Walker, George Sharpe
Personal Information
Rank | F/O |
Forename(s) | George Sharpe |
Surname | Walker |
Gender | M |
Age | 28 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 22-01-1944 |
Next of Kin | Son of William Walker and Agnes Walker (née Sharpe), of Hamilton, Ontario. Husband of Enid Evelyn Walker (née Dyer) marriage 24 December 1942 in Guelph, Ontario. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax III |
Serial Number | LW459 |
Markings | C8-W |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | United Kingdom |
Burial/Memorial Place | Runnymede Memorial |
Grave Reference | Panel 248. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 258 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | J/23729 |
Service | Royal Canadian Air Force |
Group | 4 |
Squadron | 640 |
Trade | Air Bomber |
Country of Origin | Canada |
Other Memorials
Location | Normandy Barracks, Leconfield, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Metal Sculpture Brick Pillars and Inscribed Sqn Badges |
Memorial Text | A memorial to those who flew from RAF Leconfield, including 640 Sqn |
Location | Memorial Gardens, Beverley, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone, Inscribed Marble Tablet |
Memorial Text | A memorial to those of 640 Sqn who were killed during WW2 |
Miscellaneous Information
George was born in Hamilton, Ontario on 28 September 1915. Both parents were born in Scotland, his father in Edinburgh and mother in Delmuir. His father was a carpenter and very sadly both he and his mother died within a year of one another, his mother in 1930 and father in 1931. He had sisters Margaret, Jane and Isabel. George attended Tytler School, Guelph, Ontario 1922-1930 (General) and Guelph Collegiate, 1930-1933 (Commercial general) He had also attended the W.E.T.P Training college in Hamilton between January and April 1942 (pilot-observer course). His sport interests were football and skating, rugby and baseball. He worked at The Great A&P Tea Co.Ltd, a retail store. He was the produce manager in the fruit and veg department, between 1933 -1942, when he enlisted. |
George enlisted on 6 April 1942 and after training was sent to the U.K.. He arrived at 3 PRC on 17 March 1943, 7 AOS 17 May 1943, 10 OTU 8 June 1943, 1663 CU 29 August 1943, 158 Sqn.30 October 1943 and 640 Squadron on 7 January 1944. Two weeks later, George sadly lost his life. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2216/1 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2157/1 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 21-01-1944 |
End Date | 22-01-1944 |
Takeoff Station | Leconfield |
Day/Night Raid | Night (18% moon) |
Operation | Magdeburg- the first major raid on this target. 648 aircraft, 57 losses (8.8%). The Halifax loss rate was especially high at 15.6%. The German controller tracked the bomber stream across the North Sea and many night-fighters were already in the stream before it reached the German coast (using the newly developed Tame Boar methodology). The controller was slow in identifying Magdeburg as the target but this was of little consequence as the fighters were able to stay in the stream for the duration of the approach. Despite the high loss rate, this was not a successful attack. Stronger tail winds than anticipated placed some of the stream over the target before Zero Hour and dropped their bomb load anyway, making the target marking much less effective. German decoy markers exacerbated the situation. No local report is available but it is thought that most of the bombs fell outside of the city. |
Reason for Loss | Believed to have come down into the sea off Flamborough Head on return leg |