Fill, Harold Walter Died

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Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) Harold Walter
Surname Fill
Gender M
Age 27
Date of Death 17-04-1943
Next of Kin Son of James Fill and Susan Isabella Fill (née McCulloch), of Nelson, British Columbia, Canada.
FILL HW

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax II
Serial Number BB343
Markings EQ-X

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country France
Burial/Memorial Place Liesse Communal Cemetery
Grave Reference Mil. Plot. Row B. Coll. grave 1-4.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 163
FILL HW

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 R/81030
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 408 (Goose)
Squadron Motto For freedom
Trade Flight Engineer
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location On D964, infront of the village cemetery, Lesquielles-Saint-Germain, 02 - Aisne Prefecture
Country France
Memorial Type Inscribed memorial stone, inscribed metal plaque & metal sculptures
Memorial Text En souviner des aviateurs Canadiens en Brittaniques tombes glorieusement le 17 Avril 1943 Les habitants reconnaissants
Translation "Remembering the Canadian and British airmen who fell gloriously on April 17, 1943, the grateful locals"
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 Village Centre, Linton on Ouse, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stone Memorial and inscribed slate tablet
Memorial Text In memory of 408 (Goose) and 426 (Thunderbird) Squadrons of R.C.A.F
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

Harold was born on 6 October 1915 at Nelson, British Columbia. His father was born at Montreal, Quebec and his mother at Clackburg, Ontario. His father was a Veterans Guard in the army at Nanaimo. He had a twin brother Howard James. Part of his schooling was at Kamloops High 1930-1933. Harold enjoyed most sports. From 1933-35 he worked for Provincial Government in bridge building and then for Fred Carr & Son 1935-1937 but left as business was slack. Between 1935-1940 he worked for J. Giddens & Sons, plumbing and heating, as a sheet metal worker.
On 12 November 1940, Harold enlisted and after completing his training was sent to the U.K. where he arrived at 3PRC on 14 May 1942. He went on to 423 Sqn 17 August 1942, 1659 CU 1 Feb 1943 and 408 Squadron 25 February 1943. It was from there that Harold was to lose his life on 17 April 1943.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1797/8
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1797/8

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
Gielty A P (Sgt) Died
Guay J J A (WO1) Died
Haines L G (F/S) Died
MacDonald I (F/S) Died
Pilon F R (F/S) Died
Winter R H (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 16-04-1943
End Date 17-04-1943
Takeoff Station Leeming
Day/Night Raid Night (87% moon)
Operation Pilsen- Skoda armaments factory. 327 aircraft, 36 loses (11.0%). The main force was told to locate the Skoda factory visually and only to use PFF marking as a general guide. A large asylum building some 7 miles away was mistaken for the target. The Skoda factory was not hit at all.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Crashed near Liesse, NE of Laon, France
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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.