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Towle, Sidney Elmer

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Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) Sidney Elmer
Surname Towle
Gender M
Age 21
Date of Death 01-09-1943
Next of Kin Son of Raymond M. and Elsie May Towle. Husband of Kate Phillips Towle, of Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada.
TOWLE SE

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax V
Serial Number DK233
Markings NA-X

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 187.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 255

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/185559
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 428 (Ghost)
Squadron Motto Usque ad finem (To the very end)
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Adjacent to fomer St. Georges Hotel, Teesside Airport, County Durham
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with inscribed slate tablets
Memorial Text Dedicated to all who served on 428 (RCAF) Sqn at Middleton St. George during WWII, especially those who made the supreme sacrifice
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1849/16
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1849/15

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.

Briggs-Jude R W (Sgt)
Este J D A (F/S)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 31-08-1943
End Date 01-09-1943
Takeoff Station Middleton St. George
Day/Night Raid Night (1% moon)
Operation Berlin. 622 aircraft, 47 losses (7.6%). Stirling losses were some 16.0% Fighter flares were used by the German night-fighters for the first time to mark the path of the main force both into and out of the target area. This raid was not a success. Cloud, combined with the now familiar problems with the H2S equipment and the effective defences of the city conspired to make the PFF marking very difficult. Creepback was an additional problem and it is said that the fires stretched back some 30 miles! Only 85 homes were destroyed. There were 68 deaths. Goebbels ordered that all children and any adults not engaged in war work be evacuated to the country.
Reason for Loss Hit by flak on return leg, knocking out the port inner engine and setting first to the number 1 fuel tank. The fire quickly spread to the fuselage and the flight engineer (Sgt H C Burdoff), who had been attempting to quell the flames, was forced to bale out. The aircraft crashed near Oberhaching, Germany and exploded with such force that the three fatalities could not be found and as a consequence are commemorated on the Runnymede memorial

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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.