Partridge, William John Desmond Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) William John Desmond
Surname Partridge
Gender M
Age 22
Date of Death 16-01-1945
Next of Kin Son of The Revd. Alan Manley Partridge, and of Mrs. Katie Dean Partridge (née Bower), of Napanee, Ontario, Canada. Husband of Jean Partridge (née McIver) - date of marriage 30 March 1943 at Guelph. Father of Alan Murdoch Partridge (born 26 April 1943)
PARTRIDGE WJD

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number NA192
Markings PT-Q

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery
Grave Reference 5. G. 16.
Epitaph BELOVED ONLY SON OF MRS. AND THE LATE REV. A.M.PARTRIDGE

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 223
PARTRIDGE WJD

Location

Row -
Panel 223
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 223

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/90535
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 420 (Snowy Owl)
Squadron Motto Pugnamus finitum (We fight to a finish)
Trade Wireless Operator
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Outside former St. Georges Hotel, Teesside Airport, County Durham
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Slate Tablet on Memorial Stone
Memorial Text In memory of those who served at RAF Croft, 1941-1945 including 420 Sqn RCAF
Location Village Green, Tholthorpe, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stone Memorial, inscribed Metal Plaque and Maple Tree
Memorial Text A memorial, in English & French, to those Canadians who served at RAF Tholthorpe during WW2, including 420 (RCAF) Sqn
Location Former Control Tower, Tholthorpe Airfield, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text A memorial to those Canadians who served at RAF Tholthorpe during WW2, including 420 Sqn
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

Born 19 June 1922 in New Liskeard, Ontario, Canada. His father was born in Barrie, Ontario and was a Minister living in Beaverton. William attended Maple Public School 1928-1937. Followed by Beaverton High School 1937-1939, Albert College, Belleville from 1939 to 1940 and then, Pickering College in Newmarket between 1940 to 1942. He also attended R.C.F.A. in Toronto between 1941 and 1942 as a student and then enlisted on 14 September 1942.
William embarked from Halifax on 25 March 1944, arriving in U.K. on the 2 April. He went through 3 PRC, AFU, OTU, 61 Base,Topcliffe on 23 August 1944 and then to 420 Squadron. Commissioned 17 September 1944.
He enjoyed playing football and hockey.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1826/24
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1826/24

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
Louie Q J (F/O) Died
Parker A K (P/O) Died
Watson E W (F/L) Died
Way C W (P/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 16-01-1945
End Date 17-01-1945
Takeoff Station Tholthorpe
Day/Night Raid Night (10% moon)
Operation Magdeburg. 371 aircraft, 17 losses (4.6%). Bomber Command claimed a successful area raid with 44% of the built-up area of the town being destroyed.
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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.