

And the shadows flee away”

Till then

Son of Thomas and Elsie Jerome; husband of Joan Louise Jerome, of Acton, London.

(3) F/O John Leslie Atkinson was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 11.

His epitaph reads:

Greater love

Hath no man than this

Son of John Thomas and Beatrice Mae Atkinson; husband of Mary Atkinson, of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada. B.Comm. Accountant.

(4) F/O Kenneth George Parker was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 10.

His epitaph reads:

Your cheery word

And smiling face

Are greatly missed

Son of George and Janet Stewart Scott Parker, of Arnprior, Ontario, Canada.

(5) P/O William Gordon Miller was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 1.

His epitaph reads:

May his soul

Rest in peace

Son of Harold Gordon and Mary Ann Miller, of White Rock, British Columbia, Canada.

(6) P/O John Blair Linstead was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 9.

His epitaph reads:

He is gone but not forgotten

By his mother and dad

Brother and sisters

Son of Thomas John and Helen Blair Linstead, of High River, Alberta, Canada.

(7) P/O Harold Dick Mcleod was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 8.

His epitaph reads:

To a dear son and brother:

Till we meet again

Hail and farewell!

Oh, gallant heart

Son of John W.G. and Anne I. Mcleod, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

References:

Aircrew Remembered Archive Report: JB122 Addendum- Airframe Icing. Journey’s End, Kevin Wilson- Chapter Fourteen, A COLD AND SILENT KILLER pp. 266-292. Library and Archives Canada/ancestry.ca. Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.

Photo Credits:

LAC/ancestry.ca: Canada, WWII Service Files of War Dead, 1939-1947. F1. S/L Eric Garrett- File 27570 Image 257. F2. F/O John Atkinson - File 24771 Image 363. F3. F/O Kenneth Parker - File 28376 Image 239. F4. P/O William Miller - File 28245 Image 83. F5. P/O John Linstead - File 27993 Image 172. F6 P/O Harold McLeod - File 28129 Image 163.

Co-Authors:

John Naylor

Maureen Hicks

Pete Pearson

Reg Price DFC, 625 Squadron vet

Submission by John Proctor, Jack Albrecht and Nic Lewis.

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