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Campion, Michael Patrick GC (Warrant Officer)

Killed in Action 1943-December-04

Male Head

Birth Date: 1916-May-08 (age 27)

Home: Montreal, Quebec

Decorations: GC


George Cross
Service
RAF
Unit
220 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
We Observe Unseen Greek
Rank
Warrant Officer
Marshal
Air Chief MarshalA/C/M
Air MarshalA/M
Air Vice MarshalA/V/M
Air CommodoreA/C
Group CaptainG/C
Wing CommanderW/C
Squadron LeaderS/L
Flight LieutenantF/L
Flying OfficerF/O
Pilot OfficerP/O
Warrant Officer 1st ClassWO1
Warrant Officer 2nd ClassWO2
Flight SergeantFS
SergeantSGT
CorporalCPL
Senior AircraftmanSAC
Leading AircraftmanLAC
Aircraftman 1st ClassAC1
Aircraftman 2nd ClassAC2
Position
Air Gunner
Service Numbers
536451

220 Sqn arrived at Lagens, Azores in October 1943, but when they required major service of their Fortress aircraft, (every 800 flight hours), they had to be ferried to Thornaby, England.

Fortress Mk IIA FK-206 (former US serial 41-9202) took off from Lagens at 03:26 on the morning of 1943-12-04. It took off normally but thirty seconds later it turned to starboard two miles from the end of the runway and either dived or stalled into the sea with the loss of all onboard. The official likely cause was loss of control following the change from visual flight to instruments on a very black night.

Killed: Warrant Officer Class 2 Joseph Edouard Roch Boudreault RCAF R/125388 KIA Lajes War Cemetery Azores Row B. Grave 2. Warrant Officer Class 2 Carl Thomas Flack RCAF R/121119 KIA Lajes War Cemetery Row B. Grave 1. Warrant Officer Class 1 Michael Patrick CAMPION (536451) Fortress IIa FK206 Ext Link [RAF] 1943-12-04 220 Sqdn AIR27 United Kingdom Runnymede Memorial [Ref : Panel 134.] Pilot Officer James Geoffrey JOHNSON (408252) Fortress IIa FK206 Forum Post [RAAF] 1943-12-04 220 Sqdn AIR27 Azores Lajes War Cemetery [Ref : Row A. Grave 6.] Pilot Officer Harold LAWSON (149162) Fortress IIa FK206 Ext Link [RAF] 1943-12-04 220 Sqdn AIR27 United Kingdom Runnymede Memorial [Ref : Panel 132.] Flying Officer Desmond Edward MORRIS (132320) Fortress IIa FK206 Ext Link [RAF] 1943-12-04 220 Sqdn AIR27 United Kingdom Runnymede Memorial [Ref : Panel 126.] Flight Sergeant Robert Noel MORRISON (1192004) Fortress IIa FK206 Ext Link [RAF] 1943-12-04 220 Sqdn AIR27 United Kingdom Runnymede Memorial [Ref : Panel 138.] Pilot Officer Arthur PEARCE (406868) Fortress IIa FK206 Forum Post [RAAF] 1943-12-04 220 Sqdn AIR27 United Kingdom Runnymede Memorial [Ref : Panel 191.

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave.com Finadagrave.com

Warrant Officer Michael Patrick Campion has no known grave.

Home
Google MapMontreal, Quebec

Google MapRunnymede Memorial Surrey
Panel 134

Flying Fortress FK206

Boeing Flying Fortress B-17

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft were bombers by design, but the RCAF versions – three B-17E models and three B-17F models – flew without armament since they were purely used as transport aircraft in Canadian service. RE64-957

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 bombers, the Boeing entry (prototype Model 299/XB-17) outperformed both competitors and exceeded the Air Corps' performance specifications. Although Boeing lost the contract (to the Douglas B-18 Bolo) because the prototype crashed, the Air Corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation. From its introduction in 1938, the B-17 Flying Fortress evolved through numerous design advances, becoming the third-most produced bomber of all time, behind the four-engined Consolidated B-24 Liberator and the multirole, twin-engined Junkers Ju 88.

The B-17 was primarily employed by the USAAF in the daylight strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial, military and civilian targets. The United States Eighth Air Force, based at many airfields in central, eastern and southern England, and the Fifteenth Air Force, based in Italy, complemented the RAF Bomber Command's night-time area bombing in the Combined Bomber Offensive to help secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for the invasion of France in 1944. The B-17 also participated to a lesser extent in the Pacific War, early in World War II, where it conducted raids against Japanese shipping and airfields.

From its prewar inception, the USAAC (by June 1941, the USAAF) promoted the aircraft as a strategic weapon; it was a relatively fast, high-flying, long-range bomber with heavy defensive armament at the expense of bombload. It developed a reputation for toughness based upon stories and photos of badly damaged B-17s safely returning to base. The B-17 dropped more bombs than any other U.S. aircraft in World War II. Of approximately 1.5 million tons of bombs dropped on Nazi Germany and its occupied territories by U.S. aircraft, over 640,000 tons were dropped from B-17s. In addition to its role as a bomber, the B-17 was also employed as a transport, antisubmarine aircraft, drone controller, and search-and-rescue aircraft.

The RCAF acquired six used B"‘17E and F aircraft from the United States in 1943. Stripped of all armament and armour, the aircraft were employed by the RCAF's No. 168 Squadron on a trans-Atlantic mail service vital to the morale of overseas forces. The aircraft were progressively modified and improved for service in this transport role, and some aircraft were subsequently stripped of paint and appeared in a polished, bare metal finish. No. 168 Squadron delivered more than two million pounds of mail between December 1943 and March 1946.

As of October 2019, nine aircraft remain airworthy, though none of them were ever flown in combat. Dozens more are in storage or on static display. The oldest of these is a D-series flown in combat in the Pacific on the first day of World War II. Wikipedia and RCAF



YouTube B.17 Flying Fortress

Wkikpedia Wikipedia B 17 Bomber

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

last update: 2021-11-04 16:30:34

Flying Fortress llA FK206

NRRAF RoundelK
ex USAAF B-17E 41-9202. No.220 Squadron. Ferried to St. Mawgan (Station 512), Cornwall then on to Lajes Field, Terceira Island, Azores 9 Oct 1943. Detailed for a submarine patrol 4 Dec 1943, the first aircraft to lift off the new PSP runway, the aircraft crashed into the sea after takeoff from Lajes Field, Terceira Island, Azores. Three bodies found, two Canadian and one Australian, who were buried in Lajes War Cemetery. SOC 31 Dec 1943. https://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/usafserials.html

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