Holloway, Donaldson Rendal Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) Donaldson Rendal
Surname Holloway
Gender M
Age 21
Date of Death 15-04-1944
Next of Kin Son of Berkeley Rendal Holloway and Helen Elizabeth Holloway, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
HOLLOWAY DR

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax V
Serial Number EB205
Markings

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery
Grave Reference Sec. B. Row A. Grave 12.
Epitaph MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON HIM

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 183
HOLLOWAY DR

Location

Row -
Panel 183
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 183

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/25803
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 1664 HCU
Trade Pilot
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

Known as Buddy. He had a fiancée back home in Canada- a beautiful young woman by the name of Jean Woods and he kept her photo in his wallet. He wrote to her frequently and often asked his close friend J/25886 Reg "Harry" Harrison to add a foot note, even though they had never met. Buddy used to comment that 'you never know, you might meet her one day'. Both airmen were involved in separate crashes whilst training- Buddy being killed instantly in this incident but Reg survived his ordeal after 10 weeks in hospital receiving skin grafts to treat his phosphorous burns. When Reg returned to his station and learned of Buddy's death he wrote to Jean himself for the first time to express his sympathy and said that he would stop by in Ottawa to see her on his return. Reg was involved in another crash during a later, operational flight when the aircraft suffered an engine failure during takeoff. Ten more days in hospital and he was back on ops again, this time having earned himself a new nickname - 'Crash'. Despite several more skirmishes, Reg survived his time in Bomber Command and was eventually demobbed back to Canada. On arrival he phoned Jean and they met up and fell in love. They were married just before Christmas 1946 and Jean wore two engagement rings her entire life- one from Buddy and one from Reg. They lived a happy life and spent 43 years together until Jean died in 1990. At the time of writing (February 2021), Reg is still alive and is 98 years of age. He often reflects on whether perhaps Buddy had a premonition that he wouldn't make it back to Canada and was deliberately lining Reg up to step into his shoes. (With thanks to CBC News for first airing this story).

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
French K (Sgt) Died
Jobson S W (F/O) Died
Powell H G C (Sgt) Died
Smith J H (F/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 15-04-1944
End Date 15-04-1944
Takeoff Station Dishforth
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Training- evening cross-country exercise
Reason for Aircraft Loss Returned to base amidst worsening weather conditions. The pilot was already having difficulties with the port engines and had ordered the rest of the crew to assume the crash position while he decided to land at Topcliffe rather than enter the circuit for Dishforth. Overshot and crashed into cottages and a railway bridge, catching fire on impact. Local farmers pulled four injured servicemen from the wreckage but sadly two died of their injuries- F/O Holloway and F/O Smith. Three civilians were also killed.
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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.