Kurtz, Dennis Haig

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Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) Dennis Haig
Surname Kurtz
Gender M
Age 23
Date of Death 01-08-1942
Next of Kin Son of John Harold Kurtz and Mary Elizabeth Kurtz (née Taylor) of Burlington Ontario Canada.
KURTZ DH

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Vickers Wellington IC
Serial Number HF852
Markings -C2

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Netherlands
Burial/Memorial Place Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery
Grave Reference Plot JJ. Joint grave 91-92.

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 60

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/75874
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 92
Squadron 16 OTU
Trade Wireless Operator
Country of Origin Canada

Miscellaneous Information

Dennis was born on 20 August 1918 at Burlington Ontario. His father was a retired contractor and born at Port Nelson Ontario and his mother was born at Oshawa Ontario. He went to school at Burlington- The Public School 1923-1931 followed by the High School 1931-1939 (Commercial and Matric). His sport interests were swimming tennis and skating and music was his hobby. Dennis managed to fit in various work opportunities although still at school and he was on the Press Line July-August 1938 at Hamilton Potteries Ltd. and was a helper at A.E. Cole Plumber in Burlington between September and November 1939. He was a kitchen help November-June 1939/40 but then left to work at home.
He enlisted on 19 November 1940 and after training Embarked from Canada on 9 February 1942 for the U.K. He arrived at 3 PRC on 20 February 1942 2 AFU 8 April 1942 and then 16 OTU on 5 May 1942. Sadly Dennis was to lose his life from there on 1 August 1942.

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.

Cox H L (Sgt)
Harvie L G (F/S)
Hueston E F (F/S)
Robertson E G (F/S)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 31-07-1942
End Date 01-08-1942
Takeoff Station Upper Heyford
Day/Night Raid Night (79% moon)
Operation Dusseldorf
Reason for Loss After the bomb load was dropped on target at around 0220 Hptm. Streib (Stab 1./NJG1 ) found Wellington HF852 on his path and immediately shots were fired . The bomber took a direct hit setting the fuel tanks on fire. The crew had no chance. At 02.28h. the fiercely burning Wellington crashed in a field near Elsendorp. None of the five crewmembers survived . All of them were recovered and buried by the Germans. It was Hptm. Streib's 31st claim.

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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.