Owen, John David Died

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Personal Information

Rank WO2
Forename(s) John David
Surname Owen
Gender M
Age 23
Date of Death 24-03-1944
Next of Kin Son of Percy Llewelyn Owen and July Ada Owen (née Gaunt), of East Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
OWEN JD

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number ND641
Markings CF-T

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Netherlands
Burial/Memorial Place Tubbergen Roman Catholic Cemetery
Grave Reference Grave 3.

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 81

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/138002
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 1
Squadron 625
Squadron Motto We avenge
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Roadside Location, Kelstern, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text A memorial to 625 Sqn, RAF Kelstern October 1943 to April 1945
Location St. Faiths Church. Kelstern, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type RoH in wooden case ***NOTE: IBCC UNDERSTANDS THIS ROLL OF HONOUR IS NO LONGER IN SITU AND IS CURRENTLY HELD AT THE HOME OF A 625 SQUADRON ASSOCIATION MEMBER***
Memorial Text 625 Sqn Roll of Honour and Sqn badge
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- 619-625-626-627-655
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)-550-576-617-619-625-626-627-655"
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

John was born at East Burnaby, British Columbia on 11 September 1920. His father was born in Windsor, England and was a building contractor and his mother in Needingworth, England. He had a brother Stanley Hubert and sisters Evelyn, Elsie, Eileen Annie and Edith. The schools he attended were at Little River: Lozo School 1926-1930, Comox Public 1930 -1934, and Comox High school 1934-1937. He also took Correspondence courses between 1939 and 1941 with the Department of Education. His sport interests were tennis, badminton, basketball and swimming. John worked as a labourer at Star Shipyard in 1939 and and then worked for several logging companies until 1941. He then worked for the Creamery Association as a bookkeeper until enlisting on 10 October 1941 .
After enlisting and training he was posted to the U.K. and embarked from Canada on 11 December 1942, arriving at 3PRC on 19 December. He continued to 20 (P) AFU on 23 March 1943, 81 OTU 25 May 1943, 1667 CU 10 August 1943, 625 Sqn. 15 October 1943, 156 Sqn. 2 February 1944 and finally 625 Squadron on 15 February 1944. John was sadly to lose his life on 24 March 1944.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2143/12
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2143/12

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
Broadmore W H (Sgt) Died
Clark W (Sgt) Died
Lavender J C A D (Sgt) Died
Nixon H W (F/S) Died
Simpkin P H (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 24-03-1944
End Date 25-03-1944
Takeoff Station Kelstern
Day/Night Raid Night (1% moon)
Operation Berlin
Reason for Aircraft Loss Crashed nr.Tubbergen, 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.