McEachern, Robert Neil Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Robert Neil
Surname McEachern
Gender M
Age 29
Date of Death 21-11-1944
Next of Kin Son of William McEachern and Frances Matilda McEachern (née Dier), of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
McEACHERN RN

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number MZ377
Markings AL-D

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Grave Reference 8. C. 2.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 208
McEACHERN RN

Location

Row -
Panel 208
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 208

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/90913
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 429 (Bison)
Squadron Motto Fortunae nihil (Nothing to chance)
Trade Air Bomber
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Roman Rd, Leeming, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brass plaque set into a stone plinth into which is carved with the Canadian maple leaf and the Yorkshire rose.
Memorial Text This memorial is dedicated to those men and women who served at RAF Leeming during World War II, including those from the Royal Canadian Air Force Squadrons, whose members came from all parts of the Commonwealth from 1942 to 1945; 405 Vancouver, 408 Goose, 419 Moose, 427 Lion, 429 Bison. Also, to the many Civilians who supported them during their term of duty in North Yorkshire. We remember too the RAF Squadrons who preceded the Canadians from 1940 - 1942; 7 - 10 - 35 -77 - 102 - 219. To those who paid the supreme sacrifice, we will remember them. Dedicated June 19, 1993
Location Opposite old Main Guardroom, RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stone Memorial & Metal Plaques
Memorial Text In commemoration of those men and women of many nations who served at RAF Leeming during the second world war.
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

Robert was born at Birmingham, Washington, USA, on 8 October 1915. His father was a trucker and was born in Peterborough, Ontario and his mother born in Michigan, USA and was deceased by the time of Robert's enlistment. He had a sister Frances Jean and two brothers, William Hugh and Philip Stephen. Phillip was in the RCAF overseas J/47064. The schools he attended were Garneau Public School 1923-1931, Vermillion School of Agriculture in the winter of 1938-1939 and Edmonton Technical college 1939-1940 where he studied woodworking to grade 10. He also took a diesel course in 1936 which was unfinished. Between 1931-1942 he was farming and labouring: he was in Lumber Camps 1933-1935 and farming 1935-1939. He also worked as a labourer and salesman between 1940-1942.
Robert enlisted on 9 June 1942 and after his initial training embarked from Canada for the U.K. on 26 August 1943. He reached 3PRC on 2 September 1943 then went on to 9(0)AFU 26 October 1943, 61 Base 10 March 1944, 429 SQn 25 April 1944, 61 Base 16 June 1944, then 429 Squadron 18 September 1944. Robert sadly lost his life on 21 November 1944.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1853/22
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1853/22

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
Almas R M (P/O) Died
Harris G W (P/O) Died
Johnston J H (F/O) Died
Wert C M (P/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 21-11-1944
End Date 22-11-1944
Takeoff Station Leeming
Day/Night Raid Night (35% moon)
Operation Castrop Rauxel synthetic oil plant. 273 aircraft, 4 losses (1.5%). The local report states that 216 high explosive bombs hit the target along with 78 duds and many incendiaries. The resulting fire was so large that the fire-fighters could only allow it to burn out by itself. Some other local industry was also hit.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Shot down by a night-fighter flown by Oblt. Hubert Rauh of 3./NJG4
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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.