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Hill, Lawrence Merwin

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Personal Information

Rank F/S
Forename(s) Lawrence Merwin
Surname Hill
Gender M
Age 20
Date of Death 26-07-1943
Next of Kin Son of Albert Ernest Hill and Ethelwyn Marion Hill (née Jones), of Kelowna, British Colombia, Canada.
HILL LM

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax II
Serial Number JD256
Markings VR-A

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Grave Reference 6. E. 2.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 182

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/157756
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 419 (Moose)
Squadron Motto Moosa aswayita
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Outside Former St. Georges Hotel, Teesside Airport, County Durham
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Slate Memorial Tablet on Stone Memorial
Memorial Text A memorial to Nos 419, 420 and 428 Sqns RCAF who flew from RAF Middleton St George during WW2
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Miscellaneous Information

Lawrence was born at Kelowna, British Colombia on 8 August 1922. His father was born in Ontario and worked as a Shipper and his mother was born in Manitoba. He had two sisters, Beverley and Marion. The schools he attended were Oliver Public, 1928 - 1936 followed by Ontario High, 1936-1939. His sport interests were badminton, tennis, football and baseball. Lawrence worked for Oliver Co-Op Growers, where he dealt with apple packing and storage between 1939-1941.
He enlisted on 18 March 1942. After training Lawrence was posted to the U.K. and he embarked from Canada on 12 December 1942, arriving at 3 PRC on 19 December 1942. He then continued to 7 AGS.17 February 1943, 23 OTU 10 March 1943, 1655 CU 13 May 1943 and 419 Squadron on 3 June 1943. Sadly Lawrence was then to lose his life on 26 July 1943.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1822/36
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1822/35

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.

Askew G W (F/S)
Handforth S W (F/O)
Phoenix O H (F/S)
Porter A L (F/S)
Ross W E (F/S)
Stewart J (Sgt)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 25-07-1943
End Date 26-07-1943
Takeoff Station Middleton St. George
Day/Night Raid Night (32% moon)
Operation Essen. 705 aircraft, 26 losses (3.7%). The commander of the American 8th Air Force was an observer in this raid, aboard an 83 Sqn Lancaster. Window was once again used and the raid was a success with much damage to the industrial eastern part of the city. In particular, the Krupps facility was dealt what was probably the worst blow of the war. Dr Krupp suffered a stroke the following morning from which he never recovered (he would otherwise have been charged with war crimes after the war). 51 other industrial buildings and 2852 homes were destroyed. 500 people were killed, including 22 children.
Reason for Loss Crashed in the target area, possibly after colliding with another aircraft

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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.