Fitz-Gibbon, George Desmond

Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) George Desmond
Surname Fitz-Gibbon
Gender M
Age 29
Decorations
Date of Death 30-01-1943
Next of Kin Son of John Brenton Fitz-Gibbon and Elsie Elizabeth Fitz-Gibbon (née Montillon), of Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada.
FITZ-GIBBON GD

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Vickers Wellington III
Serial Number Z1680
Markings OW-

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 173.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 164

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/15533
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 426 (Thunderbird)
Trade WOp/AG
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Adjacent to Village Hall, Dishforth, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with Inscribed Metal Plaque & Maple Tree
Memorial Text In memory of the Canadian aircrew of 425 and 426 Sqns RCAF who served at RAF Dishforth, 1942-1945
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Location Outside Village Hall, Linton on Ouse, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with inscribed Slate Tablet
Memorial Text In memory of Canadian personnel who served at RAF Linton on Ouse during WW2, including 408 and 426 Sqns RCAF
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Miscellaneous Information

George was born on 5 May 1913 at Port Colborne, Ontario. His father, born in County Kilkenny Ireland, had worked as a Civil Engineer in Buffalo, New York and Buffalo is where his mother was born. After her marriage, his mother became a British Subject. The schools he attended were in Fort Erie, Ontario: 1919-1927 (public) followed by Wintermute. Street school (High School) 1927-1933. He had a sister Mary and three brothers: John Ord, living in Sault St.Marie, Lieutenant Maurice, in the 11th Canadian Provost Corps, and Private F. G. in 11th Canadian Tank regiment. His sport interests were mainly hockey and rugby but he also enjoyed swimming, fishing and the high jump. George started off working at his own Insurance Agency as a Salesman (1935-1937) but there wasn’t enough work so instead he became an Assayer’s assistant at Kerr Addison Gold Mines on Larder Lake, Timiskaming, Ont.from 1937-1940. He then enlisted on 2 July 1940.
After training he was posted to the U.K. and later arrived at 3PRC on 20 April 1941. He was then at 2 S.S, 28 April 1941, 103 Squadron 17 August 1941, 22 OTU 4 May 1942. He was posted missing from 425 Squadron on 30 January 1943.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The National Archives

Fellow Servicemen

Last Operation Information

Start Date 30-01-1943
End Date 30-01-1943
Takeoff Station Dishforth
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Hamburg using cloud cover. 148 aircraft. This was the first H2S attack of the war and the equipment did not fare well, leading to scattered bombing and little significant damage, except a bridge which brought the rail system in the city to a standstill for several days.
Reason for Loss Presumed lost over the sea
 
 
 
 

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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.