Ritchie, Charles Alexander Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Charles Alexander
Surname Ritchie
Gender M
Age 23
Date of Death 16-03-1944
Next of Kin Son of Alexander Ritchie and Helen Catherine Ritchie (née Arnott), of Roblin, Manitoba, Canada.
RITCHIE CA

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number LW426
Markings PT-Q

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Durnbach War Cemetery
Grave Reference 4. E. 34.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 233
RITCHIE CA

Location

Row -
Panel 233
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 233

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/85789
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 420 (Snowy Owl)
Squadron Motto Pugnamus finitum (We fight to a finish)
Trade Navigator
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Ritchie Peninsula, Manitoba; Within Unagimau Lake
Country Canada
Memorial Type Peninsula
Memorial Text
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

Charles was born on 23 February 1921 at Roblin, Manitoba. His father was born at Toronto, Ontario and was a farmer and his mother was born in Kinross, Scotland. He had sisters Janet and Mary and three brothers: Andrew Logan Ritchie (who was a Gunner), Flying Officer James Ritchie J/24907 (who was stationed in Iceland), and William Ralph. The school he attended was Goose Lake Consolidated, 1927-1935 and again in 1935. His sport interests were softball, skating and football. Charles wasn’t working between 1927-1940, possibly due to illness. He then worked as a farm labourer in Roblin for about two months in 1940 and again during 1940-41 for J. Ritchie Jr.
He enlisted on 26 November 1941 and after training was posted to the U.K. embarking from Canada on 11 December 1942 and arrived at 3 PRC 19 December 1942. He was then at 9 (0) AFU 17 May 1943 and 22 OTU 15 June 1943. He was posted to 420 Squadron on 23 September and then spent time in North Africa before eventually being re-posted to 420 Squadron on 15 March 1944, where he then lost his life the following day.
He also has a memorial headstone located in a family plot in Tummel Deer Park Cemetery, Manitoba, Canada (see photos).

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1826/4
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1826/4

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
Elsley C I (P/O) Died
Bethell P E (Sgt) Died
Calder D H (F/O) Died
Dunbar W P (Sgt) Died
Heidman W H O (P/O) Died
Jackson R H (F/O) Died
Lee E R (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 15-03-1944
End Date 16-03-1944
Takeoff Station Tholthorpe
Day/Night Raid Night (69% moon)
Operation Stuttgart. 863 aircraft, 37 losses (4.3%). The bomber stream made its approach through France, crossing the German border as late as possible, delaying the point at which the German fighters were able to enter the stream. PFF marking was well short of the target, possibly due to the strong winds as the conditions were clear. Although some of the early bombing fell in the city, much of the later bombing fell outside. Damage was light- 88 deaths and 203 injuries.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Shot down by a night-fighter and crashed near to Echterdingen airfield, 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.