Maxwell, Austin Vaughan Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) Austin Vaughan
Surname Maxwell
Gender M
Age 26
Date of Death 17-06-1944
Next of Kin Son of Chester Allison Maxwell and Maude Amy Maxwell (née Buck) of Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada. Husband of Annie Agnes Maxwell (née Driscoll), whom he married at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on 1 July 1940. Father of Jacqueline Maxwell (born 1941) and Sharon Anne Maxwell (born 1942).
MAXWELL AV

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number MZ652
Markings DY-Z

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave 21. E. 4-6.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 206
MAXWELL AV

Location

Row -
Panel 206
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 206

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/25924
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 4
Squadron 102 (Ceylon)
Squadron Motto Tenate et perficite (Attempt and achieve)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location St. Catherine's Church Barmby Moor, East Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Roll of Honour in wall mounted wooden case, Sqn Badge above
Memorial Text 102 (Ceylon) Sqn Roll of Honour and Sqn badge
Location Pocklington Gliding Club, Pocklington Airfield, Easy Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stylised Memorial with inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text Memorial to 102 (Ceylon) Sqn RAF and 405 (Vancouver) Sqn RCAF which served at RAF Pocklington during WW2
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Gardens, Propeller, Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text In everlasting homage to the courage of those who have found their winged victory through the skies of Yorkshire
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Propeller Unit & Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text They made the supreme sacrifice so that you & I may go in peace with freedom. 4 Group 1939 - 1945.
Location Heslington Hall, York, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Heslington Hall 1941 - 1945, 4 Gp Headquarters Bomber Command. In remembrance of those Air & Ground personnel who made the supreme sacrifice that we all may walk in peace with freedom

Miscellaneous Information

Austin was born at Sackville, New Brunswick on 1 November 1917. His father was born at Rockport, New Brunswick and his mother at Dorchester, New Brunswick. He had a brother Norman who had died in 1916, and sisters Helen, Margaret and Florence. The school he attended was Sackville High 1933- 1935 and then Mount Allison Academy 1935-1936, followed by Mount Allison university 1936-1937 (studied for 1 year for B.A. degree). His sport interests were baseball, softball, basketball, and football. When his father died he worked for his mother in their grocery store in Sackville as assistant manager between 1939 and 1942 when he then enlisted (30 March 1942). Prior to this he had served in the RCAF (PF) at Camp Borden and Dartmouth 1937-1938. He had been allowed a discharge when his father died in 1939.
After enlistment and training he was posted to the U.K. and embarked from Canada on June 1943 arriving at 3PRC on 2 July 1943. He then proceeded through 11(P)AFU 27 July 1943, 20 OTU 26 October 1943, 41 Base 21 March 1944 and eventually at 102 Squadron on 24 May 1944. Sadly Austin died on 17 June 1944.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/810/12
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/810/12

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
Amstein N W (P/O) Died
McKenna L W J (P/O) Died
Peel R W (F/S) Died
Rushforth W J H (F/O) Died
Stamper P (Sgt) Died
Walker E O (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 16-06-1944
End Date 17-06-1944
Takeoff Station Pocklington
Day/Night Raid Night (16% moon)
Operation Sterkrade to bomb a synthetic oil plant, despite a poor local weather forecast The target was indeed covered in thick cloud and the PFF markers were not easily visible. Bombing was scattered as a result and there was little impact on production. The bomber stream passed within 30 miles of the Tame Boar night-fighter beacon that was being used that night, resulting in large bomber losses on the approach. Total losses for the night were 31 aircraft (13.6%) although losses among certain squadrons were higher still- notably 77 Sqn which Lost 7 of its 23 aircraft (30.3%).
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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.