Gilchrist, William Carter
Personal Information
Rank | Sgt |
Forename(s) | William Carter |
Surname | Gilchrist |
Gender | M |
Age | 28 |
Date of Death | 18-11-1943 |
Next of Kin | Son of George Carter Gilchrist and Margaret Elizabeth Gilchrist (née Cormack) of Chipperfield, Saskatchewan, Canada. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax V |
Serial Number | LK632 |
Markings | SE-M |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Rheinberg War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | 20. B. 4. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 169 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | R/139912 |
Service | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Group | 6 |
Squadron | 431 (Iroquois) |
Squadron Motto | The hatiten ronteriios (Warriors of the air) |
Trade | Air Gunner |
Country of Origin | Canada |
Other Memorials
Location | Gilchrist Bay, Saskatchewan |
Country | Canada |
Memorial Type | Bay |
Memorial Text |
Location | Adjacent to A19, Burn, North Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Memorial Stone |
Memorial Text | A memorial to all those who served on 431 Sqn RCAF at RCAF Burn, 1942-1943 |
Location | Village Green, Tholthorpe, North Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone with inscribed metal plaques & Maple Tree |
Memorial Text | In memory of all those who served at RCAF Tholthorpe during WW2 including 431 Sqn RCAF |
Location | Old Control Tower, former airfield site, Tholthorpe, North Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Metal Plaque |
Memorial Text | In memory of all those who served at RCAF Tholthorpe during WW2 including 431 Sqn RCAF |
Miscellaneous Information
William was born at Chipperfield, Saskatchewan on 3 April 1915. His father, deceased, was a farmer born at Dunbeath, Scotland and his mother was also born in Scotland. He had four brothers, George, John, James and Hugh and sisters, Pearl and Margaret. His mother later married Tom Oliver. His father had died in 1930. He attended Belvoir school 1922-1928. (Grade 8) and then again 1928-1929 when he took Grade 9. He preferred to play softball but also some of the other sports and his hobby was repairing cars, tractors etc. Between 1929 and 1937, William worked at home farming and trucking. He then worked at Wright Hargreaves Gold Mines at Kirkland Lake, Ontario, as an underground machine man between 1937-1939, where he was learning the trade. Then, still at Kirkland Lake, he worked for R.W.Calver, plumbing and fitting, 1939-1940. From 1940 onwards he farmed for himself. |
William enlisted on 2 December 1941 and after basic training was posted to the U.K. He embarked from New York on 9 March 1943 arriving at 3PRC on 18 March 1943. He was then at 14 ITW on 12 June 1943, 8 AGS 17 July 1943, 1659 CU 28 August 1943 and 431 Squadron 24 September 1943. Sadly William lost his life on 18 November 1943. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1857/14 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1857/13 |
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 | 18-11-1943 |
End Date | 19-11-1943 |
Takeoff Station | Tholthorpe |
Day/Night Raid | Night (59% moon) |
Operation | Mannheim. 395 aircraft, 23 losses (5.8%). This was one of the larger diversionary raids and accounts for the high losses. By comparison, the main raid (On Berlin) registered 2.0% losses. There was cloud cover over the target and bombing was scattered as a result. Most of the damage fell to the north of the town, where the Daimler Benz car plant suffered a 90% loss in production as a result. 21 deaths on the ground and 7500 people were bombed out. |
Reason for Loss | Crashed at Hohen-Sülzen, WSW of Worms, Germany |