Kopp, John Walter Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) John Walter
Surname Kopp
Gender M
Age 24
Date of Death 21-02-1945
Next of Kin Son of John Kapostinski and Malkau Kopp (née Brunslava), of Whitemouth , Manitoba, Canada. John changed his name to Kopp and the whole family were then known by this surname. Husband of Frances Muriel Kopp (née Chanon), whom he married on 9 November 1943 at Lethbridge, Alberta.
KOPP JW

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster X
Serial Number KB809
Markings SW-Q

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Grave Reference 4. F. 2.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 195
KOPP JW

Location

Row -
Panel 195
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 195

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/89848
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 431 (Iroquois)
Squadron Motto The hatiten ronteriios (Warriors of the air)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Kopp Island, Manitoba; On the eastern bank of Reindeer Lake
Country Canada
Memorial Type Island
Memorial Text
Location Race Control Building, Croft Auto Circuit, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text In memory of those who served at RAF Croft, 1941-1945 including 419 Sqn RCAF
Location Roadside Location, A167, Dalton on Tees, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Memorial topped with metal statue
Memorial Text In memory of those who served at RAF Croft, 1941-1945 including 419 Sqn RCAF
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
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

John was born on 19 August 1920 at Whitemouth , Manitoba. His father, who was a C.P.R. Section Foreman, was born in Warsaw, Poland and his mother was born in Zhitomir, Russia. He had two brothers, Stanley and Warley and two sisters Helen and Mary. A third brother, Flt.Sgt. Ben P. Kopp was sadly killed in action in May 1941. The schools he attended were Rennie Public, 1926-1934 followed by St.Paul’s College 1934-1935 (Grade 10). The sports he enjoyed were baseball and hockey. John worked as a labourer at Manitoba Forest between 1935-1940 and then spent a month in 1940 as a Picketman at Manitoba Surveys Branch. Between March and July 1941 he was working as a carpenter for T.G. Gale & Co. at Oshawa, Ontario.
After enlisting on 18 August 1941 and completing his training, John embarked from Halifax on 24 November 1943, arriving in the U.K.at 3 PRC on 2 December 1943. He then went to 15(P)AFU on 4 April 1944, 82 OTU on 4 July 1944, 61 Base 27 September 1941, 1666 CU 29 November and 431 Squadron on 7 December 1944. John sadly lost his life on 21 February 1945.
His mother's name is variously given as Melkau and Malkau.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1858/28
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1858/28

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
Dickson W S (P/O) Died
Hoffman L E (P/O) Died
Newman F E (P/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 20-02-1945
End Date 21-02-1945
Takeoff Station Croft
Day/Night Raid Night (68% moon)
Operation Dortmund- to attack the southern half of the city. 528 aircraft, 14 Lancasters lost. The southern half of the city was destroyed. The air-raid recording seems to have broken down completely by this point as there are no details of this raid.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Crashed at Hohensyburg, SSE of Dortmund
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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.