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Cowan, Leo Martin RAF Syerston (Flight Sergeant)

Killed in Action 1942-August-29

Birth Date: 1913-February-25 (age 29)

Born: Biggar Saskatchewan

John F. Cowan & Centrilla I. Cowan

Home: Biggar, Saskatchewan (parents)

Decorations: RAF Syerston

Service
RCAF
Unit
61 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Per Purum Tonantes Thundering through the clear air
Base
RAF Syerston
Rank
Flight Sergeant
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
Wireless Air Gunner
Service Numbers
R/86910

Took off from Syerston at 21:05 in Lancaster Mk I Sqn code QR-? Bomber Command) on an operation to Nuremberg Germany.

Aircraft failed to return, lost to unknown cause(s).

Killed includes Cowan: Flight Sergeant Franciszek Janiszewski RCAF R/77307 KIA Durnbach War Cemetery Coll. grave 11. G. 14-17. Pilot Officer William Shearer Pattinson RCAF J/8343 KIA Durnbach War Cemetery Coll. grave 11. G. 14-17. Pilot Officer James Allister Wright RCAF J/9698 KIA Durnbach War Cemetery Coll. grave 11. G. 14-17. Sergeant Kenneth Norgate RAF pilot KIA Durnbach War Cemetery Coll. grave 11. G. 14-17. Flight Sergeant John Edward Richards RAF KIA Durnbach War Cemetery Coll. grave 11. G. 14-17. Sergeant Wilfred Toole RAF KIA Durnbach War Cemetery Coll. grave 11. G. 14-17.

Cenotaph at Biggar Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Biggar, Battleford Census Division, Saskatchewan, Canada

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave.com Finadagrave.com

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

Flight Sergeant Leo Martin Cowan was exhumed and reburied.

Home
Google MapBiggar, Saskatchewan (parents)
Target
Google MapNuremberg Germany
First Burial
Google MapObermichelback, Germany
Re-Burial
Google MapDurnbach War Cemetery
Plot 11 Row G Coll Grave 14-17

Lancaster R5742

Avro Lancaster

Avro Lancaster Mk. X RCAF Serial FM 213
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum

The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling, all three aircraft being four-engined heavy bombers adopted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the same wartime era.

The Lancaster has its origins in the twin-engine Avro Manchester which had been developed during the late 1930s in response to the Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use". Originally developed as an evolution of the Manchester (which had proved troublesome in service and was retired in 1942), the Lancaster was designed by Roy Chadwick and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins and in one version, Bristol Hercules engines. It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it was the main aircraft for the night-time bombing campaigns that followed. As increasing numbers of the type were produced, it became the principal heavy bomber used by the RAF, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within the RAF, overshadowing the Halifax and Stirling. Wikipedia

YouTube Lancaster Bomber

Wkikpedia Wikipedia

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

last update: 2021-09-18 14:32:33

Lancaster Mk.I R5742

Delivered to No. 106 Sqn 19 July 1942. Moved to No. 61 Sqn . Missing from operation to Nuremburg28/29 Aug 1942. 32 Operational hours.

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