Barclay, Arnold Smedley
Personal Information
Rank | F/O |
Forename(s) | Arnold Smedley |
Surname | Barclay |
Gender | M |
Age | 36 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 20-02-1944 |
Next of Kin | Son of Clifford Barclay and Isabella Anne Barclay (née Maitland), of Tyndall, Manitoba. Husband of Georgette Barclay (née Beaupre)- marriage on 9 May 1942 at Mount Joli, Québec. Father of Ian Forest Joseph Barclay on 12 March 1943. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax III |
Serial Number | LW422 |
Markings | C8-R |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | 8. E. 16. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 126 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | J/24738 |
Service | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Group | 4 |
Squadron | 640 |
Trade | Air Gunner |
Country of Origin | Canada |
Other Memorials
Location | Barclay Lake, Manitoba; Located between God's Lake and Red Sucker Lake |
Country | Canada |
Memorial Type | Lake |
Memorial Text |
Location | Normandy Barracks, Leconfield, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Metal Sculpture Brick Pillars and Inscribed Sqn Badges |
Memorial Text | A memorial to those who flew from RAF Leconfield, including 640 Sqn |
Location | Memorial Gardens, Beverley, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone, Inscribed Marble Tablet |
Memorial Text | A memorial to those of 640 Sqn who were killed during WW2 |
Miscellaneous Information
Arnold was born in Barrow-in-Furness, England on 29 November 1907. Both his parents were born in Scotland, his mother in Deskford and his father in Perthshire. His father worked as a Master Machinist. He had two sisters Moyra and Sheila and three brothers, Maitland, Ernie and George. George was in the 2 Canadian Corps Signals in France. Arnold went to Greenwich School, Brokenhead, Manitoba 1913-1923 ( High School Entrance, grade 8). The sports he was interested in were hockey, football and baseball and his hobbies were target shooting and amateur photography. Between 1922-1938 his working experiences were rather varied: farming, building, bush work, provincial highway construction and Dominion Land survey work. |
Arnold enlisted in Winnipeg on 19 June 1940 and after early training was sent to the U.K. where he arrived on 12 May 1943. From there he passed through 15 OTU 25 May 1943, 466 Sqn. 6 August 1943, 1658 CU 7 September 1943, 466 Sqn 23 October 1943 and 640 Squadron 17 January 1944. He was killed a little over one month later. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2216/4 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2157/3 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 19-02-1944 |
End Date | 20-02-1944 |
Takeoff Station | Leconfield |
Day/Night Raid | Night (22% moon) |
Operation | Leipzig. 823 aircraft, 78 losses (9.5%). Excluding early returners, the Halifax loss rate was 14.9%. As a result, Halifax Mks II and V were permanently withdrawn from service over Germany. The Kiel mine laying diversion was successful in drawing off fighters, but the German controllers only sent half of the available aircraft. As soon as the bomber stream crossed the Dutch coast they were confronted by the remaining half of the fighters and, moreover, the ones sent to Kiel were returned to join the fray. As a consequence, the fighters steadily picked off bombers all the way to this distant target. The winds were strongly than had been predicted and many bombers arrived early and had to orbit the target awaiting the Pathfinders, further increasing the likelihood of being picked off, either by flak or fighters. Leipzig was cloud covered and sky-marking had to be used. Early bombing appeared to be concentrated but later bombing less so. There was no local report nor a reconnaissance flight the following day. An American raid the following day then made it impossible to judge the effectiveness of the raid. |
Reason for Loss | Crashed near Stendal, Germany |