Operation: La Neuville

Date: 09th August 1944 (Wednesday)

Unit: No. 427 Squadron (motto: Ferte manus certas - 'Strike with a sure hand'). 6 Group

Type: Halifax III

Serial: MZ363

Code: ZL-Y

Base: RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire

Location: Not known

Pilot: Fl/Lt. George Percival Wyse J/10397 RCAF Age 28. Killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. Alexander Mackay 1825581 RAFVR Age 37. Killed

Nav: F/O. John Stewart Beresford J/24909 RCAF Age 26. Killed (1)

Air/Bmr: P/O. Roy Gordon Grout J/90092 RCAF Age 21. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: P/O. Stanley Joseph Levesque J/90076 ECAF Age 21. Killed

Air/Gnr: P/O. Jack Junior Ringer J/90077 RCAF Age 20. Killed

Air/Gnr: P/O. Roy Stanley Ferguson J/92615 RCAF Age 21. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Weather: Fair to fine with westerly wind. aVisibility good. Possible rain early evening. 17 aircraft from the squadron detailed to attack the V1 launch site and storage dump at La Neuville. No enemy aircraft were seen.

MZ363 took off at 19:00 hrs. carrying thirteen 500 lb general purpose bombs and nothing was heard from the crew since take off.

The remaining aircraft all returned to base by 23:30 hrs.

(1) F/O. Beresford was part of the crew of 7 man crew flying Halifax II JD317 from 1659 Heavy Conversion Unit on a training exercise to Bristol when they strayed off course and ended up over London during an air raid. 'Friendly' anti-aircraft unit fired and struck the aircraft 3 times. The crew were all ordered to bale out whilst the pilot, 23 year old F/O. Martin Stewart Little J/24320 RCAF steered the aircraft away from populated areas, crashing at Loge Farm, Lodge Lane, Little Chalfont in Buckinghamshire. The pilot was killed

Burial details:

Fl/Lt. George Percival Wyse. Cayeux-Sur-Mer Communal Cemetery. Plot 2. Row B. Grave 2. Born on the 22nd June 1916 in Quebec, Canada. Worked for the National Research Council prior to service. Enlisted on the 20th August 1940. A total of 11 operational sorties. Son of Edwin Allan Wise and Evelyn Naomi (née Meyers) 370 Lyon Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Sgt. Alexander Mackay. Boulogne Eastern Cemetery. Plot 10. Row C. Grave 9. Born 27th April 1907 in Leith, Edinburgh. A total of 9 operational sorties. Son of John and Mary Mackay of 61 Restalrig Road, Leith and husband of Jessie Mary Ann Mackay (Born on the 29th January 1913 in Tongue - Married on the 19th September 1935 in Borgie, Skerray, Sutherland, of Tongue, Sutherlandshire, Scotland. Epitaph: 'Husband Of Jessie And Father Of John, Billy And Elizabeth Of Scullomie, Tongue'.

F/O. John Stewart Beresford. Calais Canadian War Cemetery. Grave 8.E.12. Born on the 05th January 1918 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Enlisted on the 01st November 1941. A total of 9 operational sorties. Son of John (died in 1965 age 78) and Marion Stewart Beresford (née McCrory - died in 1984, age 93), of 32 Arnold Street, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. Epitaph: 'To Live In Hearts We Leave Behind Is Not To Die'.

P/O. Roy Gordon Grout. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 250. Also remembered on his mothers grave in Beechmount Cemetery, Edmonton. Born on the 02nd October 1923 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. A student prior to enlisting. Enlisted on the 29th June 1942. A total of 9 operational sorties. Son of William Joseph (died 04th December 1955) and Janet Campbell Grout (née McVear - died 30th July 1942) of 11734 - 87th Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

P/O. Stanley Joseph Levesque. Runnymede Memorial Panel 251. Born on the 28 September 1922 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Enlisted on the 28th September 1942. A total of 9 operational sorties. The son of Denis Joseph Levesque (died 15th January 1933, age 43 of pneumonia) and Leah Marie Louise Drouillard Huneau (née Drouillard - died 23rd November 1957, age 57) - Remarried to Maxime Joseph Huneau in 1945. Of 1119 Marentette Avenue, Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

P/O. Jack Junior Ringer. Quend Communal Cemetery. Row 1. Grave 17A. Born on the 24th October 1923 in Hamilton, Ontario. Canada. Worked as a machine repairer for Mercury Mills of Hamilton. Enlisted on the 16th November 1942. A total of 9 operational sorties. Son of Jack Francis and Marjorie Louise Ringer (née Flaherty), of 118 Rebecca Street, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Epitaph: 'May He Rest In Peace'.

P/O. Roy Stanley Ferguson. Runnymede Memorial Panel 250. Born on the 18th August 1922 in British Columbia, Canada. A total of 9 operational sorties. Son of Stanley Clifford Ferguson (died 08th March 1938, age 42) and Sybil Mary Ferguson (née Hounsom) of Townsite, Brittania Beach, British Columbia. Husband of Aileen Marjorie Ferguson of 117 Normandy Boulevard, Toronto, Ontario. Canada.

Other:

F/O. Martin Stewart Little. Brookwood Military Cemetery. Grave 48.C.4. Born on the 15th December 1920. Educated at North Toronto Collegiate Institute in Toronto, Enlisted on the 05th March 1943. Son of George David Little and Dorothy Edna Little, of 'F' Hugo Apartments, Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Formely 4972 Victoria Avenue, Montreal Quebec, Canada. Epitaph: 'He Stayed With His Ship, Saved His Crew, And A Village. We Are Justly Proud'.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to National Archives, Kew Air-27-1846-15/16, Paradie Archive, Government of Canada.

Other sources as quoted below:

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