King, Frederick Henry Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Frederick Henry
Surname King
Gender M
Age 35
Date of Death 07-02-1946
Next of Kin Son of Henry Alfred King and Lillian Reah King (née Conner), of Toronto. Husband of Ethel May King (née Hammond), of Toronto. Father of Phillip Grant King.
KING FH 481

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number MZ418
Markings KW-C

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Canada
Burial/Memorial Place Toronto (Prospect) Cemetery
Grave Reference Sec. 24. Grave 4126.

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase Post-War
Panel Number POST (not yet erected on site)

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/96481
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 425 (Alouette)
Squadron Motto Je te plumerai (I shall pluck you)
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Outside Village Hall, Dishforth, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text In memory of the Canadian aircrew of 425 and 426 Sqns RCAF who served at RAF Dishforth, 1942-1945
Location Village Green, Tholthorpe, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone, inscribed metal plaque and Maple Tree
Memorial Text A memorial, in French, to those Canadians who served at RAF Tholthorpe during WW2, including 425 Sqn
Location Former Control Tower, Tholthorpe Airfield, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text A memorial to those Canadians who served at RAF Tholthorpe during WW2, including 425 Sqn
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

Liberated on 12 May 1945 and was immediately commissioned. Discharged 22 September 1945 and became a sign writer but took his own life by gas poisoning five months afterwards.

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
Lesesne C (F/L) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 31-03-1945
End Date 31-03-1945
Takeoff Station Tholthorpe
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Hamburg to attack the Blohm and Voss shipbuilding yards, where a new class of U-boats was being assembled. 469 aircraft, 11 lost due to a surprise appearance of the new Me 262 jet-propelled fighter. It was it's only appearance in fact. The target was completely cloud-covered so bombing was scattered throughout Hamburg with little damage to the intended target
Reason for Aircraft Loss Became lost on the approach to Hamburg and, vulnerable while outside of the main bomber stream, was hit by anti-aircraft fire and then three Me262s, fatally damaging the aircraft. All of the crew baled out except the skipper, who remained at the controls to give the crew the best chance of making good their escape. He then bailed out but was badly beaten on landing by a group of women searchlight operators. Sometime later, Lesesne was thrown into the same cell as some of his crewmates. He was clearly near death so they called the guards and demanded medical help for their skipper. The reply they received was that every doctor in Hamburg had his hands full that night. Lesesne survived long enough to tell his crewmates what had happened to him.
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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.