Fern, Raymond John Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/L
Forename(s) Raymond John
Surname Fern
Gender M
Age 25
Date of Death 11-03-1945
Next of Kin Son of Raymond Mason Fern and Vina Olive Fern (née Gibbs), of Christopher Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada. Husband of Esme Dorothy Fern (née Temple), whom he married on 12 December 1944 at St.Dunstan’s church, East Acton, London, Middlesex.
FERN RJ

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster X
Serial Number KB834
Markings WL-Y

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Grave Reference 13. F. 8.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 163
FERN RJ

Location

Row -
Panel 163
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 163

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/15681
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 434 (Bluenose)
Squadron Motto In excelsis vincimus (We conquer in the heights)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Fern Lake, Saskatchewan
Country Canada
Memorial Type Lake
Memorial Text
Location Race Control Building, Croft Auto Circuit, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text In memory of those who served at RAF Croft, 1941-1945 including 419 Sqn RCAF
Location Roadside Location, A167, Dalton on Tees, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Memorial topped with metal statue
Memorial Text In memory of those who served at RAF Croft, 1941-1945 including 419 Sqn RCAF
Location Village Green, Tholthorpe, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with inscribed Metal Plaque and Maple Tree
Memorial Text A memorial to those Canadians who served at RCAF Tholthorpe during WW2, including 434 Sqn RCAF
Location Former Control Tower, old Tholthorpe airfield site, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text A memorial to those Canadians who served at RCAF Tholthorpe during WW2, including 434 Sqn RCAF
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

Raymond was born on 1 July 1919 at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. His father, a farmer, was born at Whitwick, Leicestershire, England and his mother at Harlan, Iowa, USA. He went to school at Christopher Lake, 1930-1935 (grades 1-8) and then attended the Government Correspondence School at Regina, 1935-1938 (grades 9-11). His sport interests were softball, baseball, swimming and hockey and his hobbies were mechanics, wireless and camping. Raymond worked at Prince Albert National Park Forestry Service as a labourer for two months in 1937 and then as a clerk and truck driver for them 1938-1939.
On 13 August 1940 he enlisted and after training embarked from Canada for the U.K. where he arrived at 3PRC on 1 October 1944, 61 Base 19 October 1944, 1664 CU 15 November 1944, and then 434 Squadron 31 December 1944. Raymond was to lose his life from there on 11 March 1945.

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
Copeland T D (F/O) Died
Jones W T (P/O) Died
Latremouille J R (F/O) Died
Rowe A G (F/L) Died
Scott G (F/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 11-03-1945
End Date 11-03-1945
Takeoff Station Croft
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Essen. 1079 aircraft, 3 lost. This was the largest number of aircraft sent to a single target so far. Complete cloud cover led to the use of Oboe sky-marking. Some 4661 tons of bombs were dropped with great accuracy, paralysing Essen until the Americans arrived. 897 people were said to be killed although there is no proper report on this raid, such was the level of disarray. This was the last of a very large number of raids on Essen throughout the war, although many were poor due to the propensity for cloud and haze. The total death toll stood at 7000 and the population of the city halved due to people leaving for their own safety.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Hit by flak almost immediately after completing the bombing run. Crashed onto the target
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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.