Crawford, Orville Everett
Personal Information
Rank | F/S |
Forename(s) | Orville Everett |
Surname | Crawford |
Gender | M |
Age | 23 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 30-05-1942 |
Next of Kin | Son of Calvin Crawford and Susan Jane Crawford (née Tedford), of Elderslie, Ontario, Canada. Husband of Marjorie Evelyn Crawford (née McInnes) at Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Vickers Wellington III |
Serial Number | X3715 |
Markings | VR-G |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | France |
Burial/Memorial Place | Viroflay New Communal Cemetery |
Grave Reference | Row A. Coll. grave 19-20. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 150 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | R/68063 |
Service | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Group | 3 |
Squadron | 419 (Moose) |
Trade | Observer |
Country of Origin | Canada |
Other Memorials
Location | Church of St. John, Beck Row, Suffolk |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Slate Tablet on rear external wall of Church |
Memorial Text | In remembrance of all who served at RAF Mildenhall and associated aerodromes in the cause of freedom, 1939-1945 |
Location | Outside Former St. Georges Hotel, Teesside Airport, County Durham |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Slate Memorial Tablet on Stone Memorial |
Memorial Text | A memorial to Nos 419, 420 and 428 Sqns RCAF who flew from RAF Middleton St George during WW2 |
Miscellaneous Information
Orville was born at Elderslie, Ontario on 1 August 1918. Both parents were born in Ontario, his father in Dobbington, who was a farmer and his mother in Sullivan Township. The schools he attended were Tara Public school between 1925-1931 followed by Tara Continuation 1931-1936. He also attended the Northern Business College1936-1938 to study shorthand, typing etc. His sport interests were hockey, baseball, tennis and swimming. Orville worked at McQuay Tanning as a time-keeper and shipper 1938-1939 and then at Haileybury Lumber company as a frame maker in 1939 . He then worked as a clerk, in Tara, 1939-1940 after which he enlisted. |
After enlisting and training Orville was posted to the U.K. and embarked from Halifax on 15 September 1941 and arrived at 3PRC on 29 September 1941. He was then at 12 OTU 21 October 1941, and 419 Squadron on 31 January 1942. Sadly Orville was to lose his life on 30 May 1942 |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1822/10 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1822/9 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 29-05-1942 |
End Date | 30-05-1942 |
Takeoff Station | Mildenhall |
Day/Night Raid | Night (100% moon) |
Operation | Gennevilliers- Gnome & Rhone factory. Aerial photographs show little or no damage to the factory. Some damage to local houses and 34 French people reported killed |
Reason for Loss | Crashed NW of Gennevilliers |