Burke, Wesley Ray Died

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Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) Wesley Ray
Surname Burke
Gender M
Age 23
Date of Death 03-02-1944
Next of Kin Son of Wesley Crusoe Burke and Savanah Myma Burke (née Korgar), of Carmangay, Alberta, Canada.
BURKE WR

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Vickers Wellington X
Serial Number LN400
Markings

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Oxford (Botley) Cemetery
Grave Reference Plot I/2. Grave 150B.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 15
BURKE WR

Location

Row -
Panel 15
Column -
Line -

Directions From the Chadwick Centre, take the central path towards The Spire.

Phase 1
Panel Number 15

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/194989
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 92
Squadron 16 OTU
Trade Wireless Operator
Country of Origin United States of America

Miscellaneous Information

Wesley was born on 1 April 1920 at Carmangay, Alberta. Both parents were American and it is possible that Wesley was an American citizen too, since he didn't swear an oath to the King when he enlisted . His father was a farmer and both were born in Kentucky. He was raised on the family farm and had one sister, Rose Stella, and six brothers. He attended Black Spring Ridge school in Alberta, 1926-1936. He then spent 1936-1939 on the farm harvesting. Wesley enjoyed boxing as a sport which is also shown as his hobby, along with an interest in aviation. He is shown as working for H.S. Parker at Carmangay as a truck driver and general work at a service station between 1939-1941, followed by 3 months as a bar tender, and ending as a grocery clerk at a Mark Creek store in Kimberly , B. C. in 1942.
Wesley enlisted on 5 November 1942 and after training was posted to the U.K.. He embarked from Halifax on 22 October 1943 arriving at 3PRC on 31 October then went on to 16 OTU on 16 November 1943. Sadly Wesley was killed in a flying accident near Upper Heyford in Oxfordshire, England on 3 February 1944. He had volunteered to go on the night flying test when the regular member of the crew was unable to go and very sadly the aircraft crashed on take-off.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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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.

Name Outcome
Mawhinney J (Sgt) Died
Probyn D W (F/O) Died
Tomkins H D (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 03-02-1944
End Date 03-02-1944
Takeoff Station Upper Heyford
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Night flying
Reason for Aircraft Loss On a night flying test, but having climbed to 200 feet, the starboard engine faltered and the bomber spiralled back to earth.

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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.