Crawford, George Died

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Personal Information

Rank Sqn Ldr
Forename(s) George
Surname Crawford
Gender M
Age 29
Decorations DFC, AFC
Date of Death 07-06-1944
Next of Kin Son of Captain Hugh Crawford, formerly of the Indian Army, and Martha S. Crawford of Ham, Surrey. Husband of Leslie Crawford, of Marino, Co. Down. Father of George David Hugh Crawford, born four months after George's death.
CRAWFORD G

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Consolidated Liberator V
Serial Number BZ778
Markings -M

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 200.

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 5
Panel Number Not yet erected on site

Enlistment Information

Service Number 72986
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Squadron 53
Squadron Motto United in Effort
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Miscellaneous Information

Squadron Leader George Crawford DFC, AFC was a Pilot with No. 53 Squadron Coastal Command, flying Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft from St. Eval . Although mostly involved in anti-shipping patrols over the Bay of Biscay, on the night of 6-7th June 1944, he and his crew of nine had been tasked with patrolling the English Channel in support of the D-Day landings.
His crew was multi-national, his co-pilot being a Canadian from Winnipeg, Manitoba and two of his wireless operator/ air gunners hailed from Auckland, New Zealand. Crawford himself was the only son of Captain Hugh Crawford, formerly of the Indian Army, and Martha Crawford, and the family home was in Ham, Surrey.
Not long into the flight, a surfaced U-boat (possibly U-256) was spotted and with no hesitation George went in for the attack. Accurate flak from the submarine struck the Liberator and it crashed with the loss of all ten of the crew. Only one body was ever recovered, that of one of the New Zealanders, who is buried in a cemetery on the Brest Peninsula of France. As is the case with more than half of the airmen who were lost in the service of Coastal Command, the remainder of the crew have no known grave, and their names are instead included on the Runnymede Memorial. George was 29 years of age.
He had arrived at RAF St. Eval on the Cornish coast in November 1943 and took part in some 21 operations during his time on No. 53 Squadron. His Distinguished Flying Cross was awarded in January 1944 for an attack on a German U-boat just two weeks after he arrived at the unit. Despite problems with the aircraft’s radar during the anti-submarine patrol, the crew spotted the surfaced U-boat and on turning on their Leigh Lights the submarine immediately opened fire, peppering the aircraft with flak. The lights were quickly extinguished, allowing George to reposition the aircraft up-moon of the U-boat for a second pass, relying instead on the silhouette of the submarine against the reflection of the moon in the water so the enemy couldn’t locate them. He ordered the air gunners to hold fire until the aircraft passed directly overhead, releasing its depth charges as it did so. As the aircraft sped away from the scene, a sharp blip on the radar suggested that the U-boat may have up-ended in the water before sinking, although it can’t be certain that the submarine was lost.
Prior to his tour with No. 53 Squadron, George had been based in Northern Ireland, where he had married Leslie Boyd, of Marino on the banks of the Belfast Lough. Four months after her husband died, on 29 October 1944, Leslie gave birth to a son in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast. She named him George David Hugh Crawford.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/506/12
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/506/12

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
O'Kane R A (WO) Died
Richardson H (Fg Off) Died
Smith J G (Fg Off) Died
Biggs D G (Fg Off) Died
Martin R J (Plt Off) Died
Jones K V (Sgt) Died
Stoten R (Sgt) Died
Corns H A (WO) Died
Barton B G (WO) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date -
End Date -
Takeoff Station St. Eval
Day/Night Raid (100% moon)
Operation Patrol of the western Channel in support of the D-Day landings
Reason for Aircraft Loss Thought to have been shot down by a U- boat, possibly U-256.

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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.

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