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Cook, William Wilfred (Flying Officer)

Killed in Flying Accident 1944-November-08

Birth Date: 1914-January-23 (age 30)

Alfred & Naomi Filer Cook

Elsie Dalene Cook, of Windsor, Ontario.

Home: Hamilton, Ontario

Service
RCAF
Unit
158 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Strength In Unity
Base
RAF Lissett
Rank
Flying 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
Bomb Aimer
Service Numbers
J/37827
Prev: J/37837

Took off from Lissett at 20:17 in Halifax Mk III (Sqn code NP-G Bomber Command) on an night bombing practice flight to the Range at North Frodingham combined with a local flying training exercise.

Aircraft took off and climbed slowly to 400 feet but then dived into the ground near to the village of Gembling two miles west of the runway at Lissett, Yorkshire, England.

Killed includes Cook: Pilot Officer Clarence William Arthur Britton RCAF J/92636 KIA Stonefall Cemetery Harrowgate Yorkshire Sec. H. Row B. Grave 17. Flight Sergeant William Max Freeman RCAF R/189238 pilot KIA Stonefall Cemetery Sec. H. Row B. Grave 16. Flight Sergeant Gerald William Henry Patterson RCAF R/206111 KIA Stonefall Cemetery Sec. H. Row B. Grave 15. Flying Officer Andrew Sharp RCAF J/37536 KIA Stonefall Cemetery Sec. H. Row B. Grave 18. Flight Sergeant Geoffrey William Stone RCAF R/205656 KIA Stonefall Cemetery Sec. H. Row B. Grave 14. Sergeant Edwin Sampson Powell RAF KIA Stonefall Cemetery Sec. H. Row B. Grave 13.

General 158 Squadron Association-Personnel Detail

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission International Bomber Command Centre

Canada Primary Source Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Home
Google MapHamilton, Ontario
Target
Google MapNone
Burial
Google MapStonefall Cemetery
Sec H Row B Grave 19

Halifax HX356

Handley Page Halifax

(RAF Photo, 1942)(Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)A Royal Air Force Handley Page Halifax Mk. II Series I (Serial No. W7676), coded TL-P, of No. 35 Squadron, RAF, based at Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire in the UK, being piloted by Flight Lieutenant Reginald Lane, (later Lieutenant-General, RCAF), over the English countryside. Flt Lt Lane and his crew flew twelve operations in W7676, which failed to return from a raid on Nuremberg on the night of 28/29 August 1942, when it was being flown by Flt Sgt D. John and crew.

The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.

The Halifax has its origins in the twin-engine HP56 proposal of the late 1930s, produced in response to the British Air Ministry's Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use." The HP56 was ordered as a backup to the Avro 679, both aircraft being designed to use the underperforming Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. The Handley Page design was altered at the Ministry to a four-engine arrangement powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine; the rival Avro 679 was produced as the twin-engine Avro Manchester which, while regarded as unsuccessful mainly due to the Vulture engine, was a direct predecessor of the famed Avro Lancaster. Both the Lancaster and the Halifax would emerge as capable four-engined strategic bombers, thousands of which would be built and operated by the RAF and several other services during the War.

On 25 October 1939, the Halifax performed its maiden flight, and it entered service with the RAF on 13 November 1940. It quickly became a major component of Bomber Command, performing routine strategic bombing missions against the Axis Powers, many of them at night. Arthur Harris, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Bomber Command, described the Halifax as inferior to the rival Lancaster (in part due to its smaller payload) though this opinion was not shared by many of the crews that flew it, particularly for the MkIII variant. Nevertheless, production of the Halifax continued until April 1945. During their service with Bomber Command, Halifaxes flew a total of 82,773 operations and dropped 224,207 tons of bombs, while 1,833 aircraft were lost. The Halifax was also flown in large numbers by other Allied and Commonwealth nations, such as the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Free French Air Force and Polish forces. Wikipedia

YouTube Halifax Heavy Bomber WWII

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Halifax Bomber

Museum National Air Force Museum of Canada

last update: 2023-12-08 20:34:11

Halifax B/GR.Mk.III HX356

Climbed slowly after take-off to 400 feet then dived into ground near Gembling, 8.11.44
Units 158/640/158

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