East, Michael George King

Personal Information

Rank WO2
Forename(s) Michael George King
Surname East
Gender M
Age 20
Decorations
Date of Death 26-05-1943
Next of Kin Son of Jack Haddon East and Mona Favoretta East (née Macdonald), of Keremeos, British Columbia.
EAST MGK

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Short Stirling III
Serial Number EH876
Markings WP-J

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 180.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 159

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/118286
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 3
Squadron 90
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Roadside location, Tilbury Juxta Clare, Essex
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Marble Memorial
Memorial Text In memory of the Airmen of XC Sqn, No 3 Bomb Group flying operations from here with the Mk 1 Stirling Bomber December 1943 until May 1943
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Location St. Mary & All the Saints Church, Little Walsingham, Norfolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Tablet
Memorial Text In loving memory of Henry Philip Lee Warner AFC DFC. Only Son of Philip Henry & Mary King Lee Warner. Actg S/L RAFVR killed in action over Germany Aug 26th 1944 in his 32nd year
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Location Village Green, Tuddenham, Suffolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Memorial atopped with Inscribed Silver Sun-Dial
Memorial Text For all those who served their country as part of XC Sqn RAF
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Location St. Mary's Church, Tuddenham, Suffolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Framed Sqn Roll of Honour
Memorial Text They grow not old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn. At the going down of the Sun and in the morning, we will remember them
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Miscellaneous Information

Michael was born on 12 February 1923 in Keremeos, British Columbia. His father was a Fruit Rancher, born in Nepawa Manitoba and his mother was born in Duncan B.C. He had a sister Joyce MacDonald and a brother, J/36618 F/O John Douglas Alfred East, who was serving in Bomber Command. Tragically, John was also to lose his life in a flying accident in Yorkshire, England on 20 November 1944 during a cross-country training exercise. The aircraft crashed into trees just after take-off and John is buried in Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery, Yorkshire. Michael went to School in Keremeos 1929-1938 and continued 1938-1941 gaining High School Entrance and Jnr. Matric. The sports he enjoyed were badminton, tennis, and wrestling. He also liked hunting and fishing and had been Assistant Scoutmaster for the 1st Keremeos Boy Scout Troop.
Michael enlisted on 23 July 1941 and after early training embarked from Canada for the U.K.on 30 April 1942. After arrival at 3 PRC on 13 June 1942 he went on to 11 (P)AFU 30 June 1942, 14 OTU 21 August 1942, 26 OTU 30 January 1943, 1657 CU on 15 April 1943 and 90 Squadron on 21 May 1943. Just five days later at the age of twenty, Michael very sadly lost his life.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The National Archives

Fellow Servicemen

Last Operation Information

Start Date 25-05-1943
End Date 26-05-1943
Takeoff Station Ridgewell
Day/Night Raid Night (57% moon)
Operation Dusseldorf. 759 aircraft, 27 losses (3.6%). This raid was a failure since PFF had great difficulty in marking the target due to two layers of cloud. Decoy fires and markers were also being operated. Bombing was scattered as a result.
Reason for Loss Shot down by a night-fighter and crashed off the Dutch coast
 
 
 
 

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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.