Mullin, Gordon Joseph
Personal Information
Rank | F/O |
Forename(s) | Gordon Joseph |
Surname | Mullin |
Gender | M |
Age | 27 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 01-11-1944 |
Next of Kin | Son of Ruggles Howard Mullin and Ada Henrietta Mullin (née Brimmell), of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax VII |
Serial Number | NP709 |
Markings | OW-A |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Rheinberg War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | 11. E. 8. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 216 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | J/36947 |
Service | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Group | 6 |
Squadron | 426 (Thunderbird) |
Trade | Navigator |
Country of Origin | Canada |
Other Memorials
Location | Mullin Lake, Manitoba; Between Caribou Sands Park Reserve and Great Island |
Country | Canada |
Memorial Type | Lake |
Memorial Text |
Location | Adjacent to Village Hall, Dishforth, North Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone with Inscribed Metal Plaque & Maple Tree |
Memorial Text | In memory of the Canadian aircrew of 425 and 426 Sqns RCAF who served at RAF Dishforth, 1942-1945 |
Location | Outside Village Hall, Linton on Ouse, North Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone with inscribed Slate Tablet |
Memorial Text | In memory of Canadian personnel who served at RAF Linton on Ouse during WW2, including 408 and 426 Sqns RCAF |
Miscellaneous Information
Gordon was born on 16 February 1917 at Winnipeg, Manitoba. His father was born at Alcove, Quebec and was a C.N.R. Conductor, and his mother was born at Fort William, Ontario. He had one brother, Howard Harry. The schools he attended were Sioux Lookout, Ontario, (Public school,)1922-1930 followed by Gordon Bell, Winnipeg, 1931-1934. Gordon then spent three months in 1938 at Success Business College studying bookkeeping. He worked at the Swift Canadian Company in the Distribution Department 1937-1939 and then in the Canadian National Rail Investigation Department between 1938-1942 where he was a Constable. His sporting interests were shooting, golf and tennis. |
On 23 June 1942 Gordon enlisted and after training was posted to the U.K. He embarked from Canada on 1 November 1943 and arrived at 3 PRC on 10 November 1943. He then continued to 1(0) AFU on 29 February 1944, 11 Base 13 July 1944, 61 Base 18 July 1944, 1659 CU 26 July 1944 and 426 Squadron on 7 October 1944. Shortly after his arrival Gordon very sadly lost his life on 1st November 1944. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1842/22 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1842/21 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 01-11-1944 |
End Date | 02-11-1944 |
Takeoff Station | Linton-on-Ouse |
Day/Night Raid | Night (97% moon) |
Operation | Oberhausen. 288 aircraft, 4 losses (1.4%). The target was cloud-covered and bombing was scattered. Little damage to the target |
Reason for Loss | Attacked by Lt. Martin Tschiersch of 5./NJG2 at 20.32. NP709 was observed circling over Haan on fire, presumably to allow crew to parachute out, and crashed on Steinstrasse, Haan at 2100, causing the death of one female resident. Two crew members failed to parachute out successfully, two or possibly three bodies were found with the aircraft. Local eyewitnesses shortly after the crash saw two airmen heading towards the crash site, and later in the custody of local SS. One is known to have escaped the SS temporarily. Six bodies, of which two were unidentified, were buried by the local pastor on 3rd or 4th November. These were later reinterred in Rheinberg War Cemetery. The two airmen who parachuted out and (contrary to their escape training and for their mates' sakes) headed towards the crash site are thought to have been John McLea and Leslie Griffith, the Mid-Upper from Detroit, Michigan. Had they gone in a different direction, they would have been captured not by the SS but by the local air defence corps, and the outcome might have been different. |