Mackay, George Laing Died

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Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) George Laing
Surname Mackay
Gender M
Age 24
Date of Death 22-11-1943
Next of Kin Son of Donald MacKay and Margaret MacKay (née Gray), of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
MACKAY GL

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax V
Serial Number LK953
Markings IP-C

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Sage War Cemetery
Grave Reference 1. B. 9.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 202
MACKAY GL

Location

Row -
Panel 202
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 202

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/188443
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 434 (Bluenose)
Squadron Motto In excelsis vincimus (We conquer in the heights)
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Village Green, Tholthorpe, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with inscribed Metal Plaque and Maple Tree
Memorial Text A memorial to those Canadians who served at RCAF Tholthorpe during WW2, including 434 Sqn RCAF
Location Former Control Tower, old Tholthorpe airfield site, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text A memorial to those Canadians who served at RCAF Tholthorpe during WW2, including 434 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

George was born on 23 April 1919 in Glasgow, Scotland. Both parents were born in Scotland and his father was a munitions worker. He had two brothers Douglas and Donald as well as three sisters: Margaret, Doris and Pearl, who was married. He attended Shirley Street School between 1930-1935 followed by Western Technical (industrial) 1935-1936- both in Toronto. For sport he played baseball, basketball, and Lacrosse and he liked to collect stamps. Between 1940-1942 George was in the Royal Canadian Engineers in Toronto. George worked at Borden’s Dairy as a truck driver/stock clerk between 1936-1942, following which he enlisted on 27 August 1942.
After initial training George was sent to the U.K. and embarked from Halifax on 23 June 1943. He arrived at 3PRC on 2 July 1943, 22 OTU 7 July 1943, 1664 CU 16 September 1943 and then 434 Squadron on 18 October 1943. George sadly lost his life the following month on 22 November 1943.

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
MacGregor R R (F/O) Died
Molesworth J W (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 22-11-1943
End Date 23-11-1943
Takeoff Station Tholthorpe
Day/Night Raid Night (22% moon)
Operation Berlin. 764 aircraft- the largest raid on Berlin so far and the last to include Stirlings which had not fared well in recent raids on the city. Bad weather again kept the night-fighters at bay and as a result 26 aircraft were Lost (3.4%). The target was completely cloud-covered but despite the weather, this was the most successful raid on Berlin of the war. An unseasonably dry spell led to several firestorms and there was an immense area of destruction. At least 3000 houses were destroyed along with 23 industrial premises. 175000 people were bombed out and the list of municipal buildings damaged or destroyed is too long to include. The famous Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church was hit this night- it is a famous landmark in Berlin to this day because it was deliberately only part-restored. Five Siemens factories and the Alkett tank works were destroyed, the latter having been moved to Berlin from the Ruhr after its destruction earlier in the conflict.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Crashed SW of Barssel, 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.