Craill, David George
Personal Information
Rank | Sgt |
Forename(s) | David George |
Surname | Craill |
Gender | M |
Age | 24 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 29-08-1942 |
Next of Kin | Son of Robert and Alice Craill, of Talaga Bay, Gisborne, New Zealand. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Vickers Wellington lll |
Serial Number | BJ701 |
Markings | DX- |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Durnbach War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | Coll. grave 11. F. 4-12. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 1 |
Panel Number | 24 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 411064 |
Service | Royal New Zealand Air Force |
Group | 5 |
Squadron | 57 |
Trade | WOp/AG |
Country of Origin | New Zealand |
Other Memorials
Location | Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirkby, Lincolnshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Sculptures, Inscribed Memeorial Stone & Inscribed Metal Plaques |
Memorial Text | In memory of those who gave their lives with 57 and 630 Squadrons 1939 - 1945 |
Location | Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, East Kirkby, Lincolnshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Stenciled 57 Sqn RoH in site Chapel |
Memorial Text | In proud memory of the men of No. 57 Squadron who lost their lives operating from Royal Air Force East Kirkby 1943 to 1945 |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/538/16 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/538/15 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 28-08-1942 |
End Date | 29-08-1942 |
Takeoff Station | Feltwell |
Day/Night Raid | Night (90% moon) |
Operation | Nürnberg |
Reason for Loss | May have collided with Lancaster R5897 of 49 Squadron. After the war, Allied investigators visited the village of Kalchreuth where R5897 crashed. They interviewed a number of eye witnesses, including the local Burgermeister, Herr. Ulrich. Although he was not the Burgermeister at the time of the incident, he was at least resident in the village and remembered the events clearly. He recalled an explosion, which he presumed to be the bomb load detonating. Herr Holzenleuchter, the gravedigger, recalled that the dead airmen were buried at 5pm on 1 September with full military honours in the village's New Cemetery. A single cross was erected at the time but the investigators noticed that it bore the names of some of the crew of R5897 but also two from Wellington BJ701. The collective grave was exhumed in 1947 to reveal nine coffins and the investigative team concluded they contained the entire crew of BJ701 and some of the crew of R5897. Sadly, only three of the bodies could be positively identified. All we re-interred in Durnbach War Cemetery. The exact circumstances remain a mystery and perhaps always shall, although there remains a strong possibility that these two machines collided and the explosion heard by Herr Ulrich was in fact the collision rather than an explosion as a single machine crashed into the ground. |