Burdett, Norman William Ellison

Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Norman William Ellison
Surname Burdett
Gender M
Age 28
Date of Death 22-04-1944
Next of Kin Son of Norman William and Edith Olive Roberts (Ellison), of Vancouver, Canada. Both were born in England (married in Wortley, Yorkshire in 1906). Husband of Muryl Burdett (née Ford- married in Kimberley on 4 February 1942).
BURDETT NWE

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster I
Serial Number ME581
Markings BQ-D

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Belgium
Burial/Memorial Place Heverlee War Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave 5. E. 19-25.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 15

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/86419
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 1
Squadron 550
Squadron Motto Per ignem vincimus (Through fire we conquer)
Trade Flight engineer
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location On Forest Trail nr Berinzenne recreation centre, Berinzenne, Liege Province
Country Belgium
Memorial Type Memorial Stone, inscribed metal plaque and stencilled composite plaque
Memorial Text
Translation "TO THE EVERLASTING MEMORY OF J.23416 F/O. P.G. MILBURN R.C.A.F., 1542325 SGT. J. PALFREY R.A.F., R.160524 W.O. N.W.E. BURDETT R.C.A.F., J.25521 F/O. B.B. ASHLEY R.C.A.F., 1578974 SGT. S.W. COURTENAY R.A.F., 50765 F/O. S.M. CLARKE R.A.F., 148510 F/O. D.W. MAGAN R.A.F., WHO LOST THEIR LIVES HERE, ON ST. GEORGE’S DAY 23-4-44 AT 1H20 A.M. FOR GOD AND COUNTRY."
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Location Chemin du Stoquois, Rebecq, Walloon Brabant Province
Country Belgium
Memorial Type Metal sculpture & inscribed metal plaques
Memorial Text
Translation "Dedicated to the crew killed in the loss of 550 Sqn Lancaster ME581 BQ-D at Berinzelle 23 Apr 44"
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Location Lancaster Approach, North Killingholme, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Memorial Stone & Info Board
Memorial Text A memorial to 550 Sqn RAF which flew from RAF North Killingholme; Jan 1944 - Oct 1945
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Location Church of St. Deny's, North Killingholme, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stained Glass Window, RoH and inscribed Metal & Wooden Plaques
Memorial Text Several memorials to the men and women who served with 550 Sqn at RAF Killingholme during WW2
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Miscellaneous Information

Norman was born on 31 December 1916 in Cranbrook, British Columbia. His father was a retired accountant and lived in 12th Avenue, Vancouver. Norman spent four years at Kimberley High School where he took the Public course as well as grade 11 and part of 12, during 1934/35. Norman worked for C.M & S Trail, first as a labourer in 1935-37 in British Columbia, he then transferred to the goldfield site in Saskatchewan where he was a miner (construction labourer)between 1937-1939 and again transferred, this time to Kimberley, where he was a warehouse clerk from 1939 until enlisting. Between January and February 1941, Norman was a private with the Rocky Mountain Rangers. Norman's wife was also in RCAF and worked at No. 7 SFTS, MacLeod, Alberta. Her service number was W/308831.
He enlisted in Calgary on 16 March 1942 and after training embarked for the U.K. on 26 January 1943. He was at 3 PRC on 5 February 1943, 6 (AOS) 15 June, 81 OTU 20 July .1662 CU 19 October 1943 and 550 Squadron on 15 March 1944. He lost his life just over a month later.
He enjoyed swimming, skating and baseball, and photography was his hobby.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The National Archives

Fellow Servicemen

Please note that this list gives all the losses aboard the quoted aircraft and occasionally these may have occurred on an earlier date when the aircraft was not itself lost. Please check the dates of death carefully.

Last Operation Information

Start Date 22-04-1944
End Date 23-04-1944
Takeoff Station North Killingholme
Day/Night Raid Night (0% moon)
Operation Dusseldorf
Reason for Loss Shot down by night fighter near Liege
 
 
 
 

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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.