Dunphy, Hugh Ashley

Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Hugh Ashley
Surname Dunphy
Gender M
Age 20
Date of Death 05-01-1945
Next of Kin Son of Arnold Ashley Dunphy and Isabel Dunphy (née Hayward), of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
DUNPHY HA

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number MZ796
Markings DY-M

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Hanover War Cemetery
Grave Reference 6. A. 13.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 158

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/95294
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 4
Squadron 102 (Ceylon)
Squadron Motto Tenate et perficite (Attempt and achieve)
Trade Air Gunner
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
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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
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Miscellaneous Information

Hugh was born on 5 April 1924 at Regina, Saskatchewan. His father was born at St. John, New Brunswick and was the Superintendent of Schreiber division of CPR and his mother was born at Winnipeg, Manitoba. He had a sister Isabel Louise and a brother Gordon (Lt. Gordon H. Dunphy. RCNVR, Kentville, Nova Scotia). Hugh attended Grosvenor School between 1932-1940 followed by Kelvin Tech High School 1940-1942 (Winnipeg). Hugh took part in skiing, football and swimming, his hobby being model aircraft building. When he left school he worked as an Apprentice Air Engineer for Canadian Pacific Airlines, Edmonton between 1942-1943. He also spent four months in 1942 as a temporary Timekeeper for Canadian Pacific Railway in Winnipeg.
Hugh enlisted on 22 April 1943. After initial training he embarked from Halifax on 29 April 1944 bound for the U.K. and arrived at 3(RCAF) PRC on 8 May 1944. He then went to 20 OTU on 6 June 1944, 41 Base 8 September 1944, and 102 Squadron on 20 December 1944. Sadly Hugh lost his life shortly after arrival on 5 January 1945.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The National Archives

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.

Last Operation Information

Start Date 05-01-1945
End Date 06-01-1945
Takeoff Station Pocklington
Day/Night Raid Night (55% moon)
Operation Hannover. 664 aircraft, 31 losses (4.7%). Bombs fell throughout the city. 493 buildings were destroyed and 250 people killed.
Reason for Loss Hit by flak and crashed SW of Mariensee, Germany
 
 
 
 

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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.