6 Group Unavailable
45 Group, RAF Transport Command, Dorval, Quebec Liberator II (Modified) AL504 named "Commando" lost on a flight from Northolt, England to Canada via the Azores, bringing high ranking officers and dignitaries to the Final Wings Parade, British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
The aircraft left RAF Northolt at 23:00 hours 1945-03-26 for a refueling stopover at Lajes Airfield in the Azores. Last contact with AL 504 was by RAF Prestwick at 7:16 hours on 1945-03-27 and nothing further was heard. Subsequent searches revealed an oil slick, some inflatable dinghies and a small amount of wreckage but no survivors, some 150-200 miles NW of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. The cause of the loss could not be determined
Pilot Officer DJ Spence (RCAF), Flight Lieutenant D Buchanan (RCAF), Wing Commander WH Biddell DFC OBE (RAF), Flight Lieutenant AN Brodie (RAF), Flight Lieutenant KG Shea (RAAF), Civilian Radio Officer FW Williams (UK), Civilian Steward VI Bannister (UK), Commander RA Brabner DSO DSC, MP (British Under-Secretary of State for Air), Air Marshal Sir Peter RM Drummond KCB DSO CBE MC MiD (RAF) (Air Member for Training), Squadron Leader EG Plum (RAFVR)(USA)(Liason, British Air Ministry), Civilian Sir John B Abraham KBE CB (British Air Ministry), Civilian HA Jones CMG CG MC (British Air Ministry), Civilian E Robinson (Private Secretary to Commander Brabner and Civilian E Twentyman (British Ministry of Food) were all missing, presumed killed in this flying accident
The missing have no known grave and all are commemorated at various Memorial sites in Canada, the UK and USA
This aircraft had been modified, lengthened, the engines were upgraded and the tail changed to a single large tail fin. It was later famously used as personal transport for British PM Winston Churchill and had often used as a VIP transport for people such a Lord Louis Mountbatten
The Man Who Flew Churchill by Bruce West
Ocean Bridge, The History of RAF Ferry Command by Carl A Christie page 327-8
The Liberator in Royal Air Force and Commonwealth Service by James D Oughton with John Hamlin and Andrew Thomas page 97
[Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...
Commando (aircraft) - Wikipedia