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Sanderson, Frank Gordon

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Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) Frank Gordon
Surname Sanderson
Gender M
Age 21
Date of Death 20-01-1944
Next of Kin Son of Herbert and Mary Sanderson, of Avonlea, Saskatchewan, Canada.
SANDERSON FG

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax II
Serial Number HX162
Markings VR-X

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Hamburg Cemetery
Grave Reference 4A. J. 15.
Epitaph 11-8-22- AVONLEA 20-1-44- GERMANY AIR GUNNER 13 TRIPS SLEEP WELL, BRAVE HEART

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 237

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/176469
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 419 (Moose)
Squadron Motto Moosa aswayita
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Sanderson River, Saskatchewan
Country Canada
Memorial Type River
Memorial Text
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Location Outside Former St. Georges Hotel, Teesside Airport, County Durham
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Slate Memorial Tablet on Stone Memorial
Memorial Text A memorial to Nos 419, 420 and 428 Sqns RCAF who flew from RAF Middleton St George during WW2
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Miscellaneous Information

His remains were discovered in the bog in which the aircraft crashed some six years after the crash. They were re-interred in Hamburg Cemetery on 6 June 1951.
His brother, J/5790 P/O George Sanderson was also killed on operations with Bomber Command - see https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/224757
Excerpt from Red Cross letter dated 3 July 1944 to the DNDA, Ottawa: "Pilot Officer Bullis says that on the night of January 20th, 1944, they had just altered course over enemy territory when the aircraft was severely damaged by a hail of cannon fire. Pilot Officer Bullis gave the order "Prepare to Abandon", but after this managed to jettison the bombs, close the bomb doors and turn for home. He tells that he sent the wireless operator to check up on the rest of the crew, who found, to his sorrow, that both Sergeant Sanderson and Sergeant Ferguson had lost their lives and were lying in their positions in the aircraft. Shortly afterwards they were again attacked by flak, the aircraft went into a spin and Pilot Officer Bullis gave the order to "Abandon". He remained in his seat until the reaminder of the crew had gone, then baled out himself. As he was floating down, he saw the aircraft go by him and crash".
The Pilot of HX162 P/O Hubert Leslie Bullis worked on the ventilation system of tunnel 'Harry' in Stalag Luft III.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1823/2
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1823/1

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.

Ferguson D J (Sgt)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 20-01-1944
End Date 21-01-1944
Takeoff Station Middleton St. George
Day/Night Raid Night (27% moon)
Operation Berlin. 769 aircraft, 35 losses (4.6%). Once again the German controller was able to get fighters into the stream early on the approach and they scored steadily throughout the night until the stream left the mainland. The Germans had now learned not to be deceived by minor diversionary raids. Berlin was completely cloud covered and, although sky-marking went to plan and H2S sets showed that the east of the city was hit, Berlin recorded no bombing whatsoever. It is not clear whether this was deliberate concealment of the extent of the damage or whether the raid simply missed the city completely.
Reason for Loss Shot down by a combination of flak and a night-fighter and crashed at Horst, approx. 30km NNW of Hamburg, Germany. Both of the casualties succumbed to the fighter fire

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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.