Arlidge, Wallace Gale
Personal Information
Rank | F/S |
Forename(s) | Wallace Gale |
Surname | Arlidge |
Gender | M |
Age | 19 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 30-07-1943 |
Next of Kin | Son of George Ainslie Arlidge and Anne Isobel Arlidge (née Wallace), of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax V |
Serial Number | DK239 |
Markings | NA-Q |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Hamburg Cemetery |
Grave Reference | 10A. N. 15. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 123 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | R/156931 |
Service | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Group | 6 |
Squadron | 428 (Ghost) |
Trade | Navigator |
Country of Origin | Canada |
Other Memorials
Location | Adjacent to fomer St. Georges Hotel, Teesside Airport, County Durham |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone with inscribed slate tablets |
Memorial Text | Dedicated to all who served on 428 (RCAF) Sqn at Middleton St. George during WWII, especially those who made the supreme sacrifice |
Miscellaneous Information
Wallace was born on 3 October 1923 at Toronto. His father was shown as an executive, born in Meaford, Ontario and his mother born Hamilton, Ontaario. He had no living siblings but a brother Kent Saunders Arlidge had died in 1934. He went to Whitney School 1928-1937 (general), and to North Toronto Collegiate Institute 1937-1941 (Academic). He obtained High School Entrance and Jnr. Matric. He also took the D.P.Y.T.P. Pilot Officers course at Hamilton, Ontario Jan-March 1942. Wallace engaged in few sports but enjoyed photography (developing and printing). He had very little chance to work but spent a short time at Rathbone and Co. in Toronto June-September 1941 and also worked for his father, G.A. Arlidge, as a salesman. |
He enlisted on 7 March 1942 and after training embarked from Canada for the U.K. on 26 January 1943. He arrived at 3 PRC 5 February 1943 and then on to 23 OTU 6 April 1943, 1659 CU 27 June1943 and 428 Squadron 19 July 1943. This young nineteen year old sadly lost his life just days after arrival, on 30 July. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1849/14 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1849/13 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 29-07-1943 |
End Date | 30-07-1943 |
Takeoff Station | Middleton St. George |
Day/Night Raid | Night (4% moon) |
Operation | Hamburg. 787 aircraft, 17 losses (2.2%). For the second consecutive raid, Brig. Gen. Anderson, the commander of the American 8th Air Force, flew as an observer on this operation. PFF used H2S to mark the target but were approximately 3km east of the centre of the city but was at least concentrated, leading to concentrated bombing with little creepback. This raid caused a firestorm resulting from very high summer temperatures and low humidity following a particularly dry spell. Most of the fire crews were in the west of the city following the raid of three nights earlier and few could make the journey to the new fires due to rubble blocking roads. The fires quickly joined into one mass of fire, drawing so much oxygen into the area that it caused storm-force winds. The fire raged for over three hours after the raid and only subsided when all combustible material was consumed. Approximately 40000 civilian deaths mostly from asphyxiation resulting from lack of oxygen. The raid led to an exodus of over 1.2 million people fearing another raid. |
Reason for Loss | Shot down by flak and crashed at Klecken, south of Harburg. |