May, James Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) James
Surname May
Gender M
Age 22
Date of Death 20-02-1944
Next of Kin son of Walter Arthur May and Mary J May (née Little), of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
MAY J

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number JB609
Markings PH-F

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Netherlands
Burial/Memorial Place Harderwijk General Cemetery
Grave Reference British Plot 1. Grave 50.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 69
MAY J

Location

Row -
Panel 69
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 1
Panel Number 69

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/86759
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 1
Squadron 12
Squadron Motto Leads the field
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location May Creek, Saskatchewan
Country Canada
Memorial Type Creek
Memorial Text
Location Schaarweg, Elspeet, Gelderland Province
Country the Netherlands
Memorial Type Inscribed stone memorial & wooden post with inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text In de nacht van 19 op 20 Februari 1944, op de terugweg van Leipzig naar Wickenby (Engeland), wordt de Lancaster bommenwerper door een nachtjager beschoten en stort hier om 05.34 ur neer
Translation "On the night of 19/20 February 1944 on its way back to RAF Wickenby from a raid on Leipzig, Lancaster JB609 of 12 Sqn RAF was shot down by a German nightfighter"
Location Wickenby Airfield, Wickenby, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Memorial with Sculpture of Icarus & Information Board
Memorial Text Royal Air Force Wickenby No1 Group Bomber Command 1942-1945 In memory of one thousand and eighty men of 12 & 626 Squadrons who gave their lives on operations from this airfieldin the offensive against Germany and the liberation of occupied Europe Per ardua ad astra This memorial commemorates the 1080 aircrew killed on operations with Nos 12(B) and 626 Squadrons whilst based at Royal Air Force Wickenby 1942-1945. The design and Building of the memorial in 1981 was funded by subscription from members of the Wickenby register.
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- 619-625-626-627-631
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)-550-576-617-619-625-626-627-631"
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

Born 14 December 1921 in Biggar, Scotland. His father was born in Cornwall, England and he worked for the Co-Op.Creameries as a milkman and his mother was born in Biggar. He had a brother Walter Arthur. The family's address after emigrating to Canada was: 827-15th Ave, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. He attended Haultain school at Regina between 1927-1935 where he attained grade 8. The only sport he took part in was baseball. James worked as an Express Agent for Grant Smith, Greyhound Lines in Regina, Saskatchewan from 1935 until enlisting on 10 November 1941.
After his training, James was posted to the U.K. and he embarked from Canada on 28 October 1942. He arrived at 3PRC on 6 November 1942 then continued through 28 OTU 2 February 1943, 1662 CU 3 May 1943, 103 Sqn 11 June 1943, and 12 Squadron on 17 October 1943. James sadly lost his life on 20 February 1944.
Each year in November the local people of Harderwijk hold a ceremony to honour the 43 airmen who lie in their cemetery.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/168/4
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/168/4

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
Bowker N C (F/S) Died
Burdett F W (Sgt) Died
Corlett A I (F/S) Died
Gedge E (Sgt) Died
Goodridge E S (Sgt) Died
Williams H G (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 19-02-1944
End Date 20-02-1944
Takeoff Station Wickenby
Day/Night Raid Night (22% moon)
Operation Leipzig
Reason for Aircraft Loss Take off: 2323 hrs. Shot down by Oblt Hans-Heinz Augenstein, 7./NJG 1, and crashed 02.30 hrs on 20 Feb 1944 at Elspeet (Gelderland, NL), 15 km NW of Apeldoorn. All 7 crew were killed
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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.