Clements, John Gordon Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/S
Forename(s) John Gordon
Surname Clements
Gender M
Age 30
Date of Death 06-12-1942
Next of Kin Son of William Clements and Rose Clements (née Riggs), of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
CLEMENTS JG

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax II
Serial Number W7911
Markings DY-

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country France
Burial/Memorial Place Abbeville Communal Cemetery
Grave Reference Plot 6. Row D. Grave 19.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 145
CLEMENTS JG

Location

Row -
Panel 145
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 145

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/93336
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 4
Squadron 102 (Ceylon)
Squadron Motto Tenate et perficite (Attempt and achieve)
Trade Air Bomber
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location St. Catherine's Church Barmby Moor, East Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Roll of Honour in wall mounted wooden case, Sqn Badge above
Memorial Text 102 (Ceylon) Sqn Roll of Honour and Sqn badge
Location Pocklington Gliding Club, Pocklington Airfield, Easy Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stylised Memorial with inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text Memorial to 102 (Ceylon) Sqn RAF and 405 (Vancouver) Sqn RCAF which served at RAF Pocklington during WW2
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Gardens, Propeller, Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text In everlasting homage to the courage of those who have found their winged victory through the skies of Yorkshire
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Propeller Unit & Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text They made the supreme sacrifice so that you & I may go in peace with freedom. 4 Group 1939 - 1945.
Location Heslington Hall, York, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Heslington Hall 1941 - 1945, 4 Gp Headquarters Bomber Command. In remembrance of those Air & Ground personnel who made the supreme sacrifice that we all may walk in peace with freedom

Miscellaneous Information

John was born on 17 July 1912 at Toronto. His father was born in England and worked as a Plasterer and his mother was also born there. He attended Regal Road School between 1917-1926 followed by Oakwood School (Collegiate Institute) 1926-1931. Between 1933-1936 he attended Western Commerce on a Business Course and Queens University 1937-1940 studying Accountancy. John was working as a Pay Clerk 1931-1932, as a Routeman 1933-1936, as a Sales Clerk for a Florist 1936-1937 and then as an Auditor for Ross & Sons 1937-1940. His sport interests were baseball, rugby, basketball and swimming.
0n 20 February 1941 he enlisted and after training he was posted to the U.K. He embarked from Canada on 30 April 1942, arriving at 3 PRC on 13 May 1942. This was followed by 10(0)AFU on 12 June 1942, 22 OTU 21 July 1942, and 419 Squadron on 1 October 1942. Sadly John was then to lose his life on 6 December 1942.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/808/42
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/808/42

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
Brownhill S (Sgt) Died
Eden F J (Sgt) Died
Grant P A J (Sgt) Died
Jackson W (F/S) Died
Langford D C (Sgt) Died
McCartney J (F/S) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 06-12-1942
End Date 07-12-1942
Takeoff Station Pocklington
Day/Night Raid Night (2% moon)
Operation Mannheim. 272 aircraft, 10 losses (3.7%). PFF did not mark the targets due to total cloud cover. Many aircraft bombed using dead-reckoning instead. Little damage.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Lost over France
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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.