Greenstein, Meyer Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/S
Forename(s) Meyer
Surname Greenstein
Gender M
Age 26
Date of Death 07-01-1945
Next of Kin Son of Percy Greenstein and Mary Greenstein (née Shervon), of Montreal, Province of Québec, Canada.
GREENSTEIN M

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster I
Serial Number NN766
Markings PM-R

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country France
Burial/Memorial Place Munster Communal Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 42
GREENSTEIN M

Location

Row -
Panel 42
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 1
Panel Number 42

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/219812
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 1
Squadron 103
Squadron Motto Noli me tangere (Touch me not)
Trade Air Bomber
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Rural location, Hohrodberg, 68 - Haut Rhin Prefecture
Country France
Memorial Type Wooden cross, memorial stone, inscribed metal plaques, aircraft parts and stencilled composite information board
Memorial Text Plaque commémorative dédiée à l'équipage du bombardier Lancaster NN766 (RAF)
Translation "A memorial plaque to the crew of the Lancaster NN766 bomber (RAF)"
Location All Saints Church, Elsham, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Tablet
Memorial Text Dedicated to all who served at RAF Elsham Wolds on 103 7 576 Squadrons 1941-45
Location Anglian Water Treatment Works, Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Pillar & Plaques
Memorial Text Pillar : RAF Elsham Wolds, 1941-1945, For those who made the great sacrifice. Plaque :This tree is dedicated to all those who served with 103 Squadron Royal Air Force. Plaque : RAF Elsham Wolds, Opened in Summer 1941 as a bomber station in No1 group, it was the home of No103 Squadron and from Elsham Wolds until 1945 Wellington, Halifax and Lancaster aircraft of No 103 and other squadrons flew on bombing missions against targets in Germany and occupied Europe.
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- 619-625-626-627-641
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)-550-576-617-619-625-626-627-641"
Location Bawtry Hall, Bawtry, South Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Marble Tablet
Memorial Text In memory of those who did not return 1939 - 1945

Miscellaneous Information

Meyer was born on 18 December 1918 at Montreal. Both parents were born in Poland and his father was a Merchant. He had one sister, Rose. The schools he attended were Mount Royal 1929- 1931, Montreal and then Baron Byng 1931-1936. These were followed by the University of Toronto, 1936- 1942 where he studied for a B.A. degree. Meyer enjoyed photography as a hobby and played basketball and baseball for sport. He worked as a Newspaper man for the Canadian Press in Toronto.
After enlisting on 5 February 1943 and initial training, he was then posted to the U.K. He embarked from Halifax on 3 May 1944 and then proceeded through 3 (RCAF) PRC on 11 May 1944, 10(0) AFU 30 May 1944, 17 OTU 27 June 1944, 51 Base 15 September 1944, 1668 CU 22 September 1944 and then 103 Squadron on 10 November 1944. Sadly the following year on 7 January 1945 Meyer was then to lose his life from 103 Squadron.
In 2007 an annual scholarship for creative writing was set up in his name. Known as the Meyer (Mike) Greenstein Memorial Student Award for Writing Excellence, it is awarded in his name each year by University College, at University of Toronto.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/817/2
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/817/2

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
Campbell D F (F/S) Died
Candy R P (Sgt) Died
Horne M H (W/O) Died
Lougheed R J (F/O) Died
McArthur W J (F/O) Died
McAulay D J (F/S) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 07-01-1945
End Date 08-01-1945
Takeoff Station Elsham Wolds
Day/Night Raid Night (36% moon)
Operation München. 654 aircraft, 15 losses. According the Bomber Command itself, this was a successful raid with the central and industrial areas being severely damaged. The last major raid on München
Reason for Aircraft Loss Outbound, crashed into high ground near Hohrodberg (Haut-Rhin), 4 km N from the small town of Munster. Initially, the crew were buried by local nuns about 25 metres from the impact site, but they have been subsequently reinterred in the communal cemetery at Munster. A memorial, however, has been placed at the crash site.
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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.