Hargreaves, Kenneth Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/S
Forename(s) Kenneth
Surname Hargreaves
Gender M
Age 22
Date of Death 30-01-1944
Next of Kin Son of William James Hargreaves and Sybil H. Hargreaves (née Davis) of Detroit , Michigan USA.
HARGREAVES K

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number LV797
Markings BM-L

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave 9. J. 14-19.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 177
HARGREAVES K

Location

Row -
Panel 177
Column -
Line -

Directions From the Chadwick Centre, take the central path towards The Spire.

Phase 2
Panel Number 177

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/161116
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 433 (Porcupine)
Squadron Motto Qui s'y frotte s'y pique (Who opposes it gets hurt)
Trade Navigator
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

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

Kenneth was born in Windsor, Ontario on 19 December 1921. Both parents were born in England and his father worked as a Maintenance man. His father was an American citizen and his mother, British and they lived in Monte Vista, Detroit. He had a brother James Christopher who was in the U.S Army. Another brother, William Edward had sadly died in 1932 aged only six months. He went to McKinly School in Detroit between 1930-1935 then Hutchins Intermediate, also Detroit, between 1935-1937. These were followed by Cooley High School between 1937-1940, and he attained grade XIII. His sport interests were swimming and sailing and he worked as a photo finisher for three years. Between 1940-1942 Kenneth worked for the Auto Club of Michigan as a Multilith Operator.
After enlisting on 6 April 1942 at Hamilton, Ontario and initial training, he was posted to the U.K. and arrived at 3PRC on 18 March, 10 (0) AFU on 22 June 1943 and 61 Base 13 October 1943. After numerous other movements he was eventually posted to 433 Squadron on 22 December 1943. Kenneth was to lose his life from there on 30 January 1944.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1862/2

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
Charlton J R (P/O) Died
Hagerman G E (P/O) Died
Phillips C (P/O) Died
Wannop J (Sgt) Died
Watters J F (P/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 30-01-1944
End Date 31-01-1944
Takeoff Station Skipton on Swale
Day/Night Raid Night (36% moon)
Operation Berlin. 534 aircraft without diversionary raids. 33 aircraft Lost (6.2%). Initial German attempts to intercept with night-fighters failed and the bomber stream was well on the way to Berlin before they met with any resistance. Complete cloud-cover over Berlin but concentrated damage in the centre nonetheless with additional widely scattered bombs. At least 1000 deaths on the ground, 2 industrial premises completely destroyed and a further 15 seriously damaged. The Propaganda Ministry was hit, as was the railway infrastructure
Reason for Aircraft Loss Crashed near Frankendorf, Germany
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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.