New Memorial Listings

New memorial data for individuals, crew, stations, squadrons and groups have been added.

View memorials

Bigoray, William Walter

Request an edit Submit a photo

Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) William Walter
Surname Bigoray
Gender M
Age 25
Decorations DFM
Date of Death 28-04-1944
Next of Kin She son of John Bigoray and Nasta Bigoray (née Krichay), of Redwater, Alberta, Canada.
BIGORAY WW

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number JB676
Markings MG-K

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Durnbach War Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave 8. K. 10-13.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 131

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/89731
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 8
Squadron 7
Squadron Motto Per diem per noctem (By day and by night)
Trade WOp/AG
Country of Origin Canada

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
View On Google Maps View On what3words
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
View On Google Maps View On what3words

Miscellaneous Information

William was born on 13 September 1918 at Redwater, Alberta. Both parents were born in Austria and his father was a farmer. His mother was deceased by the time of William's enlistment. He had three brothers Nicholas, Frederick Peter (in RCAF Calgary) and Anthony (in RCAF, Penhold). He also had four married sisters, Anne, Rose, Doreen and Mary as well as two half sisters Millie and Bertha. He attended Amelia School, 1926-1935, (Public school course), Ufford 1935-1936 (grade 10), Eastwood High School 1936-1937 (grade 11) and Victoria High School 1937-1938, where he completed grade 11. The sport he took part in was baseball, and he enjoyed hunting and horse riding his hobbies were reading, playing the violin and watch repairs. William was a well driller during 1939 at Redwater followed by work on the railway, also in 1939. In 1940 he worked for John Ikatchick farming and finished off the remainder of 1940 Dairy farming.
On 15 March 1941 he enlisted and on completion of training was posted to the U.K. He arrived at 3 PRC on 21 January 1942, 1 S.S. 12 February 1942, 16 OTU 7 April 1942, 192 Sqn 15 February 1943, 90 Sqn 13 November 1943 and 7 Squadron 23 January 1944. William sadly lost his life from there on 28 April 1944.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Click here to view

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/101/8
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/101/7

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.

Goldingay L D (F/L)
Johnson J E (Sgt)
Lockhart W G (W/C)
Martin J L (S/L)
Ryle G (S/L)
Shields F W (Sgt)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 27-04-1944
End Date 28-04-1944
Takeoff Station Oakington
Day/Night Raid Night (29% moon)
Operation Friedrichshafen. 323 aircraft, 18 Lancasters Lost (5.6%). A highly dangerous raid deep into German territory in bright moonlight and only four weeks after the disastrous raid on Nuremberg, which was still fresh in everybody's minds. The target was of high importance due to its engine and gearbox plants, mainly used for German tanks. Friedrichshafen was, however, further south and barely within reach of German fighter bases. Several diversionary raids assisted with confusing the German Controllers. This was an outstandingly successful raid with excellent marking leading to an estimated 67% of the town being devastated. The gearbox plant was completely destroyed and, according to a German report, the most damaging blow to tank production of the war.
Reason for Loss Shot down by a night-fighter and crashed at Reichenbach, Germany

Honour This Person

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.

It is now time to make that right.

Honour this person now

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..

Something for all the family!

View Upcoming Events
 
 
 
 

Please Wait

Close

Request An Edit

I warrant that the information i’m supplying is accurate to the best of my knowledge and I have the rights to provide this information.

Submit a Photo

I warrant that I own the copyright or have the correct commercial print licences in place for the images and or artwork I’m uploading.

Once submitted, your photo will be submitted for verification and will be shown on the database record shortly.

Disclaimer I acknowledge that I remain the copyright holder of the original document(s). I hereby grant copyright in the digital version to the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) and I consent to IBCC making digital copies freely available online under a Creative Commons non-commercial licence. IBCC may also use, reproduce or incorporate it into other works in any media, or licence its use for purposes of ensuring the sustainability of its Digital Archive and Losses Database. I understand that digital copies will be owned and controlled by IBCC, and I irrevocably agree to IBCC using and publishing digital copies however it sees fit, but always in line with its responsibilities to preserve and protect such ephemera.

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.