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Basarab, Louis

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Louis
Surname Basarab
Gender M
Age 22
Date of Death 21-11-1944
Next of Kin Son of George Basarab and Olga Basarab (née Alaksiw), of High Prairie, Alberta, Canada.
BASARAB L

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax VII
Serial Number NP810
Markings EQ-H

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Grave Reference 8. C. 9.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 128

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/95202
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 408 (Goose)
Squadron Motto For freedom
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Village Centre, Linton on Ouse, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stone Memorial and inscribed slate tablet
Memorial Text In memory of 408 (Goose) and 426 (Thunderbird) Squadrons of R.C.A.F
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Miscellaneous Information

Louis was born on 15 June 1922 at High Prairie, Alberta, the son of George Basarab and Olga Basarab (Alaksiw) of High Prairie. Both parents were born in Eastern Galicia, Poland. He had brothers Russell, Willie and Teddy and a sister Annie. Louis went to school at Prairie Riverton 1928-1937 (grade 8), where he also took all grade 9 subjects 1936-1937. The main sport he took part in was baseball. He could also drive a car and a tractor. He carried out farming duties between 1937-1942. He then enlisted on 26 August 1942.
After enlistment and initial training, Louis embarked from Halifax on 3 May 1944 bound for the U.K. He arrived at 3 PRC on 16 May 1944 then went to 22 OTU 13 June 1944, 61 Base 30 August 1944 and finally 408 Squadron 31 October 1944. Sadly Louis was to lose his life from there a few weeks later on 21 November 1944.

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.

Clark H E (Sgt)
Frizzell L W (F/O)
Rowley A B (F/O)
Wilson E K (P/O)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 21-11-1944
End Date 22-11-1944
Takeoff Station Linton-on-Ouse
Day/Night Raid Night (35% moon)
Operation Castrop Rauxel synthetic oil plant. 273 aircraft, 4 losses (1.5%). The local report states that 216 high explosive bombs hit the target along with 78 duds and many incendiaries. The resulting fire was so large that the fire-fighters could only allow it to burn out by itself. Some other local industry was also hit.

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Since 1945 the brave men and women who gave their lives whilst in the service of Bomber Command, to protect our country have been largely ignored and forgotten by successive governments.

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Events At IBCC

We have an exciting events programme here at IBCC! From Concerts with stars to our annual Salute to the 40s weekend, from Dinner dances to Family Fun Days..

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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.