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Church, Eric Rodger

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Personal Information

Rank F/L
Forename(s) Eric Rodger
Surname Church
Gender M
Age 20
Date of Death 26-08-1944
Next of Kin Son of Eric James Church and Dorothy Maude Church (née Horsefall), of St. Lambert, Quebec, Canada.
CHURCH ER

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number PA998
Markings QR-O

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 244.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 20

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/24577
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 5
Squadron 61
Squadron Motto Per puram tonantes (Thundering through the clear air)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Birchwood Way, Birchwood Estate, Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brick Memorial & Inscribed Marble Obolisk
Memorial Text To the memory of the Air Crews and Ground Staff who gave their lives whilst serving with No 50 Squadron and No 61 Squadron, 5 group, Bomber Command The Royal Air Force 2nd World War 1939 to 1945. No 50 Squadron "From defence to attack" Operated from Waddi
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Location Memorial Gardens, Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brick Memorial with Inscribed Marble Stone
Memorial Text Royal Air Force Skellingthorpe. My brief sweet life is over, My eyes no longer see, No Christmas Trees, No summer walks, No pretty girls for me, I've got the chop - I've had it, My nightly ops are done, Yet in another 100 years I'll still be twenty one. R
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Miscellaneous Information

Eric was born on 15 January 1924 at RidgeTown, Ontario the son of Eric James Church and Dorothy Maude Church (Horsefall) of St. Lambert, Quebec. Both parents were born in St. Lambert and his father was an Assessor. He had three brothers, Robert, P/O Archibald Cameron and Peter Horsfall. He attended St. Lambert School 1930-1937, and St. Lambert High School 1937-1941 (Jnr. Matric). His sport interests were football, golf, swimming and tennis. Eric worked at Wingate Chemical Co. in Montreal where he was an office clerk between 1941-1942. He then enlisted on 2 February 1942.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/579/16

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.

Anderson A J (P/O)
Kohut F (P/O)
Moffat T (Sgt)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 25-08-1944
End Date 26-08-1944
Takeoff Station Skellingthorpe
Day/Night Raid Night (40% moon)
Operation Darmstadt
Reason for Loss Aircraft took off at 2101hrs. Crashed near the town of Gross-Gerau, where on the 28th the crew members who had died were laid to rest. Unfortunately post war their graves could not be located and therefore they are remember of the Runnymede Memorial in perpetuity.

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Since 1945 the brave men and women who gave their lives whilst in the service of Bomber Command, to protect our country have been largely ignored and forgotten by successive governments.

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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.