Birnie, Hugh Waldie Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) Hugh Waldie
Surname Birnie
Gender M
Age 22
Date of Death 22-08-1944
Next of Kin Son of Hugh Kelly Birnie and Hannah Elizabeth Birnie (née Parker) of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
BIRNIE HW

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax VII
Serial Number NP683
Markings OW-M

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 245.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 131
BIRNIE HW

Location

Row -
Panel 131
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 131

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/19162
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 426 (Thunderbird)
Squadron Motto On wings of fire
Trade Navigator
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Adjacent to Village Hall, Dishforth, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with Inscribed Metal Plaque & Maple Tree
Memorial Text In memory of the Canadian aircrew of 425 and 426 Sqns RCAF who served at RAF Dishforth, 1942-1945
Location Outside Village Hall, Linton on Ouse, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with inscribed Slate Tablet
Memorial Text In memory of Canadian personnel who served at RAF Linton on Ouse during WW2, including 408 and 426 Sqns RCAF
Location Allerton Park Castle, Allerton, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Memorial Garden dedicated to the 4272 personnel of 6 (RCAF) Gp based at Allerton Castle who gave the ultimate sacrifice during WWII to preserve our freedom
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Propeller Unit & Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text Dedicated to the men & women of 6 (RCAF) Gp Bomber Command and to the 9980 Canadians lost serving in Bomber Command.

Miscellaneous Information

The date of death is probably incorrect- this is in fact the date on which their death was reported. Date of crash: 29/6/44
Hugh was born on 16 January 1922 at Toronto. His father was a printer and was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and his mother was born at Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire. He had one sister, Christina. The schools he attended were Winchester Street, 1929- 1937 followed by Jarvis Collegiate, 1937-1939. His sport interests were swimming, handball and basketball. His hobby was building models. Between 1936 and 1940 Hugh worked as a Salesman for a Mr. Taylor, was was then an Usher at Century Theatre in 1940 and a First Inspector for Underwood Typewriter, 1940-1941. Finally he worked at the Central office at Bell Telephone Company, also in 1941.
He enlisted on 29 August 1942 and after training was posted to the U.K. After training he embarked from Halifax on 28 October 1942 reaching 3 PRC on 6 November, then proceeding to 3 (9) AFU 25 November 1942, 22 OTU on 5 January 1943, 1659 CU 25 March 1943, 408 Squadron 10 April 1943, and finally 426 Squadron on 1 August 1943. Hugh then disappears from the records until shown as missing on 29 June 1944 and then as having sadly lost his life on 22 August 1944 whilst a prisoner of war.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1842/12
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1842/12

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
Jamieson D S (F/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 28-06-1944
End Date 29-06-1944
Takeoff Station Linton-on-Ouse
Day/Night Raid Night (53% moon)
Operation Metz- to bomb railway yards. Part of a 230 strong bomber force to attack railway installations at both Blainville and Metz. Both targets were hit but 20 aircraft were Lost (8.7%).
Reason for Aircraft Loss Shot down by a night-fighter. All the crew survived the crash, five initially evading capture and two becoming PoW. Two, P/O H W Birnie and P/O D S Jamieson were both subsequently captured, probably falling into the hands of the Gestapo, and were shot.
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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.