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Vipond, Blair Everett

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Blair Everett
Surname Vipond
Gender M
Age 20
Date of Death 04-07-1944
Next of Kin Son of Russell Everett Vipond and Agnes Margaret Myrtle Vipond (née Thomson) of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
VIPOND BE

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number ND627
Markings PH-U

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country France
Burial/Memorial Place Orleans Main Cemetery
Grave Reference Plot 1. Row A. Grave 14.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 110

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/88202
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 1
Squadron 12
Squadron Motto Leads the field
Trade Navigator
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

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 ardu
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Miscellaneous Information

Blair was born at Edmonton, Alberta on 29 December 1923. His father, deceased, was born in Oshawa, Ontario and worked as a decorator, and his mother was born at Fergus, Ontario. He had siblings David Myron and Gordon, as well as sisters, Margaret Myrtle and Jean Thomson. Another brother, Jack Russell had died in 1921. The schools he attended were Islay, Alberta, 1931-1939 (grade 8) and Victoria High 1939-1941 (grade11). Blair enjoyed boxing and skating. Between 1941-1942 Blair worked as a Shipper for Safeway Stores, Edmonton, before enlisting on 5 June 1942.
When he had finished his training in Canada, Blair was posted to the U.K. and embarked from Halifax on 16 May 1943. He arrived at 3PRC on 24 May and then went to 10 (0)AFU on 3 August 1943, 30 OTU 31 August 1943, 11 Base 10 December 1943, and 12 Squadron on 15 June 1944. It was from there that Blair, still only twenty years old, sadly lost his life on 4 July 1944.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/168/14
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/168/13

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.

Ewing J P (Sgt)
Forster F A (Sgt)
Idle H (Sgt)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 04-07-1944
End Date 05-07-1944
Takeoff Station Wickenby
Day/Night Raid Night (98% moon)
Operation Orleans
Reason for Loss Cause of loss not established. Crashed 0200 5Jul44 onto the Rue Baciere St-Mark at Orleans

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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.