Piddington, James Arthur Died

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Personal Information

Rank W/C
Forename(s) James Arthur
Surname Piddington
Gender M
Age 28
Decorations DFC
Date of Death 28-07-1943
Next of Kin Son of Arthur G. Piddington and Helen Mary Piddington (née Porteous), of Quebec, Canada. Husband of Phyllis Maud Heath Parkes, a Nursing Sister, whom he married in British Columbia, Canada, in 1942.
PIDDINGTON JA

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Vickers Wellington X
Serial Number JA114
Markings AL-

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Hamburg Cemetery
Grave Reference 5A. E. 8.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 226
PIDDINGTON JA

Location

Row -
Panel 226
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 226

Enlistment Information

Service Number 39562
Service Royal Air Force (RAFO)
Group 6
Squadron 429 (Bison)
Squadron Motto Fortunae nihil (Nothing to chance)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Village Centre, Sutton on the Forest, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone & Metal Sun Dial
Memorial Text A memorial to all those who served at RAF East Moor and in particular 415 Sqn RCAF
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 3 October 1914 Quebec, Canada.
He had been in command of the squadron for less than a month. He had previously completed a tour with 77 Squadron (January to August 1940). During his time at 77 Squadron he was abandoned an aircraft over England on a training flight in April 1940. His crew had to bail out again after returning from an op to Mannheim on 13 July 1940 when their aircraft was badly damaged by flak. He ordered the crew to bail out when they reached England and he safely crash landed the aircraft. In July 1940 their aircraft had been damaged again by flak and they limped home on one engine. In August 1940 they were attacked by a German night fighter and evaded it successfully. He was posted to Newfoundland between 1941 to 1942, doing 43 sorites of anti-submarine patrols to protect the convoys transporting goods to England. On returning to England he crewed up again on Course 78 at 15 OTU (along with Farquhar and Renton) and graduated from HCU on Halifaxes, being posted to 427 Sqn on 17 May 1943, where his crew completed 2 ops. On 19 June he was posted to 434 Sqn as the A Flight Commander. Then he and his crew were sent to 429 Sqn when W/C Savard and his crew were killed on an op to Mulheim on 22/23 June 1943.
He arrived in UK in November 1936 from Quebec, aged 22.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1852/14
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1852/14

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
Farquhar A R A (F/O) Died
Renton P (F/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 27-07-1943
End Date 28-07-1943
Takeoff Station East Moor
Day/Night Raid Night (15% moon)
Operation Hamburg. 787 aircraft, 17 losses (2.2%). For the second consecutive raid, Brig. Gen. Anderson, the commander of the American 8th Air Force, flew as an observer on this operation. PFF used H2S to mark the target but were approximately 3km east of the centre of the city but was at least concentrated, leading to concentrated bombing with little creepback. This raid caused a firestorm resulting from very high summer temperatures and low humidity following a particularly dry spell. Most of the fire crews were in the west of the city following the raid of three nights earlier and few could make the journey to the new fires due to rubble blocking roads. The fires quickly joined into one mass of fire, drawing so much oxygen into the area that it caused storm-force winds. The fire raged for over three hours after the raid and only subsided when all combustible material was consumed. Approximately 40000 civilian deaths mostly from asphyxiation resulting from lack of oxygen. The raid led to an exodus of over 1.2 million people fearing another raid.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Shot down by a night-fighter and crashed near Neumünster, Germany
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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.