McKechnie, William Neil Died

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Personal Information

Rank G/C
Forename(s) William Neil
Surname McKechnie
Gender M
Age 37
Decorations GC, IGSM
Date of Death 30-08-1944
Next of Kin Son of Lt.-Col. William Ernest McKechnie, I.M.S., and Marion Alice McKechnie (née Curram), of Kasauli, India. Husband of Mary Roma McKechnie (née Doig), of Musselburgh, Midlothian. Father of Fiona McKechnie and David McKechnie.
McKECHNIE WN

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number JB593
Markings ZN-T Admiral Dumbo

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 200.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 71
McKECHNIE WN

Location

Row -
Panel 71
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 1
Panel Number 71

Enlistment Information

Service Number 26144
Service Royal Air Force
Group 5
Squadron 106
Squadron Motto Pro libertate (For freedom)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location Metheringham Airfield Visitors Centre, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text To commemorate the crew of Lancaster JB593 ZN-T shot down by a Nightfighter on 30th August 1944 in the Konigberg area of Germany
Location Holy Trinity Church, Martin, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Tablet & Roll of Honour in Wooden Case
Memorial Text To the memory of the Airmen of 106 Sqn who gave their lives in the 1939-45 War
Location Former Airfield Site, Martin Moor, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brick moument with inscribed Slate Tablets & Plaques
Memorial Text Dedicated to the airmen and airwomen who served on 106 Sqn in WW2. 995 gave their lives
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- 619-625-626-627-643
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)-550-576-617-619-625-626-627-643"
Location On village war memorial, Salbris, 41 - Loir-et-Choir Prefecture
Country France
Memorial Type Inscribed marble tablet
Memorial Text En reconnaissance aux 49 aviateurs des Sqn's 44, 49, 106 en 619 de la RAF morts pour notre liberte le 8 Mai 1946
Translation "Thank you to the 49 airmen of 44, 49, 106 and 619 Sqn's RAF who died for our freedom on May 8 1946"
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

McKechnie was the station commander at Metheringham at the time. Born 22 August 1907 in Kasauli, India, he was known as Mac to colleagues and as Neil in his formative years. He was educated at Perse School, Cambridge as a boarder between 1921 and 1923. A memorial to this crew was unveiled at the former RAF Metheringham in 2014.
He originally joined the Royal Navy but then became a Halton Apprentice before moving on to RAF Cranwell. His George Cross, originally awarded as an Empire Gallantry Medal and was remarkable won whilst he was still a Cadet. The citation was published in the Gazette on 18 October 1929 and reads: "Flight Cadet William Neil McKechnie, Royal Air Force. On the 20th June, 1929, an aeroplane piloted by Flight Cadet C. J. Giles crashed on landing at Cranwell Aerodrome and burst into names. The pilot was stunned but managed to release his safety belt and fall out of the machine in a dazed condition. Flight Cadet McKechnie, who had landed in another aeroplane about the same time some two hundred yards away, left his machine and ran at full speed towards the scene of the accident. The petrol had spread over an area of about ten yards diameter in full blaze, with Giles lying in it, semi-conscious. McKechnie, without hesitation, ran into the flames and pulled out Giles, who was badly burned about the legs and face, with his Sidcot suit and clothes actually burning. After dragging him clear of the names, during the process of which he was scorched and superficially burned, McKechnie proceeded to extinguish the flames of Giles' burning clothing. By this time, the machine was in full blaze, with the petrol spreading along the ground so that without McKechnie's assistance, there is no doubt Giles would have been burned to death, as he was quite incapable of moving himself. Ultimately the machine was entirely destroyed by fire and the ground for some distance around was completely burned up by the spread of the ignited petrol.
Between 1936-1937 he served on the North West Frontier in India, and was promoted to Squadron Leader on 1 August 1938. At the outbreak of WWII he served in the Middle East until 1942, then returning to England. He was promoted to Wing Commander in February 1943, and in July of the same year, was made Temporary Group Captain.
His IGSM was awarded while flying Westland Wapiti aircraft with 27 Squadron, 1937-1939. He suffered of chronic air sickness, which was documented by those who knew him at Bottesford and Metheringham
The remains were identified and buried at Brandenburg church cemetery, in what is now Ushakovo, Kaliningrad region. Carter, along with Collins and McKechnie was identified.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/834/16
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/834/16

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
Carter H W T (P/O) Died
Clarke R B (P/O) Died
Collins E L (F/S) Died
Fletcher E E (F/O) Died
Forster D (F/S) Died
Jeffrey C C (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 29-08-1944
End Date 30-08-1944
Takeoff Station Metheringham
Day/Night Raid Night (80% moon)
Operation Königsberg (modern-day Kaliningrad)
Reason for Aircraft Loss The crew was shot down at Pokarben, 4 km east of Brandenburg, Eastern Prussia, around 1:20 am. German documents, concerning this crew, state that 4 of the crew were identified and buried at Brandenburg church cemetery.
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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.