Watt, Charles Burness
Personal Information
Rank | F/O |
Forename(s) | Charles Burness |
Surname | Watt |
Gender | M |
Age | 22 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 22-01-1944 |
Next of Kin | Son of William and Elizabeth N. B. Watt. Husband of Joyce Watt, of Carlisle. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax II |
Serial Number | LW300 |
Markings | EY-H |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | United Kingdom |
Burial/Memorial Place | Runnymede Memorial |
Grave Reference | Panel 209. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 261 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 50233 |
Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
Group | 4 |
Squadron | 78 |
Trade | Navigator |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Other Memorials
Location | Adjacent to Clubhouse, Breighton Airfield, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Marble Tablet |
Memorial Text | Dedicated to all who served at this airfield and gave their lives during World War II |
Location | External, All Saints Church, Bubwith, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Stone Memorial, inscribed Metal Plaque |
Memorial Text | 78 Sqn 4 Group Bomber Command Yorkshire 1939 - 1945 To All Who Served |
Location | Internal, All Saints Church, Bubwith, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Wooden Board, Memorial Chapel featuring Cross made from Halifax wreckage |
Memorial Text | The 78 Sqn Memorial in the Churchyard was dedicated by the Bishop of Selby on 7th September 1986. RAF Breighton, two miles from this church was the Sqn's home from June 1943 to May 1945 |
Location | Outside "B" Hangar, RAF Benson, Oxfordshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone & Inscribed Slate Plaque |
Memorial Text | In proud memory of all who have lost their lives serving with 78 Sqn Royal Air Force "Nemo Non Paratus - Nobody Unprepared" |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/661/2 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/661/1 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 21-01-1944 |
End Date | 22-01-1944 |
Takeoff Station | Breighton |
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 | Badly shot about by a night-fighter but pressed on with the attack. Petrol ran low on the return leg, possibly as a result of a fuel leak and abandoned north of Cromer into very rough seas. F/O Marston and Sgt McMillan reaches the dinghy but despite their best efforts (for which they were received gallantry awards) they were unable to reach the other crew members, despite being able to see them near the wreckage |