Bray, Earl Clarence
Personal Information
Rank | F/S |
Forename(s) | Earl Clarence |
Surname | Bray |
Gender | M |
Age | 20 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 30-07-1943 |
Next of Kin | Son of William and Pearl Edith Bray, of Jarvis, Ontario, Canada. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Short Stirling III |
Serial Number | BF578 |
Markings | HA-A |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Becklingen War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | 12. G. 2. |
Epitaph | THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD; I SHALL NOT WANT... THY ROD AND THY STAFF THEY COMFORT ME |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 135 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | R/89558 |
Service | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Group | 3 |
Squadron | 218 (Gold Coast) |
Trade | Air Gunner |
Country of Origin | Canada |
Other Memorials
Location | St. Mary's Church, Bexwell, Norfolk |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Stone Tablet |
Memorial Text | In memory of the squadrons based at R.A.F. Downham Market and those who have their lives during the 1939 - 1945 war |
Location | All Saints Church, Chedburgh, Suffolk |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | RoH and Sqn Crest |
Memorial Text | Roll of Honour and scroll remembering the members of the Royal and Polish Air Forces who served at RAF Chedburgh 1942 - 1946 |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1351/14 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1351/13 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 29-07-1943 |
End Date | 30-07-1943 |
Takeoff Station | Downham Market |
Day/Night Raid | Night (4% moon) |
Operation | Hamburg. 787 aircraft, 17 losses (2.2%). For the second consecutive raid, Brig. Gen. Anderson, the commander of the American 8th Air Force, flew as an observer on this operation. PFF used H2S to mark the target but were approximately 3km east of the centre of the city but was at least concentrated, leading to concentrated bombing with little creepback. This raid caused a firestorm resulting from very high summer temperatures and low humidity following a particularly dry spell. Most of the fire crews were in the west of the city following the raid of three nights earlier and few could make the journey to the new fires due to rubble blocking roads. The fires quickly joined into one mass of fire, drawing so much oxygen into the area that it caused storm-force winds. The fire raged for over three hours after the raid and only subsided when all combustible material was consumed. Approximately 40000 civilian deaths mostly from asphyxiation resulting from lack of oxygen. The raid led to an exodus of over 1.2 million people fearing another raid. |
Reason for Loss | Hit by flak over the target and then finished off by a night-fighter flown by by Uffz. Walter Rohlfing, of 3./NJG 3 , crashing at Ahrenswohldeg, Germany, between Buxtehude and Zeven, SW of Hamburg. The exact crash site is unknown. The two dead crew members were initially interred in the garrison cemetery at Stade. They were re-interred in Becklingen on 26 September 1946. |