Cruickshanks, Grahame Lawrence Died

Back

Personal Information

Rank W/C
Forename(s) Grahame Lawrence
Surname Cruickshanks
Gender M
Age 28
Decorations DFC, GSM Palestine
Date of Death 08-09-1941
Next of Kin Son of Alexander Craighead Cruickshanks and Agnes Cruickshanks. Husband of Phyllis "Billie" Cruickshanks (née Austin), of Durban, Natal, South Africa. They married in the late 1930s and had one son, born in Egypt.
CRUICKSHANKS GL

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Vickers Wellington IC
Serial Number R1784
Markings BU-

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery
Grave Reference 4. A. 1.
Epitaph IN PROUD AND UNDYING MEMORY OF GRAHAME, ADORED HUSBAND OF "BILLIE"

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 151
CRUICKSHANKS GL

Location

Row -
Panel 151
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 151

Enlistment Information

Service Number 34191
Service Royal Air Force
Group 3
Squadron 214 (Federated Malay States)
Squadron Motto Ultor in umbris (Avenging in the shadows)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin South Africa

Other Memorials

Location Outside former Officers Mess, Stradishall, Suffolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brick Memorial with Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text To commemorate 32 years of service by the men and women of R.A.F. Stradishall 1938 - 1970
Location All Saints Church, Chedburgh, Suffolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Plaques and RoH within wooden case
Memorial Text Roll of Honour and scroll remembering the members of the Royal and Polish Air Forces who served at RAF Chedburgh 1942 - 1946

Miscellaneous Information

Born 2 March 1913. He was educated at Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, playing cricket and football for the school's teams. He became a first class cricketer (left-handed). He played his only two first-class matches in December 1931, playing for Eastern Province in Currie Cup matches against Natal and Orange Free State, scoring a total of 27 runs with a highest score of 19. He played five times for Egypt against HM Martineau's XI between 1935 and 1938 whilst serving in the military,and played for the RAF side, including twice in inter-service matches, during 1939, top-scoring in both innings against the Royal Navy at Lord's with scores of 90―run out "rather stupidly", according to The Times―and then 70 not out. His Wisden obituary described him as a "powerful left-handed batsman and sound wicket-keeper", whilst match reports in The Times commented on his willingness to "make ground with his feet" to score boundaries and that he hit the ball hard. (Wikipedia - see more here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grahame_Cruickshanks)
Cruickshanks worked for Shell Petroleum in South Africa before travelling to England to join the Royal Air Force in 1933.] After serving with 14 Squadron in Transjordan and Egypt for the period, he trained South African and Rhodesian air crew during the early years of World War II. He served in 9 Squadron and was appointed Acting Squadron Leader in September 1940, before moving to lead 214 (Federated Malay States) Squadron flying Wellington bombers in August 1941.
His brother Clive Cruickshanks also played cricket for Eastern Province.
His GSM with Palestine clasp was awarded during his time as a Pilot Officer with No. 14 Squadron in 1935-7.

Casualty Pack Number Find Out More

AIR 81/8930 (P362116/41)

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1320/18
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1320/18

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
Chapman L T (Sgt) Died
Davies W (S/L) Died
Esplen W (F/O) Died
Falconer K J (F/L) Died
Page A N (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 07-09-1941
End Date 08-09-1941
Takeoff Station Stradishall
Day/Night Raid Night (95% moon)
Operation Berlin
Reason for Aircraft Loss Lost over Germany
Start new losses database search Back
 
 
 
 

Please Wait

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.