Witt, Ernest Maurice Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Ernest Maurice
Surname Witt
Gender M
Age 24
Date of Death 14-07-1943
Next of Kin Son of William Ernest Witt and Helen Maria McKenzie Witt (née Ellis), of Portage La Prairie, Manitoba, Canada. Husband of Helen May Witt (née Newton). Marriage on 27 December 1938 in Winnipeg. father of Ernest Brian Witt (born 17 November 1940 at Duncan, British Columbia).
WITT EM

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax II
Serial Number HR905
Markings LQ-G

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Netherlands
Burial/Memorial Place Jonkerbos War Cemetery, Nijmegen, Nijmegen
Grave Reference 16. E. 2.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 268
WITT EM

Location

Row -
Panel 268
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 268

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/17710
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 8
Squadron 405 (Vancouver)
Squadron Motto Duicmus (We lead)
Trade Air Bomber
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Witt Lake, Manitoba; 10km outside the SE corner of Caribou River Park Reserve
Country Canada
Memorial Type Lake
Memorial Text
Location Adjacent to Village Windmill, Mill Rd, Great Gransden, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Remembering 405 (Vancouver) Sqn. PFF at Gransden Lodge 1942 - 1945
Location St. Bartholomew's Church, Great Gransden, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stained Glass Window, RoH and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text Commemorating the 801 airmen of 405 Sqn. RCAF who gave their lives 1941 - 1945
Location Pocklington Gliding Club, Pocklington Airfield, East Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Marble Pillar and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text In memory of 102 (Ceylon) and 405 (Vancouver) Sqns. Pocklington Airfield

Miscellaneous Information

Ernest was born on 22 October 1909 at Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Both parents were born in London, England. The schools he attended were Portage La Prairie 1916-1924 (General), Portage Collegiate 1924-1927 and Manitoba University (B.A.) 1927-1931. His sport and hobby interests were hunting, hiking and gymnastics. Ernest worked as a claims adjuster for an Insurance company before becoming a school teacher in 1938. He taught at Lake Cowichan High on Vancouver Island before enlisting. He was a C.O.T.C. Cadet 1940-1941.
Ernest enlisted on 5 August 1941 and after training embarked for the U.K. After arriving at 3 PRC on 30 July 1942 he went to 3(O) AFU on 8 August, 23 OTU 25 August 1942, 428 Sqn 10 November 1942, 1659 CU 4 December 1942, and 405 Squadron 4 April 1943. He sadly lost his life on 14 July 1943.
Witt Lake, Manitoba is named in his honour. (Division No. 23, Unorganized, MB, Canada, grid ref: 59.09, -96.15)

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1788/14
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1788/14

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
Bebensee D G (Sgt) Died
Emerson T H N (P/O) Died
McGladrey G G (F/O) Died
Morrison R G (F/L) Died
Wolfe D L (S/L) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 13-07-1943
End Date 14-07-1943
Takeoff Station Gransden Lodge
Day/Night Raid Night (83% moon)
Operation Aachen. 374 aircraft, 20 losses (5.3%). A strong tail wind led to the main force arriving early and when PFF marked the target, so many aircraft were waiting that the town appeared to erupt into flames. Almost 3000 buildings were destroyed including apartment blocks, so the number of dwellings destroyed was some 16828. The cathedral, the town hall and many other civic amenities were also classed as severely damaged.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Shot down by a night-fighter and crashed SE of Helmond, Holland. It is thought that the aircraft disintegrated in the air.
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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.