Rae, John Maccauley Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/S
Forename(s) John Maccauley
Surname Rae
Gender M
Age 23
Date of Death 28-01-1945
Next of Kin Son of MacDuff Rae and Laura May Rae (née Hart), of Brandon, Manitoba.
RAE JM

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number PB650
Markings LQ-U

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Durnbach War Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave 8. C. 9-11.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 229
RAE JM

Location

Row -
Panel 229
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 229

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/221847
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 8
Squadron 405 (Vancouver)
Squadron Motto Duicmus (We lead)
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Rae Bay, Manitoba; The eastern flank of Kapechekamasic Lake
Country Canada
Memorial Type Bay
Memorial Text
Location Adjacent to Village Windmill, Mill Rd, Great Gransden, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Remembering 405 (Vancouver) Sqn. PFF at Gransden Lodge 1942 - 1945
Location St. Bartholomew's Church, Great Gransden, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stained Glass Window, RoH and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text Commemorating the 801 airmen of 405 Sqn. RCAF who gave their lives 1941 - 1945
Location Pocklington Gliding Club, Pocklington Airfield, East Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Marble Pillar and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text In memory of 102 (Ceylon) and 405 (Vancouver) Sqns. Pocklington Airfield

Miscellaneous Information

John was born on 8 January 1922 in Chater, Manitoba. His father was born in Ontario. He was disabled and died in 1942. His mother was born in Rosseau, Ontario. John had a sister Margaret and brothers Donald, James and Ronald.. Private Ronald Rae had been killed whilst serving in the army in 1944 and R/863144 F/S James Douglas Rae born 2 December 1916 , was also killed whilst serving with Bomber Command on 6 December 1942. James left behind a wife Pearl and daughter Patricia Ann. John went to Alexander School 1928-1935 ( General. Course), Oxford School 1935-1938, also General course and Brandon Collegiate, Grade IX and spent a year studying an Industrial Course 1938-1939 (Grade X). Between 1940-1941 he was in the 59th Field Battn, (Reserve) R.C.A. at Brandon, as a gunner. The sports he took part in were hockey and swimming.
John enlisted on 8 March 1943 and after training, embarked from Halifax for the U.K. on 29 April 1944. He reached 3 PRC on 8 May 1944, 20 OTU 6 June 1944, 77 Sqn 3 November 1944, 35 Sqn 15 December 1944, and 405 Squadron 15 December 1944. He lost his life approximately seven weeks later.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1790/2
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1790/2

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
Cummer F H (F/O) Died
McCabrey W (Sgt) Died
Savage E R (F/S) Died
Smith G A (P/O) Died
Turner W B (F/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 28-01-1945
End Date 29-01-1945
Takeoff Station Gransden Lodge
Day/Night Raid Night (99% moon)
Operation Stuttgart. 602 aircraft, 11 losses (1.8%). A two-part raid with 3 hours between each. The first wave of 226 aircraft attacked railways yards at Kornwestheim. The second wave attacked Zuffenhausen which contained the Hirth engine factory. Sky-markers were used due to complete cloud cover and bombing was somewhat scattered. The Bosch factory was hit as a result of the Kornwestheim attack and it is said that the local people felt they had been bombed by mistake. Interestingly, dummy sky-makers were used in the defence of the city- small ground launched rockets. This was the last of 53 major raids on the city, which had endured a 63% destruction of its building stock and the loss of 4562 lives which was much lower than might have been the case had the air-raid defences been built into the sides of the hills.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Thought to have crashed at Deufringen, 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.