Watson, Joseph William Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) Joseph William
Surname Watson
Gender M
Age 33
Date of Death 05-04-1945
Next of Kin Son of William Howard Watson and Violet Frances Watson (née Brown), of Tara, Bruce County, Ontario, Canada. Husband of Alice Louise Watson (née Corbet).
WATSON JW 735

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster I
Serial Number RF150
Markings QB-W

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Brookwood Military Cemetery
Grave Reference 51. F. 6.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 261
WATSON JW 735

Location

Row -
Panel 261
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 261

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/41735
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 424 (Tiger)
Squadron Motto Castigandos castigamus (We chastise those who deserve to be chastised)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Village Green, Lane End, Buckinghamshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone War Memorial
Memorial Text In memory of the crew of Lancaster RF150 of 424 Sqn RCAF, which crashed on 5th April 1945
Location Widdenton Wood, Lane End Buckinghamshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone and inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text In memory of the crew of Lancaster RF150 of 424 Sqn RCAF, which crashed on 5th April 1945
Location Village Green, Skipton on Swale, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone, inscribed Metal Plaque & Maple Tree
Memorial Text A memorial to the Canadian personnel who served at RAF Skipton on Swale during WW2, including 424 Sqn RCAF
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

Joseph was born on 13 May 1911 at Tara, Bruce County, Ontario. His father was a farmer and born at Tara and had sadly died in 1913, his mother was born at Burgoyne, Ontario. He had one sister named Rhem Marie. The schools he attended were Ryerson High School (1916-1924) , Owen Sound Collegiate Insttute (1924-1928), then vocational school (1928- 1929) for drafting and woodwork. He then spent 3 months at Business college in 1930. Joseph worked as a Drug Clerk at Owen Sound 1933-1934 and did line work at Rural Hydro, also Owen Sound. His sport interests were hockey, tennis, skiing and track & field. He had won awards for target shooting.
He enlisted on 3 December 1941 in Toronto.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1835/30
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1835/30

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
Armstrong C N (P/O) Died
Ashdown E T (P/O) Died
Howes C K (P/O) Died
Robinson S J O (P/O) Died
Rochford J (F/O) Died
Thomson S M (P/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 04-04-1945
End Date 05-04-1945
Takeoff Station Skipton on Swale
Day/Night Raid Night (58% moon)
Operation Leuna- to attack a synthetic oil plant. 341 aircraft, 3 losses. The target was partly cloud covered and bombing was scattered with only minor damage to the intended target
Reason for Aircraft Loss Flew into high ground on the return, SW of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, not far from Bomber Command headquarters
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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.