Fitzgerald, Rowan Charles
Personal Information
Rank | WO2 |
Forename(s) | Rowan Charles |
Surname | Fitzgerald |
Gender | M |
Age | 26 |
Date of Death | 27-06-1942 |
Next of Kin | Son of Geoffrey David Fitzgerald and Flora Fitzgerald (née Wiggins), of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax II |
Serial Number | W1175 |
Markings | LQ-Q |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | United Kingdom |
Burial/Memorial Place | Runnymede Memorial |
Grave Reference | Panel 102. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 164 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | R/69615 |
Service | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Group | 4 |
Squadron | 405 (Vancouver) |
Squadron Motto | Duicmus (We lead) |
Trade | Observer |
Country of Origin | Canada |
Other Memorials
Location | Adjacent to Village Windmill, Mill Rd, Great Gransden, Cambridgeshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone with inscribed Metal Plaque |
Memorial Text | Remembering 405 (Vancouver) Sqn. PFF at Gransden Lodge 1942 - 1945 |
Location | St. Bartholomew's Church, Great Gransden, Cambridgeshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Stained Glass Window, RoH and inscribed metal plaque |
Memorial Text | Commemorating the 801 airmen of 405 Sqn. RCAF who gave their lives 1941 - 1945 |
Location | Pocklington Gliding Club, Pocklington Airfield, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Marble Pillar and inscribed metal plaque |
Memorial Text | In memory of 102 (Ceylon) and 405 (Vancouver) Sqns. Pocklington Airfield |
Miscellaneous Information
Rowan was born at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on 12 July 1915. His father was an electrician, born at Charlottetown and his mother was born at Dainley, both on PEI. He had three siblings, one of whom was a Signalman in the Canadian Army overseas. Rowan was a member of one of the oldest families in Prince Edward Island, his grandfather being the late Mr. Justice Fitzgerald.He attended West Kent Public school 1922-1932 (Jnr. Matric) followed by the Prince of Wales College 1932-1934. He enjoyed reading and the sports he played were hockey, tennis, skiing and swimming. Rowan worked as a miner for Wright Hargreaves of W.H.Mines Ltd. 1935-1939. He then went as a prospector at K .Hudson Bay Mines in 1939. |
He enlisted on 1 July 1940 and after training, embarked for the U.K. on 29 June 1941. He arrived at 3PRC on 29 July 1941, then went to 19 OTU on 3 August 1941, 77 Squadron on 28 December 1941 and 405 Squadron on 1 March 1942. Rowan was to lose his life on 27 June 1942. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1787/26 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1787/41 |
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.
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 27-06-1942 |
End Date | 28-06-1942 |
Takeoff Station | Pocklington |
Day/Night Raid | Night (99% moon) |
Operation | Bremen. 144 aircraft in this second of three attacks in a week on this target. Gee was used to blind-bomb through complete cloud cover. Atlas Werke and the Korff refinery were hit for a second time, the first being the Thousand Radi two days earlier. |
Reason for Loss | Presumed lost over the sea |