Etienne, Francis Died

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Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) Francis
Surname Etienne
Gender M
Age 20
Date of Death 25-04-1944
Next of Kin Son of Emanuel Etienne and Mary Etienne (née Keaney), of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
ETIENNE F

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number LW622
Markings DT-R

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Belgium
Burial/Memorial Place Schoonselhof Cemetery
Grave Reference IVa. D. 41.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 161
ETIENNE F

Location

Row -
Panel 161
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 161

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/203265
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 100
Squadron 192
Squadron Motto Dare to discover
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Heirbaan, Haasdonk, Oost Flanders Province
Country Belgium
Memorial Type Stencilled composite panel
Memorial Text In de nacht van 24 april 1944 stortte bij deze plaats een bommenwerper neer. Halifax LW 622 van op 192 squadron RCAF
Translation "on 24 April 1944, Halifax LW622 of 192 Sqn crashed at Haasdonk"
Location Juction of High St & Reepham Rd, Foulsham, Norfolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Slate Tablets at base of Village Sign
Memorial Text Remembering all who served at RAF Foulsham 1942-1947 The airfield lay one mile North of this sign, Units based at Foulsham Airfield, 98 Sqdn 1678 HC Flight RAF, 180 Sqdn RAF, 192 Sqdn RAF, 12 Gliderb MU RAF, 514 Sqdn RAF, BSD Unit RAF, 462 Sqdn RAAA+F, Elint Det 7th PR Group USAAF
Location In front of the mess esplanade, Mailly-le-Camp, 10 - Aube Prefecture
Country France
Memorial Type Stone memorial sculpture, inscribed marble tablets and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text En souvenir des heros de la RAF. Qui ont participe au bombardment du camp de Mailly. Unites de la RAF engagees dans le raid sur Mailly-le-Camp, la nuit du 3 au 4 May 1944. N° 9-12-44-49-50-57 61-83-97-100-101 Special Duties Flight-103-105-106-166- 169-192-207-460 (RAAF)-463 (RAAF)-467 (RAAF)-550-576-617- 619-625-626-627-646
Translation "In memory of the RAF heroes who took part in the bombing of Mailly Camp. RAF units engaged in the raid on Mailly-le-Camp, the night of 3-4 May 1944. Squadrons that took part: N° 9-12-44-49-50-57 61-83-97-100-101 Special Duties Flight-103-105-106-166- 169-192-207-460 (RAAF)-463 (RAAF)-467 (RAAF)-550-576-617-619-625-626-627-646"
Location Haveringland Parish Church, adjacent to former RAF Swannington, Norfolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Framed Scroll and Framed RoH
Memorial Text Remembering the men and women of the Royal Air Force and Allied Forces who served with 100 (BS) Group
Location St. Peter's Church, Haveringland, Norfolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed stone tablet
Memorial Text This church was dedicated as the memorial church to 100 (Bomber Support) Group. Remembering the men and women of the RAF and Allied Forces who served with 100 (Bomber Support) Gp

Miscellaneous Information

Francis was born at Toronto, Ontario on 15 February 1924. His father, an electrical engineer, deceased, was born in Quebec and his mother was born in Ontario. He had two brothers, Leon and Joseph. Joseph, a sergeant used the English version of his surname and was known as Joseph Stephen, not Etienne. Francis attended St. Dunstan’s School 1933-1940 and then St. Michael’s 1940-1942. The sport he enjoyed was rugby and hockey. Between 1941-1942 he worked in Shipping for Massey-Harris and then became a Lineman for C.P.R. telegraphs during 1942 until enlistment.
After enlisting on 9 November 1942 and completing his training, he was posted to the U.K. and embarked from Halifax on 13 September 1943. After arriving at 3PRC on 20 September 1943 he went to 24 OTU 28 September 1943, 61 Base 4 December 1943 and lastly 192 Squadron on 21 February 1944. Sadly, at the age of twenty Francis was to lose his life.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1156/44
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1156/44

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
Crowdy C W C (F/O) Died
Elliott T H (P/O) Died
Morris F W (P/O) Died
Mortimer L L (F/O) Died
Parkin D (Sgt) Died
Vincent P H G (F/S) Died
Wilmer M C A (F/S) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 24-04-1944
End Date 25-04-1944
Takeoff Station Foulsham
Day/Night Raid Night (6% moon)
Operation Bomber Support- in support of the Karlsruhe raid
Reason for Aircraft Loss Crashed at Haasdonk, east of Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
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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.