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Operation: Duisberg, Germany
Date: 14/15th October 1944 (Saturday/Sunday)
Unit: No. 434 Squadron
Type: Halifax III Serial: MZ920 Code: WL-C
Base: RAF Croft, Yorkshire
Location: Dunchurch
Pilot: Fl/Lt. Donald Zachary Taylor Wood C/1771 RCAF Age 26. Killed.
Fl/Eng: Sgt. Geofrey Davies Grant 2221017 RAFVR Age 21. Killed
Nav: F/O. William Robert Ewing J/38699 RCAF Age 24. Killed (1)
Air/Bmr: F/O. W.R. Stirling RCAF Age ? Injured
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. O. Stamtis RCAF Survived
Air/Gnr: Sgt. Owen Parsons R/110593 RCAF Age 24. Killed (2)
Air/Gnr: Sgt. Donald Mcleod William Ward J/92137 RCAF Age 21. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS
Halifax MZ920 nicknamed 'C the Comet' took off from Croft but a serious engine fire broke out and the crew tried to divert to RAF Church Lawford.
Tragically, the blaze destroyed the main spar, resulting in most of one wing breaking off with the Halifax crashing in the parish of Dunchurch at 23:50 hours, just a mile South of of its intended destination. Two crew managed to bale out, but the remainder were killed in the crash.
(1) Ewing Lake in Manitoba is named after F/O. Ewing IN 1975.
(2) Parsons Island in Blackfish Lake in Manitoba is named after Sgt. Parsons in 1995
Bacon Cemetery, Chester, England.
Burial Details:
Fl/Lt. Donald Zachary Taylor Wood. Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. Sec. A.Grave 102. Son of Stuart Taylor Wood and Gertrude Maude Wood, husband of Marie Mignonne Helene Wood, of Ottawa, Ontario. Canada.
Right: Memorial to crew (courtesy Richard Flagg / Airfield Research Group)
Sgt. Geofrey Davies Grant. Mountain Ash (Maesyrarian) Cemetery. Grave 2036. Son of Isaac and Sarah Mary Grant, of Mountain Ash, Glamorganshire, Wales.
F/O. William Robert Ewing. Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. Sec. A. Grave 317. Son of Robert Stanley and Eva Gertrude Ewing, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, husband of Margaret Dorothy Ewing (née Shane), of Winnipeg, Canada.
Sgt. Owen Parsons. Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. Sec. A. Grave 195. Son of James John and Beatrice M. Parsons, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Sgt. Donald Mcleod William Ward. Chester (Blacon) Cemetery. Sec. A. Grave 403. Son of Wyley W. Ward and Helen Ward, of Verdun, Province of Quebec, Canada
Researched by Mike Harrison for Aircrew Remembered, dedicated to relatives / friends of the crew.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember
them. - Laurence
Binyon
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Last Modified: 29 March 2021, 09:19