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Friker, Walter Louis

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Personal Information

Rank F/L
Forename(s) Walter Louis
Surname Friker
Gender M
Age 26
Date of Death 24-12-1944
Next of Kin Son of Walter Friker and Wilhelmina Friker (née Hafer), of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Husband of Diana Friker (née Dawes), whom he married on 28 November 1943. Father of Diana Linton Friker, born 9 August 1945.
FRIKER WL

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax VII
Serial Number NP781
Markings EQ-U

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Netherlands
Burial/Memorial Place Venray War Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave VIII. D. 9-10.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 167

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/13140
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 408 (Goose)
Squadron Motto For freedom
Trade Navigator
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

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
View On Google Maps View On what3words

Miscellaneous Information

Walter was born at Victoria, British Columbia on 12 December 1918. His father, who was a barber, was born in Switzerland and his mother in Canada. He had a sister Noreen Louise. He attended the George Jay Victoria High School between 1934-1938 where he studied a Business Course and then attended Victoria College 1938-1940 (science). During this time he was also undertaking a Correspondence Course in solid geometry, from the University of Washington (1938-1939). Walter also took on several summer jobs including a Surveyor’s assistant 1937-1938 for F. Swannell, a Steaming Boiler wiper 1938-1939, E & M Roundhouse, and a Surveyors assistant again for G.J. Jackson from 1940 until enlisting on 25 April 1941. Between 1939-1941 he was also a cadet in the Canadian Officers Training Corps. His sport interests were rugby, tennis and golf and he enjoyed photography and shooting.
After enlistment and training, he was posted to the U.K. and embarked from New York on 21 January 1944, arriving in the U.K. at 3PRC on 31 January 1944. He was then at 10(0) AFU. 30 May 1944, 24 OTU 27 June 1944, 61 Base 20 September 1944, 1659 CU 4 October 1944 and 408 Squadron on 11 November 1944. Walter sadly lost his life on Christmas Eve 1944 without ever seeing his daughter Diana.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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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.

Allan W B (P/O)
D'Amour G R (P/O)
Kellar D G (F/O)
Tonkin D C (P/O)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 24-12-1944
End Date 24-12-1944
Takeoff Station Linton-on-Ouse
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Lohausen to attack the airfield which was thought to be a key supply point to axis forces in the Ardennes. Part of a 338 aircraft bomber force on this airfield and also Mülheim airfield. Good weather conditions over both targets led to accurate bombing. 6 aircraft lost (1.8%).

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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.