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Pocock, William Francis

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) William Francis
Surname Pocock
Gender M
Age 20
Decorations
Date of Death 01-07-1944
Next of Kin Son of Alfred Branwood Pocock and Mary Etta Pocock (née Wismer), of Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
POCOCK WF

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster I
Serial Number ME774
Markings UM-L2

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 252.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 85

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/86307
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 1
Squadron 626
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Main Entrance, Wickenby Airfield, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Memorial Stone, Metal Scupture, Info Board
Memorial Text This memorial commemorates the 1080 aircrew killed on operations with Nos (12B) 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 R
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Miscellaneous Information

William was born at Windsor, Essex, Ontario on 22 June 1924. His father, who was deceased by the time of William's enlistment, worked as a Salesman and was born at London, Ontario and his mother was born at Point Edward, Ontario. His father had died in 1928. He had a sister Ann Marie, and two brothers- LAC Joseph Aylward and half brother John Joseph, both in RCAF overseas. His brother Joseph became a Q.C. after the war. The schools he attended were: Holy Name, Windsor 1929-1937 (General), and Patterson Collegiate, Windsor 1937-1942 (Senior Matric). His sport interests were mainly tennis but also played football and baseball. His hobby was radios and photography. William spent three months in 1942, farming at the Ontario Farm Service Force in Leamington until he enlisted on 22 June 1942.
After training he embarked from Canada on 16 July 1943 and arrived in the U.K. at 3 PRC on 23 July. He was at 14 (P) AFU 14 September 1943, 28 OTU 18 January 1944 and 626 Squadron on 15 June 1944. Sadly William was to lose his life from here on 30 June 1944 at the age of just twenty years.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2148/10
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2145/15

Fellow Servicemen

Barker A C S (Sgt)
Bernaski L J (F/O)
Bishop N D (Sgt)
Gordon J N (Sgt)
Greb H C (Sgt)
Smith J O (P/O)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 30-06-1944
End Date 01-07-1944
Takeoff Station Wickenby
Day/Night Raid Night (72% moon)
Operation Vierzon
Reason for Loss Lost without trace.

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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.