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Rawson, James Leslie

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) James Leslie
Surname Rawson
Gender M
Age 19
Date of Death 12-06-1943
Next of Kin Son of Chester Leroy Rawson and Agnes Mary Rawson (née Birchley), of New Liskeard, Ontario, Canada.
RAWSON JL

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Vickers Wellington X
Serial Number HZ261
Markings OW-

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 174.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 230

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/20373
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 426 (Thunderbird)
Squadron Motto On wings of fire
Trade Navigator
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

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
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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
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Miscellaneous Information

James was born on 2 July 1923 at Wellington Count. His father was born at Woodstock, Ontario and his mother at Malham, Yorkshire, England. His father was a Government employee of the Soldier Settlement Board, and was also a veteran of the World War I. He had two brothers John and Douglas. The schools he attended were New Liskeard, Public, Ontario, 1930-1936 (general) and 1936-1941 (Jnr Matric). His sports were skiing, swimming, and softball. He was also a Boy Scout for six years and his hobbies were drumming and playing the trumpet. James worked for two months during 1940 as a mill hand for Hill Clark Francis and then for one month In 1941 handling peas as a machinists helper at Temiskaming Canning Co., North Liskeard. June -October 1941 was spent as a Private with the 2nd Battn. Algonquines regiment .
James then enlisted on 20 October 1941 and after training was sent to the U.K. He a arrived at 3PRC on 6 November 1942 and then on to 10 (0) AFU 15 December 1942, 23 OTU on 23 February 1943 and 426 Squadron 14 May 1943. It was from here that this young man at the age of nineteen was to lose his life on 12 June 1943.
The news of James's death must have been doubly devastating as on 23 November 1942 his brother WO2 Douglas Leroy Rawson, R/69258 was lost. He was flying with 14 (RAF) Sqn and is buried in the Military Cemetery at Suez, Egypt. He was born on 19 August 1921 at Parry Sound, Ontario, enjoyed building model aeroplanes and like his brother, had been a member of the Boy Scouts.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1841/12
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1841/11

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.

Hayes N D (P/O)
MacKenzie D A (F/S)
Richardson D G (F/S)
Schamehorn C E (F/S)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 11-06-1943
End Date 12-06-1943
Takeoff Station Dishforth
Day/Night Raid Night (59% moon)
Operation Düsseldorf. 783 aircraft. 38 losses (4.9%). PFF marking was accurate but one Mosquito inadvertently released some target indicators far from the target, confusing the main force and causing many bombs to fall in open countryside. Nevertheless, much damage was caused to the centre of Düsseldorf with at least 130 acres laid waste 1292 people were killed and 140000 people bombed out. 42 businesses that contributed to the war effort were put completely out of action and a further 35 were put on reduced output. 8 ships were sunk or damaged.
Reason for Loss Lost without trace

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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.