Beswick, Herbert Russell

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) Herbert Russell
Surname Beswick
Gender M
Age 21
Decorations
Date of Death 24-11-1943
Next of Kin Son of Arthur Beswick and Mary Ann Beswick (née McDonald), of Three Rivers, Québec, Canada.
BESWICK HR

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Vickers Wellington III
Serial Number Z1682
Markings

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 173.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 9

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/12047
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 91
Squadron 23 OTU
Trade WOp/AG
Country of Origin Canada

Miscellaneous Information

Hubert was born on 15 October 1922 at Bolton, Lancashire, England. Both parents were also born in Lancashire, his father, a silk mill overlooker, was born in Bolton and his mother in Horwich. He had no siblings and the family moved to Canada in 1934 where his father became a silk mill manager. Between 1928 and 1935 Hubert’s schooling was in England: he attended Cornwall Collegiate Institute 1935-1937, Huntingdon Academy, 1937-1938 (Science and Maths), Church Institute, England, 1938-1939 and then in Canada: Three Rivers High School : 1939-1940 (Jnr Matric). Hubert worked at Wabasso Cotton Co, July-September 1940 and Three Rivers, P.Q Laboratory, also during 1940. He enjoyed Swimming, tennis, football, rugby etc and had gained certificates from St. John’s Ambulance and in Cadet semaphore.
He enlisted on 9 June 1941 and after training embarked from Canada on 23 June 1943 arriving at 3PRC on 3 July 1943. He then went to 6 (0) AFU 20 July 1943 and 23 OTU on 31 August 1943. He lost his life from here on 24 November 1943.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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Fellow Servicemen

Bolstad K W (F/O)
Brehn T J (P/O)
Budd R W H (F/O)
Cook L F (P/O)
Dunlop D A (P/O)
Gibault J L (P/O)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 24-11-1943
End Date 24-11-1943
Takeoff Station Pershore
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Training- night navigation exercise
Reason for Loss T/O 0016 for a night cross-country. Whilst flying in cloud, lost control and crashed at 0235 at Holm Farm, Marston, on the northern outskirts of Oxford

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Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.