Nairne, Colin George Died

Back

Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Colin George
Surname Nairne
Gender M
Age 22
Date of Death 30-07-1944
Next of Kin Son of William Joseph and Alice Elizabeth Nairne, of Taihape, New Zealand. Husband of Betty Olive Nairne, of Richmond, Nelson, New Zealand. They married on 22 August 1942. Father of Gloria Naire (b. 8 December 1943).
NAIRNE CG

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster I
Serial Number HK558
Markings JN-D D-Dog, Snifter

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 263.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 217
NAIRNE CG

Location

Row -
Panel 217
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 217

Enlistment Information

Service Number 42117
Service Royal New Zealand Air Force
Group 3
Squadron 75 (NZ)
Squadron Motto Ake ake kia kaha (For ever and ever be strong)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin New Zealand

Other Memorials

Location A142 Mepal, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brick Piller and Marble Tablet
Memorial Text Former site of RAF Mepal. Home to No 75 (New Zealand) Sqn, No 3 Gp, Bomber Command, 1943-1945
Location Village Centre, Mepal, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Memorial & Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text A stone memorial, donated by former members of 75 (NZ) Sqn RAF stationed at Mepal between 1943 and 1945
Location St. Andrews Church, Sutton, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Roll of Honour in Wooden Case with brass plaque
Memorial Text Roll of Honour. Plaque, Presented by 75(NZ) Sqn Association - UK Branch in memory of Comrades named in the Roll of Honour
Location St. Marys Church, Feltwell, Norfolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brick Piller and Marble Tablet
Memorial Text A memorial to 75 (NZ) Sqn, RAF. Formed at RAF Feltwell in April 1940 and flew from there until June 1942. The Sqn number was presented to New Zealand becoming 75 Sqn RNZAF in October 1946 until its disbanding in December 2001.
Location Newmarket Racecourse, Newmarket, Suffolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Marble Tablet
Memorial Text Remembering No 75 (New Zealand) Sqn, No 3 Gp Bomber Command. RAF Newmarket Heath, November 1942 - June 1943

Miscellaneous Information

Born 8 April 1922. Known as George
George had become firm friends with LAC John Dennis Jones, known as Dennis, groundcrew of his Lancaster JN-D 'Snifter' and invited him back to his hut, sharing goodies from home and showing him a photo of his wife Betty and baby Gloria back in New Zealand, the daughter he had never met. The following day, George and his crew were all killed in a mid-air collision over the English Channel. Dennis was the engine mechanic (FME) who looked after the Merlin engines on Lancaster, HK601 JN-D "Snifter". He was also the artist responsible for the cartoon dog "Snifter" painted on the Lancaster's nose and on his own jerkin. Dennis never forgot the little girl in the photo, or his friend George, and in 2000, after enquiries through the NZBCA and RSA, managed to make contact with Gloria. By the time she talked to Dennis she had 11 grandchildren of her own. Her mother had re-married when she was only six, so Gloria knew very little of her father and was very excited to talk to someone who knew him. She was also very gratified to learn that her father had seen a photo of her before he was killed. In 2003, Dennis fulfilled a life-long wish to travel to New Zealand and met and stayed with Gloria and her husband, an incredible full-circle moment after almost 60 years. Sadly, Gloria died not long after Dennis's visit. The full story of the little girl in the photo is here: www.jn-dogboys.com/about/denniss-search-for-gloria Dennis's proud daughter Glynis, who lives in Lincoln, has often spoken of how important the connection with Gloria was to her father. In September 2025 Glynis met up with Gloria's daughter Diane in London, a very special and unique connection between two families on opposite sides of the world.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/647/14
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/647/14

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
Falkiner P (F/S) Died
Kidby D A (W/O) Died
Perry L C (P/O) Died
Smith R C (Sgt) Died
Stannard A R (Sgt) Died
Woodford S A G (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 30-07-1944
End Date 30-07-1944
Takeoff Station Mepal
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Amaye sur Seulles- to bomb enemy strong points in the Normandy battle area. Part of a 692 aircraft raid on 6 German positions in front of the American ground forces. The target was cloud covered but 377 aircraft were able to bomb onto Oboe markers. Only two of the six targets were considered to be have been successfully hit. 4 Lancasters lost (0.6%).
Reason for Aircraft Loss At 08:00 whilst flying northwards in the base of heavy cloud, a Royal Navy vessel -HMS Hannaray - on patrol in the Channel observed two Lancaster aircraft collide mid-air. The other aircraft was a 514 Sqn Lancaster LL733 (JI-S). The ship steamed to where the two aircraft crashed into the sea, a short distance away. After an hour’s search, only the body of the 75(NZ) Bomb Aimer was recovered, and he was buried at sea. (Information from 'For Your Tomorrow’ by Errol Martyn).
Start new losses database search Back
 
 
 
 

Please Wait

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.