Gerding, Cecil Louis Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/S
Forename(s) Cecil Louis
Surname Gerding
Gender M
Age 23
Date of Death 13-05-1943
Next of Kin Son of Joseph William Frantone Gerding and Anna (Honorah) Mary Gerding (née McHugh), of Pandora, Alberta, Canada.
GERDING CL

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster I
Serial Number ED329
Markings DX-

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Netherlands
Burial/Memorial Place Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Nijmegen
Grave Reference 14. D. 5.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 39
GERDING CL

Location

Row -
Panel 39
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 1
Panel Number 39

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/115979
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 5
Squadron 57
Squadron Motto Corpus non animum muto (I change my body, not my spirit)
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

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
Location In front of the mess esplanade, Mailly-le-Camp, 10 - Aube Prefecture
Country France
Memorial Type Stone memorial sculpture, inscribed marble tablets and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text En souvenir des heros de la RAF. Qui ont participe au bombardment du camp de Mailly. Unites de la RAF engagees dans le raid sur Mailly-le-Camp, la nuit du 3 au 4 May 1944. N° 9-12-44-49-50-57 61-83-97-100-101 Special Duties Flight-103-105-106-166- 169-192-207-460 (RAAF)-463 (RAAF)-467 (RAAF)-550-576-617- 619-625-626-627-635
Translation "In memory of the RAF heroes who took part in the bombing of Mailly Camp. RAF units engaged in the raid on Mailly-le-Camp, the night of 3-4 May 1944. Squadrons that took part: N° 9-12-44-49-50-57 61-83-97-100-101 Special Duties Flight-103-105-106-166- 169-192-207-460 (RAAF)-463 (RAAF)-467 (RAAF)-550-576-617-619-625-626-627-635"
Location Lincoln County Hospital Chapel, Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text In memory of Officers, NCO's & Other Ranks of 5 (Bomber) Group RAF who gave their lives Sept 1939 - May 1945

Miscellaneous Information

Cecil was born on 23 September 1919 at Pandora, Alberta. His father, born in New York, was a machine agent and his mother was born in Dublin, Ireland. He had six siblings - four brothers and two sisters. He attended Sand Pits Public school, 1925-1934 (Grade IX) and Vulcan High School 1934-1937 (Grace XII) - both in Alberta. He also took a course in Auto Mechanics at Calgary Central. His sport interests were hockey, rugby, baseball and golf and he enjoyed building model aircraft, amateur radio broadcasting and was a member of the Dominion rifle club. Cecil took on various odd jobs between 1937-1940 including a diesel operator for O.L. McPherson in 1939, as a driver/mechanic in 1940 for H.W. Johnston, as a clerk, in 1940 and for Greyhound Bus Lines 1940-1941.
He enlisted on 20 August 1941 and after training was posted to the U.K. He embarked from Canada on 21 August 1942 and arrived at 3PRC on 2 September 1942. He then went to 19 OTU 21 September 1942, 10 OTU 8 December 1942, 1659 CU 15, December 1942, 1660 CU 19 January 1943, 1654 CU 9 February 1943, and 57 Squadron 1 April 1943. It was from there that Cecil sadly lost his life on 13 May 1943.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/538/32
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/538/32

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
Laughlin S (Sgt) Died
Loverseed R B (Sgt) Died
Steel A (Sgt) Died
Wallace J D (F/O) Died
Wilson V A (F/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 12-05-1943
End Date 13-05-1943
Takeoff Station Scampton
Day/Night Raid Night (56% moon)
Operation Duisburg
Reason for Aircraft Loss Shot down by a night fighter, crashing at Maasniel in Holland
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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.