Farrell, William Robert Died

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Personal Information

Rank WO2
Forename(s) William Robert
Surname Farrell
Gender M
Age 22
Date of Death 04-12-1943
Next of Kin Son of Joseph Farrell and Amy Irene Farrell (née Low), of Toronto, Ontario. Husband of Marjorie Alice Farrell (née Palmer)- marriage Toronto, 28 February 1942.
FARRELL WR

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax II
Serial Number DT730
Markings KN-B

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Becklingen War Cemetery
Grave Reference 12. E. 1A.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 162
FARRELL WR

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 R/112769
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 4
Squadron 77
Squadron Motto Esse potius quam videri (To be, rather than to seem)
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Holy Trinity Church, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stained Glass Window & Roll of Honour
Memorial Text Memorial windows and Roll of Honour for 77 Sqn. R.A.F.
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Marble Column with Metal Sculpture and Plaques
Memorial Text Memorial to 77 Sqn. R.A.F. City of Lancaster's own
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Gardens, Propeller, Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text In everlasting homage to the courage of those who have found their winged victory through the skies of Yorkshire
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Propeller Unit & Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text They made the supreme sacrifice so that you & I may go in peace with freedom. 4 Group 1939 - 1945.
Location Heslington Hall, York, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Heslington Hall 1941 - 1945, 4 Gp Headquarters Bomber Command. In remembrance of those Air & Ground personnel who made the supreme sacrifice that we all may walk in peace with freedom

Miscellaneous Information

William was born in Toronto on 25 December 1920. His mother was born in Ottawa and his father, a Royal Mail clerk was born in Toronto. He had one sister, Dorothy Lilian Mae. He attended Humewood Public School 1925-1935 and Vaughan Collegiate Institute between 1935-1939 attaining High School Entrance and Junior Matric. William enjoyed most sports including baseball, hockey, swimming and football. He worked at International Stock Foods for a few months from September 1938-February 1940 and then went to the International Nickel Co. from February 1940 until January 1941.
William enlisted on 3 July 1941 and after training embarked from Canada on 28 October 1942, arriving at 3PRC on 6 November 1942. He then went to 24 OTU 13 December 1942, 1658 CU 20 April 1943 and 77 Squadron 20 May 1943.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/656/43
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/656/43

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
Boyd C R (F/S) Died
Caseley R J (P/O) Died
Hollingworth R M (F/S) Died
Miller J (P/O) Died
Ryder F E (Sgt) Died
Webb W J H (F/S) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 03-12-1943
End Date 04-12-1943
Takeoff Station Elvington
Day/Night Raid Night (45% moon)
Operation Leipzig. 527 aircraft. By way of a diversion, the main force took a direct route toward Berlin and then turned off for Leipzig, by which time German fighters were already amongst them and scoring successes. Fortunately many were called back to Berlin once the Mosquito diversionary raid began. as a result only three bombers were thought to have been Lost in the target area. Some aircraft flew off course and ended up in the heavily defended Frankfurt area and most of the losses sustained this night were amongst them. PFF marking was accurate and the resultant bombing was effective. The former World Fair exhibition buildings were hit, some of which had been converted into a Junkers aircraft factory.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Crashed at Cloppenburg, Holland
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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.