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Alexander, James Michie Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) James Michie
Surname Alexander
Gender M
Age 23
Decorations CGM
Date of Death 15-02-1944
Next of Kin Son of James and Thomasina M. Alexander, of Muswell Hill, Middlesex.
ALEXANDER JM

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number ND365
Markings MG-L

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Denmark
Burial/Memorial Place Skaro Cemetery
Grave Reference Grave 73.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 122
ALEXANDER JM

Location

Row -
Panel 122
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 122

Enlistment Information

Service Number 170100
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Group 8
Squadron 7
Squadron Motto Per diem per noctem (By day and by night)
Trade Navigator
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location Hilton House Hotel, Hilton, Derbyshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Blue Plaque on external wall
Memorial Text Air Commodore Herbert Martin Massey CBE DSO MC 1898-1976 Senior British Officer at Stalag Luft III Sagan who authorised 'The Great Escape' was born here. Hilton and Marston History Group
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Location All Saints Church, Longstanton, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stained Glass Window and Roll of Honour Book
Memorial Text Remember here before God those of 7 Squadron who died in action in The Royal Flying Corps 1914-18 and The Royal Air Force 1939-45
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Miscellaneous Information

CGM Citation (from Flight magazine 27 February 1944): "Since December 1940, Warrant Officer Alexander has completed a large number of operational sorties, formerly in the Middle East and latterly against European objectives. He is an outstanding navigator, whose fine spirit of cooperation and devotion to duty have set a splendid example".
He had flown approximately 80 Ops altogether.
He enlisted with RAFVR in April 1939 with NCO service number 745637. He began flying Ops in December 1940, carrying out at least 60 sorties in the Middle East. Recommended for the CGM in November 1943.
He had previously baled out of Lancaster JA971 on return to the UK on 23-24 November 1943, following an attack on Berlin. The aircraft had been hit by flak over the target, the elevators having been shot away. The aircraft was nursed back to UK and most of the crew ordered to bale out. The pilot, P/O P K B Williams and the navigator, WO J M Alexander, remained in the aircraft but they too had to abandon 20 miles from base. No injuries were reported.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/101/4
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/101/4

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
Ballantyne R R S (F/L) Died
Glaus L G (F/S) Died
Hawkins W (WO1) Died
Sayer A J (F/L) Died
Sefton N B (F/S) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 15-02-1944
End Date 16-02-1944
Takeoff Station Oakington
Day/Night Raid Night (63% moon)
Operation Berlin. 891 aircraft- the largest raid on Berlin and in fact the largest 'non-1000' raid of the war. The bomb tonnage dropped was also a record at 2642 tons. 43 aircraft losses (4.8%). The bomber stream was tracked by the German controllers as soon as it left the English coast but a swing to the north over Denmark for the approach was effective as it was out of the range of many fighters. The controller ordered that Berlin be kept free of fighters to allow the flak batteries the full range of altitudes but many ignored the order and attacked bombers over the target. Berlin was cloud covered but the bombing was reasonably concentrated, although some bombs fell on outlying towns and villages. Damage was extensive with over 1000 houses and 526 temporary accommodation barracks destroyed. Some of the most important war industries were hit and 320 people were killed. The relatively low death toll is a reflection of the fact that large-scale evacuations had taken place by now.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Attacked by a night-fighter and exploded over the Baltic, throwing clear the two survivors (F/L P K B Williams DFC and F/S G S Staniforth) who both became PoW.

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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.