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.

405 crest
405 Squadron Lancaster III ND881 Fl/Lt. Stanley Clayton McDonald

Operation: Montdidier

Date: 03/04th May 1944 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit: No. 405 Squadron (motto: 'Ducimus - 'We Lead') 8 Group

Type: Lancaster III

Serial: ND881

Code: LQ-Q

Base: RAF Gransden Lodge, Cambridgeshire

Location: Montdidier target area

Pilot: Fl/Lt. Stanley Clayton McDonald J/23317 RCAF Age 25. Killed

Fl/Eng: P/O. Michael Adrian Burnaby 173083 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

Nav: F/O. John Alexander Mcintyre J/22589 RCAF Age 21. Killed

Air/Bmr: F/O. William Earnest Parsons J/23971 RCAF Age 26. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: F/O. Glen Mason Weaver J/19918 RCAF Age 23. Killed

Air/Gnr: P/O. Dudley Thomas Serviss J/86301 RCAF Age 22. Killed

Air/Gnr: P/O. John Edward Shepherd J/19904 RCAF Age 34. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 23:02 hrs on an operation to the Montdidier Luftwaffe airfield, a total of 84 Lancaster with 8 Mosquitoes took part.

Extensive damage was done among buildings and installations on the northern part of the airfield were reported.

4 Lancasters was shot down although just the one from the 405 squadron, the others:

35 squadron Lancaster III ND643TL-S Flown by 21-year-old, P/O. Colin Elton RAFVR - all 7 crew killed.
582 squadron Lancaster III JA968 60-Q Flown by 22-year-old, Fl/Lt. Frederick Castell Bertelsen RCAF - all 7 crew killed.
582 squadron Lancaster III nd910 60-F Flown by W/O2. Charles James Erskine O'neill RCAF - 6 Killed with 1 evading capture.

ND881 was shot down by Lt. Walter Starck of 1./SKG10 at 00:10hrs. and crashed north of the target. Debris was widely scattered, indicating that the Lancaster had exploded before impact.

Burial details:

Buried at 16:00 hrs on the afternoon of the 06th May.

Fl/Lt. Stanley Clayton McDonald. Montdidier French National Cemetery. Grave 5808. Son of Stanley Clayton McDonald and Inga McDonald, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Grave inscription: 'Beyond The Sunset Into The Light Of God's Eternity He Waits Until We Meet Again'.

P/O. Michael Adrian Burnaby. Montdidier French National Cemetery. Collective grave 5811-5814. Son of Ralph Houghton Burnaby and Hilda Margaret Burnaby, of Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. Grave inscription: 'Greater Love Hath No Man Than This'.

F/O. John Alexander Mcintyre. Montdidier French National Cemetery. Collective grave 5811-5814. Son of Robert and Rita McIntyre, of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada. Grave inscription: 'In The Garden Of Memories We Meet Every Day. Mom And Dad'.

F/O. William Earnest Parsons. Montdidier French National Cemetery. Grave 5810. Son of William Henry and Dorothy May Parsons, of Fort William, Ontario, Canada. Grave inscription: 'May His Rest Be In Peace, And His Dwelling-Place In The Paradise Of God'.

F/O. Glen Mason Weaver. Montdidier French National Cemetery. Collective grave 5811-5814. Also remembered on a plaque at Birnie Memorial Park. Son of Sydney and Mary Weaver, of Birnie, Manitoba, Canada. His brothers Pte. Charles Edward H/77190 (09th December 1943) and Tpr. Frederick Murray H/77168 (killed 0n the 05th September 1944) also served. Grave inscription: 'Peace I Leave With You, My Peace I Give Unto You'.

Weaver Bay in Stoney Lake was after Glen Mason Weaver in 1989

Weaver Point in Stoney Lake was renamed after Charles Edward in 1989.

Weaver Island in Stoney Lake was renamed after Frederick Murray in 1989.


P/O. Dudley Thomas Serviss. Montdidier French National Cemetery. Grave 5805. Son of Frederick N. Serviss and Helen F. Serviss, of Cardinal, Ontario, Canada. Grave inscription: 'Thy Will Be Done'.

P/O. John Edward Shepherd. Montdidier French National Cemetery. Collective grave 5811-5814. Son of Ada B. Shepherd, and stepson of Harold Simpson, of Brigden, Ontario, Canada. Grave inscription: 'At The Going Down Of The Sun We Will Remember Them'.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Francois Dutil, Kracker Archives, Theo Boiten 'Nachtjad Combat Diaries' 1944 part 2, sources as quoted below:

KTY 11-01-2022

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 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.
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 - 2025
Last Modified: 23 January 2023, 19:02

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