Ewen, John Bruce Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) John Bruce
Surname Ewen
Gender M
Age 20
Date of Death 15-03-1944
Next of Kin Son of Donald William Ewen and Ida Ewen (née Brotherton) of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
EWEN JB

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number LW690
Markings AL-T

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country France
Burial/Memorial Place Choloy War Cemetery
Grave Reference 2A. C. 16.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 162
EWEN JB

Location

Row -
Panel 162
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 162

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/88360
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 429 (Bison)
Squadron Motto Fortunae nihil (Nothing to chance)
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Roman Rd, Leeming, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brass plaque set into a stone plinth into which is carved with the Canadian maple leaf and the Yorkshire rose.
Memorial Text This memorial is dedicated to those men and women who served at RAF Leeming during World War II, including those from the Royal Canadian Air Force Squadrons, whose members came from all parts of the Commonwealth from 1942 to 1945; 405 Vancouver, 408 Goose, 419 Moose, 427 Lion, 429 Bison. Also, to the many Civilians who supported them during their term of duty in North Yorkshire. We remember too the RAF Squadrons who preceded the Canadians from 1940 - 1942; 7 - 10 - 35 -77 - 102 - 219. To those who paid the supreme sacrifice, we will remember them. Dedicated June 19, 1993
Location Opposite old Main Guardroom, RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stone Memorial & Metal Plaques
Memorial Text In commemoration of those men and women of many nations who served at RAF Leeming during the second world war.
Location Allerton Park Castle, Allerton, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Memorial Garden dedicated to the 4272 personnel of 6 (RCAF) Gp based at Allerton Castle who gave the ultimate sacrifice during WWII to preserve our freedom
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Propeller Unit & Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text Dedicated to the men & women of 6 (RCAF) Gp Bomber Command and to the 9980 Canadians lost serving in Bomber Command.

Miscellaneous Information

John was born at Hamilton, Ontario on 12 April 1923. His father, the manager of Crescent Oil Company, was born in Brooklyn, New York and his mother was born in England. He had two brothers: Donald William Jnr. and Harold Frederick and one sister, Beverley June. John attended Earl Kitchener school in Hamilton, 1930-1939 (Entrance), and Westdale Collegiate, Hamilton 1939-1941 (Lower School). His sport interests were football, hockey, baseball and basketball. He worked as a Timekeeper at Thomas Irwin & Son during 1941 and then worked for his father at Crescent Oil Company as a Shipper between January and September 1942.
John then enlisted on 30 September 1942 and after training, embarked from Canada on 16 July 1943, arriving in the U.K. at 3 PRC on 23 July 1943. From there he went to 1659 CU on 3 August 1943, and 429 Squadron on 10 September 1943. John sadly lost his life on 15 March 1944.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1853/6
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1853/6

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
Heimbecker H L (F/L) Died
Senecal J H G (P/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 15-03-1944
End Date 16-03-1944
Takeoff Station Leeming
Day/Night Raid Night (69% moon)
Operation Stuttgart. 863 aircraft, 37 losses (4.3%). The bomber stream made its approach through France, crossing the German border as late as possible, delaying the point at which the German fighters were able to enter the stream. PFF marking was well short of the target, possibly due to the strong winds as the conditions were clear. Although some of the early bombing fell in the city, much of the later bombing fell outside. Damage was light- 88 deaths and 203 injuries.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Shot down east of Vesoul, France by night fighter flown by Lt. Kurt Matzak of 12./NJG 1.
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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.