Beech, Gerard McKee Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Gerard McKee
Surname Beech
Gender M
Age 24
Date of Death 29-07-1942
Next of Kin Son of Gerard Victor Macklin Beech and Martha Lenora Glover Beech (née Cowan), of Pilot Mound, Manitoba, Canada. Husband of Golda Margaret Beech (née Thorpe), whom he married on 5 February 1940 at Ottawa.
BEECH GM

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Vickers Wellington III
Serial Number X3606
Markings WS-

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Becklingen War Cemetery
Grave Reference 26. H. 14.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 129
BEECH GM

Location

Row -
Panel 129
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 129

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/9160
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 3
Squadron 9 (IX)
Squadron Motto Per noctem volamus (Through out the night we fly)
Trade Observer
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Beech Lake, Manitoba; Located between Quasso and Smith House Lakes
Country Canada
Memorial Type Lake
Memorial Text
Location Village Green, Bardney, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stone Memorial, Propeller and Plaque
Memorial Text In memory of the killed or missing of IX Sqd. 1939 - 1945
Location Inside former Control Tower, Bardney airfield, Bardney, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text To the memory of the men and women of No 9 Sqn RAF Bardney
Location In front of the mess esplanade, Mailly-le-Camp, 10 - Aube Prefecture
Country France
Memorial Type Stone memorial sculpture, inscribed marble tablets and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text En souvenir des heros de la RAF. Qui ont participe au bombardment du camp de Mailly. Unites de la RAF engagees dans le raid sur Mailly-le-Camp, la nuit du 3 au 4 May 1944. N° 9-12-44-49-50-57 61-83-97-100-101 Special Duties Flight-103-105-106-166- 169-192-207-460 (RAAF)-463 (RAAF)-467 (RAAF)-550-576-617- 619-625-626-627-630
Translation "In memory of the RAF heroes who took part in the bombing of Mailly Camp. RAF units engaged in the raid on Mailly-le-Camp, the night of 3-4 May 1944. Squadrons that took part: N° 9-12-44-49-50-57 61-83-97-100-101 Special Duties Flight-103-105-106-166- 169-192-207-460 (RAAF)-463 (RAAF)-467 (RAAF)-550-576-617-619-625-626-627-630"

Miscellaneous Information

Gerard was born at Pilot Mound, Manitoba on 12 April 1918. His father, born in England, was a grain buyer and his mother was born at Sundridge, Ontario. He had a married sister Mary (Mrs. McKay) and a brother P/O William, who died 16 January 1941. The schools he attended were Arnaud, Manitoba 1924-1932 and Baldur in 1935. Gerard also also took a summer course during 1935 at Manitoba University. The sports he enjoyed were softball, tennis, hockey and hardball. He worked for the Civil Service in the Bureau of Statistics and between 1936-1938 he was a census clerk. He was then a clerk grade 1, 1938-1939 and grade 2, in 1939 in the Post Office department, financial branch. He then became a Postal clerk, in the Forward Letter division and he could drive.
He enlisted on 18 November 1940 and after training was sent to the U.K. He arrived at 3 PRC on 26 December 1941 then 1 AOS 16 January 1942, 12 OTU 17 March 1942 and 9 Squadron 11 May 1942. Sadly Gerard was to lose his life on 29 July 1942.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/126/37
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/126/37

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
Coleman J E (P/O) Died
Ledger H (S/L) Died
Ludkin J R (F/S) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 28-07-1942
End Date 29-07-1942
Takeoff Station Honington
Day/Night Raid Night (98% moon)
Operation Hamburg. Was to have been a much larger raid but bad weather in the north of England prevented many Squadrons taking part. Further bad weather en route- the 91 Group OTU aircraft were recalled, the rest becoming scattered. Only 68 bombed the target but a hospital was hit. Heavy aircraft losses including 15.2% of 4 Group OTU Wellingtons
Reason for Aircraft Loss Crashed in the suburbs of Bremen
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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.