Croucher, Lionel Charles
Personal Information
Rank | F/O |
Forename(s) | Lionel Charles |
Surname | Croucher |
Gender | M |
Age | 26 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 21-03-1945 |
Next of Kin | Son of Charles Thomas Croucher and Maude Kathleen Croucher (née Hawker), of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Husband of Jean Dorothy Croucher (née Menkler). |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Avro Lancaster X |
Serial Number | KB786 |
Markings | VR-P |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Hamburg Cemetery |
Grave Reference | Coll. grave 5A. L. 6-9. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 151 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | J/41283 |
Service | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Group | 6 |
Squadron | 419 (Moose) |
Trade | Air Gunner |
Country of Origin | Canada |
Other Memorials
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
Lionel was born on 29 August 1918 in London, England. Both parents were born in England. His father in Bookham, Surrey and he worked as a machine shop foreman and his mother was born in Marlow, Buckinghamshire. The school he attended was in Winnipeg: Lord Selkirk 1924-1933. He also went to Borough Polytechnical in London, England 1934-1936. His hobby was model aeroplanes and sports, hockey, baseball and basketball. Between 1933-1935 when Lionel was in London, he worked as a machinist at Dewbance & Co. London, and at E.R.Watts as a scientific instrument maker between 1935-1939. Back in Toronto between 1939-1941 he then worked as a toolmaker again. Between November and December 1940, he was a private in the 48th Highlanders at Long Branch. |
Lionel enlisted on 7 December 1942 and after training embarked from Halifax on 29 April 1944 for the U.K. He arrived at 3 PRC on 8 May 1944, 24 OTU 30 May 1944, 61 Base 30 August 1944 and 419 Squadron on 4 November 1944. It was from there that Lionel was to lose his life on 21 March 1945. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1823/30 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1823/29 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 20-03-1945 |
End Date | 21-03-1945 |
Takeoff Station | Middleton St. George |
Day/Night Raid | Night (52% moon) |
Operation | Heide- to bomb an oil refinery |
Reason for Loss | Shot down by a night-fighter and presumed crashed at Odderade, ESE of Hemmingstedt. F/S J W Aitken, the rear-gunner was thrown clear by the explosion |