Richards, Gordon Hubert
Personal Information
Rank | WO2 |
Forename(s) | Gordon Hubert |
Surname | Richards |
Gender | M |
Age | 20 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 17-11-1942 |
Next of Kin | Son of Dwight and Mertie O. Richards, of Arrowood, Alberta, Canada. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax II |
Serial Number | W1096 |
Markings | LQ-O Every Drop Counts |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | United Kingdom |
Burial/Memorial Place | Saffron Walden Cemetery |
Grave Reference | Compt. 39. Grave 24. |
Epitaph | THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD; I SHALL NOT WANT PSALM 23 |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 232 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | R/77962 |
Service | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Group | 4 |
Squadron | 405 (Vancouver) |
Trade | WOp/AG |
Country of Origin | Canada |
Other Memorials
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
On loan to Coastal Command at the time |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1787/36 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1787/35 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 17-11-1942 |
End Date | 17-11-1942 |
Takeoff Station | Beaulieu |
Day/Night Raid | Day |
Operation | Training- cross country flight |
Reason for Loss | Due to an incorrect setting, the mid-upper gun was able to fire directly into one of the engines, causing total hydraulic failure. The aircraft went into a spin and crashed at Wicken Bonhunt, Essex |