McMullen, William Stuart Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) William Stuart
Surname McMullen
Gender M
Age 29
Date of Death 13-01-1945
Next of Kin Son of James Henry and Ettie McMullen, of Toronto. Husband of Thelma McMullen (née Rose), of Lulu Island, British Columbia, Canada. Date of marriage 3 June 1937 at St. Clair United Church, Toronto. Father of Donna Mae McMullen (born 12 August 1938 at Kirkland Lake).
McMULLEN WS

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster X
Serial Number KB793
Markings NA-E

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery
Grave Reference Sec. H. Row E. Grave 5.
Epitaph HEROICALLY HE DIED SO SOME MIGHT LIVE

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 210
McMULLEN WS

Location

Row -
Panel 210
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 210

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/90038
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 428 (Ghost)
Squadron Motto Usque ad finem (To the very end)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location junction of McMullan Rd & Allington Way, Darlington, County Durham
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text In memory of Plt Off W S McMullen who was killed while steering his damaged aircraft away from Darlington on 13th January 1945
Location International Bomber Command Centre, Canwick Hill, Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed stone tablet
Memorial Text P/O William McMullen 428 Sqn RCAF Middleton St. George
Location Adjacent to fomer St. Georges Hotel, Teesside Airport, County Durham
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with inscribed slate tablets
Memorial Text Dedicated to all who served on 428 (RCAF) Sqn at Middleton St. George during WWII, especially those who made the supreme sacrifice
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

One minute he was at the controls of his Lancaster bomber, returning to his Second World War airfield after a routine training flight, the next minute, his engine was on fire, his crew were baling out and he had a split second decision to make: should he follow them out of the door and parachute to safety, or should he stay with his stricken craft and attempt to steer it away from the hundreds of houses beneath him? "It's only me for it," he said to the last crew member to jump. "There are thousands down below." In his last minutes, Pilot Officer McMullen succeeded in guiding his plane over the rooftops of the east end of Darlington before crashing into a field, killing himself instantaneously. The mayor of Darlington wrote to his widow at home in Canada. He said: "For sheer self-sacrificing heroism, your husband's action will be remembered and honoured by the people of Darlington for years to come..... All [of] Darlington was convinced McMullen hadn’t jumped because he wanted to save them. Because his name was not released for some weeks, they christened him the “Gallant Airman”, and they wrote to the Despatch – Darlington’s evening newspaper – praising him. W Cooper of Bondgate said “he deliberately gave his life, thereby preventing the endangering of life and property in Darlington”. AF West of Gladstone Street applauded his “noble action”, and Jeffrey Dixon of Rosebery Street said he was “a dauntless man who sacrificed himself willingly to save others’ lives.... The town collected £1,000 for its Gallant Airman and, when his name became known, offered it to his widow and young daughter back in Canada. Thelma refused it, saying it would be best put to use in war-ravaged Britain. A group of Darlington businessmen – The Twenty Club – sent her an ornate silver rosebowl as a symbol of the town’s appreciation, and, in recognition of the generosity, Lingfield Lane, was renamed McMullen Road. The money endowed two children's cots at the Memorial Hospital. In September 1945, McMullen's sister, Mae, who was serving in Britain with the Canadian Red Cross, attended a dedication ceremony, and met the first children to occupy the cots: Roland Bradley, ten, of Barningham Street, and Samuel Thompson, six, of Wood Street, Barnard Castle. Mayor Jimmy Blumer told her: "By his actions, the pilot realised that he was steering himself to certain death. Not only Darlington, but the whole of the district was stirred to profound admiration and gratitude which could not be expressed in words at this act of supreme sacrifice.” (Source: Northern Echo article written by Chris LLoyd, Deputy Editor)
Known as 'Grandad' by his fellow crew due being older than the average airman. He changed the spelling of his middle name from Stewart to Stuart. He was 5' 7"" tall and weighed 150 lbs accoridng to his enlistment papers.
William was born on 16 September 1915 at Toronto. His father was born at Bradford, Ontario and was a Civic employee in the Water Works Dept. His mother was born at Elmvale, Ontario. He had sisters Mae Agnes and Eva Jeanette. He also had a brother Harry (Private Harry B119612 45 Can.Army Transport Co. RCAGC Can. Army Overseas). The schools he attended in Toronto were: Leslie Public. 1920-1926 and 1926-1927; Riverdale and Jarvis Collegiate 1927-1929 Central Technical 1929-1930. His sport interests were swimming and baseball and his hobby, model aircraft building. His occupations were: 1930-1934 he was a driver for Coca Cola; 1934-1936 a driver for Moody Cartage; 1936-1939 he was a Machine Runner for Wright-Hargreaves Mines, and 1939-1940 he was a Machine Runner for Young Davidson Gold Mines, Matachewan. He enlisted on 4 July 1941. Embarked from Halifax 1 November 1943 and arrived U.K. at 3 PRC (RCAF) on 10 November 1943.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1850/26
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1850/26

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
Flood J J (F/L) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 13-01-1945
End Date 13-01-1945
Takeoff Station Middleton St. George
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Training- cross-country exercise
Reason for Aircraft Loss Port inner engine caught fire towards the end of the exercise and the pilot ordered the crew to abandon. He, however, stayed with the aircraft for fear of it crashing into a built up area. By the time he was clear he was unable to make good his escape and he died as the aircraft crashed in the Darlington area. There is a road named after him in Darlington in recognition of his bravery
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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.

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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.

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