Menard, Joseph Donat Romeo
Personal Information
Rank | F/S |
Forename(s) | Joseph Donat Romeo |
Surname | Menard |
Gender | M |
Age | 20 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 01-10-1942 |
Next of Kin | Son of Auguste Menard and Cecile Menard (née Champagne) of Montreal. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Short Stirling I |
Serial Number | W7613 |
Markings | HA-N |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Malta |
Burial/Memorial Place | Malta Memorial |
Grave Reference | Panel 5, Column 2. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 211 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | R/54985 |
Service | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Group | 3 |
Squadron | 218 (Gold Coast) |
Trade | Air Gunner |
Country of Origin | Canada |
Other Memorials
Location | St. Mary's Church, Bexwell, Norfolk |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Stone Tablet |
Memorial Text | In memory of the squadrons based at R.A.F. Downham Market and those who have their lives during the 1939 - 1945 war |
Location | All Saints Church, Chedburgh, Suffolk |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | RoH and Sqn Crest |
Memorial Text | Roll of Honour and scroll remembering the members of the Royal and Polish Air Forces who served at RAF Chedburgh 1942 - 1946 |
Miscellaneous Information
In 1943 two boys found an incendiary bomb at the crash site which exploded and critically injured both boys. Eighteen years later one died as a direct result of the earlier explosion |
An explanation as to why this airman is commemorated on the Malta Memorial and not Runnymede may lie in the fact that he had previously ditched off the coast of Spain when delivering an aircraft to the Mediterranean theatre. Wellington Ic Z7822 of No. 1 OADU was on a delivery flight from Hampstead Norris, England to the Middle East via Gibraltar. The wireless was put out of action and compass affected by an electrical storm and the aircraft ditched out of fuel off Aguilas. The crew, including Sgt. Menard, were interned until March 1942. On his subsequent release he returned to England via Gibraltar and was remustered with 218 Squadron. It is likely that his inclusion on the Malta Memorial is simply an administration error in which his first incident was incorrectly regarded as the one in which he perished. |
Born 21 November 1921 in Montreal. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1350/20 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1350/19 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 01-10-1942 |
End Date | 02-10-1942 |
Takeoff Station | Downham Market |
Day/Night Raid | Night (54% moon) |
Operation | Lubeck. 25 Stirlings from 3 Group, 3 lost. Bombing was scattered. |
Reason for Loss | Crashed at Skallingen peninsula near to Esbjerg harbour |