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Wunsch, Vernon Frederick

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) Vernon Frederick
Surname Wunsch
Gender M
Age 22
Date of Death 25-06-1944
Next of Kin Son of Albert E Palin and Mabel Anne Palin (née Wright), of Calgary, Alberta.
WUNSCH VF

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Short Stirling III
Serial Number LK394
Markings OJ-D

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country France
Burial/Memorial Place Fruges Communal Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave 8.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 269

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/24960
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 3
Squadron 149 (East India)
Squadron Motto Fortis nocte (Strong by night)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location St. George's Church, Methwold, Norfolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Roll of Honour & inscribed window
Memorial Text Roll of Honour of 149 Sqn RAF and a window remembering the men and women of all Nations who served at RAF Methwold, 1939-1945
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Miscellaneous Information

Vernon was born on 15 April 1922 at Calgary, Alberta. His father was born in Edmonton, Alberta and was a machinist and his mother was born in England. After his father’s death and his mother’s re-marriage to Raymond Wunsch in 1929, Vernon had his surname changed to Wunsch. He had one brother, Lawrence and they all lived in Buffalo, New York, although Vernon remained a Canadian citizen according to his enlistment papers (note that some sources say he was an American citizen but this is not correct). Vernon attended School 71, Buffalo, N.Y. 1930-1938 (General Course) and Buryard Vocational, Buffalo 1938-1941 (aircraft mechanics). He then worked at Sterling Mouldings in Buffalo 1941-1942 as a Machinist. His sport interests were track, cross country running and basketball and he was in the Model builders club at school.
On 3 April 1943 he enlisted and after training embarked from Canada on 9 May 1943. He arrived at 3 PRC on 23 May 1943 and went on to 15 (P) AFU 3 August 1943, 84 OTU 16 November 1943, 31 Base 17 March 1944, 1657 CU 31 March 1944 and 149 Squadron on 23 May 1944. He was to lose his life almost exactly one month afterwards.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1004/12
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1004/11

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.

Baker W L (F/O)
Budd P A (Sgt)
Harrison G (Sgt)
Horswell K A (Sgt)
Munson D O (P/O)
Owen L K (F/O)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 24-06-1944
End Date 25-06-1944
Takeoff Station Methwold
Day/Night Raid Night (17% moon)
Operation Ruisseauville- to attack a flying bomb site. Part of a 739 aircraft strong force to attack some 7 V-bomb sites. Fresh damage to most targets although it was becoming increasingly difficult to tell, such was the extent of the craters inflicted by both BC and 8th Air Force. Losses were high due to the very clear conditions with 22 Lancasters Lost (3.0%), most due to night-fighter activity.
Reason for Loss Shot down by a night-fighter and crashed at Lisbourg in the Pas-de-Calais, France

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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.