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Craig, Walter David DFM (Pilot Officer)

Killed in Action 1943-August-24

Birth Date: 1917-March-05 (age 26)

Born: Black's Rapid, Westboro, Ontario

John & Clara Bernice (nee Moore) Craig

Home: Westboro, Ontario (parents)

Enlistment: Ottawa, Ontario

Enlistment Date: 1940-10-10

Decorations: DFM


Distinguished Flying Medal
Service
RCAF
Unit
35 (PFF) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Uno Anima Agimus We Act with One Accord
Base
RAF Graveley
Rank
Pilot 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
J/18448
Prev: R/74224

Took off from Graveley at 20:15 in Halifax Mk II Sqn code TL-R Bomber Command) on an operation to Berlin Germany.

Shot down by a night fighter and crashed at Wensickendorf 26 km NNW from the centre of Berlin.

Killed includes Craig: Warrant Officer Class 2 Osborne Lloyd Bliss RCAF R/88244 KIA Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery Coll. grave 5. L. 12-15. Pilot Officer William Philip Macdonald McIntosh RCAF J/18231 KIA Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery Coll. grave 5. L. 12-15. Pilot Officer Robert William Nixon RCAF J/17729 KIA Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery Coll. grave 5. L. 12-15. Flight Sergeant Dennis Burke RAF KIA Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery grave 5. L. 8. Squadron Leader Michael Charles Xavier Mack RAF KIA Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery grave 5. L. 10. F/Lt Harry Webster RAF pilot KIA Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery Coll. grave 5. L. 12-15.

Addendum: - Distinguished Flying Medal -No.35 Squadron - Award effective 1 September 1943 as per London Gazette dated 10 September 1943 and AFRO 2258/43 dated 5 November 1943.Award presented 17 April 1947. The citation reads - "Flight Sergeant Craig has completed numerous night bombing sorties against targets in enemy territory. These have included Berlin and Turin and other dangerous and distant objectives. During all these missions he has proved himself to be a most conscientious and efficient air gunner, and his constant watchfulness has, on more than one occasion, enabled his captain to evade fighters." Detail provided by H. Halliday, Orleans, Ontario.

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)

Home
Google MapWestboro, Ontario (parents)
Target
Google MapBerlin Germany
Burial
Google MapBerlin War Cemetery
Plot 5 Row L Grave 9

Halifax HR928

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.II HR928

Failed to Return, Berlin. 24.8.43
Unit 35

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