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Larsen, Arnold Wilfred

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) Arnold Wilfred
Surname Larsen
Gender M
Age 32
Date of Death 26-08-1944
Next of Kin Son of Andrew Larsen and Anna Larsen (Hansen), of Climax, Saskatchewan, Canada. Husband of Dorothy Lucille Larsen (née Rudh), whom he married in Regjna on 9 April 1943.
LARSEN AW

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster X
Serial Number KB775
Markings VR-Y

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Durnbach War Cemetery
Grave Reference 5. H. 7.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 196

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/35069
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 419 (Moose)
Squadron Motto Moosa aswayita
Trade Air Bomber
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Larsen Lake, Saskatchewan
Country Canada
Memorial Type Lake
Memorial Text
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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

Arnold was born at Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan on 25 June 1912. The family lived at Climax, Saskatchewan. His father was a farmer, born in Norway, and his mother (who died 1935) was born at Bergen, Norway. He had two brothers, Ellwood and Harold and the latter was in the R.C.N. Overseas. The schools he attended were both in Climax, Saskatchewan. The sports he took part in were ice skating, golf and horse back riding and he had mechanical qualifications. Arnold worked as a Service Station Attendant 1934-1936, and then a mechanic for Tom Holm 1936-1937. Then followed several short term jobs until 1942 when he returned home to work on the farm until enlisting on 11 July 1942 in Winnipeg.
After training he embarked from New York on 8 October 1943 arriving in the U.K. at 3PRC on 16 October. He then continued to 1(O) AFU 28 December 1943, 24 OTU 8 February 1944, 61 Base 6 May 1944, 1664 CU 22 May 1944 and 419 Squadron on 19 June 1944. Sadly, Arthur then lost his life on 26 August 1944 from 419 squadron.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1823/16
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1823/15

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.

Barnard D R (P/O)
Boorman R J (Sgt)
Jackson A R (P/O)
McKay H L (P/O)
Stear V (P/O)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 25-08-1944
End Date 26-08-1944
Takeoff Station Middleton St. George
Day/Night Raid Night (40% moon)
Operation Russelsheim- to attack the Opel motor factory. 412 Lancasters, 15 losses (3.6%). PFF marking was accurate and the German report states that the forge and gearbox plants were put out of action for several weeks but the remainder of the factory sustained little damage. Output was completely unaffected due to the stock of parts on hand. 179 people were killed.
Reason for Loss Collided with 75 Squadron Lancaster LL866 AA-S when nearing the target. Spun and broke up, throwing clear the pilot, F/O H D Witwer. He became a PoW. Crashed 2 km West of Untereisesheim, about 8 km North of Heilbronn (Baden-Württemberg).

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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.