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Wilson, Edward Arthur

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Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) Edward Arthur
Surname Wilson
Gender M
Age 19
Date of Death 31-01-1945
Next of Kin Son of Edward Wilson and Leona Wilson (née Doucette), of Bathurst, New Brunswick , Canada.
WILSON EA

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Vickers Wellington X
Serial Number LP786
Markings UO-G

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 282.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 117

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/256657
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 91
Squadron 19 OTU
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Off A96, Balnageith near Forres, Grampian, Scotland
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stone Cairn, Inscribed Metal Plaques & Aircraft Sculpture
Memorial Text Dedicated to all who served with 19 OTU, RAF Forres
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Miscellaneous Information

Edward was born at Bathurst, New Brunswick on 10 November 1925. His father was born at St. John, New Brunswick, occupation unknown, and his mother was born at Bathurst, N B. He had three Brothers, Morley, Arthur and Francis. The schools he attended were St. Patrick’s, 1931-1937, Sacred Heart 1937-1938 and Victoria school 1938-1939. The sports he enjoyed were Hockey, football, baseball, swimming and running. His hobby had been making model aircraft. He had a variety of short term employment including Delivery Boy, 1940-1941, elevator operator for about six months during 1941, machine operator, and a variety of other short term employment during 1941. Them until the latter part of December 1942, he worked for the Department of National Defence at St. John as a labourer, then from December 1942 he was unemployed, until enlisting.
Edward enlisted on 18 June 1943. After training he was posted to the U.K. and he embarked from Halifax on 29 August 1943, arriving at 3 PRC (U.K.) on 6 September 1944. He then went to 19 OTU on 31 October 1944. Sadly he then went missing on 31 January 1945. The aircraft was on a night training exercise when they reported that they were returning to base due to bad weather but nothing more was heard from them. Edward was 19 years old.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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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.

Dewart D L (F/O)
Howard W M (F/O)
O'Connor G D (F/S)
Spice D A (F/O)
Stevenson J (Sgt)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 31-01-1945
End Date 31-01-1945
Takeoff Station Kinloss
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Training
Reason for Loss Last heard while over Grantown on Spey and within five minutes eye witnesses reported a blinding flash over the sea

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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.