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Operation: Armed Recconaisance
Date: 26th September 1944 (Tuesday)
Unit: No. 175 Squadron (motto: 'Stop at nothing')
Type: Typhoon IB
Serial: MN582
Code: HA-A
Base: B.78 Eindhoven
Location: Eefde, Holland
Pilot: Fl/Sgt. William Robert Stephen Hurrell 1386347 RAFVR Age 21. Missing - believed killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
Taking off at 12:35 hrs with five others from the squadron on a rocket propelled attack (The second of three for that day by 175 squadron in the Arnhem area.
They had just reached Appledoor when they were bounced by fifty plus Me109's whilst just flying under the cloud base. F/O. Ross William Clarke J/26500 RCAF and Fl/Sgt. Hurrell were attacked before they could break. F/O. Clarke's aircraft MM996 HH-S was hit many times and went into the clouds before making a crash landing at the base. Fl/Sgt. Hurrell, who was only on his third operational sortie, was not seen again and he was posted as missing.
F/O. Clarke was shot down and killed on the 24th October 1944 - further details here.
He was shot down by a Me109 from JG54 and listed as missing. The remains five landed safely at the advanced landing ground by 13:35 hrs. 21 Typhoons from 175 squadron took part in operational sorties this day.
F/O. Cooke was lost
The remains of Fl/Sgt. Hurrell were discovered in 2019 after an excavation of an aircraft on farmland near the village of Eefde in the municipality of Lochem, Netherlands National Aircraft Recovery Program.
The Recovery and Identification Unit of the Royal Netherlands Army and The RAF Air Historical Branch confirmed the aircraft recovered was Hawker Typhoon MN582 and Fl/Sgt Hurrell was buried with full military honours at CWGC Jonkerbos War Cemetery, The Netherlands on the 29th September 2022. His grave is now marked with a CWGC headstone and cared for in perpetuity. He is also remembered on family grave in Gippsland Memorial Park in Victoria, Australia.
Burial and other details:
Fl/Sgt. William Robert Stephen Hurrell. Jonkerbos War Cemetery. Grave I.C.7. Born on the 01st May 1922 in East Ham, London. Enlisted in March 1941. Served in India and America before receiving his pilot’s wings in 1942. He was promoted to Fl/Sgt. a year later. Son of Sydney and Daisy Ellen Hurrel (née Simonds - died 08th April 1980, age 83) of Beckton, Essex, England. Epitaph: 'He Did His Little Bit So That We Could Live In Peace Always Remembered'.
Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the National Archive Kew AIR-27-1111-17/18
KTY 01-07-2024
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Last Modified: 01 July 2024, 16:30