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Cranch, Francis Edward (Pilot Officer)

Killed in Flying Accident 1944-April-12

Birth Date: 1913 (age 31)

Edward Andrew & Ann Cranch

Gladys Doris Cranch, of Crouch End, London, England

Home: Vancouver, British Columbia

Service
RCAF
Unit
432 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Saeviter Ad Lucem Ferociously toward the light
Base
RAF East Moor
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
Bomb Aimer
Service Numbers
J/89914
Prev: R/153175

Halifax B/A.Mk.III LW614

Operational 1944-April-12 to 1944-April-12

432 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF East Moor

The crew of Halifax III aircraft LW 614 QO-S were engaged in air to air firing training when it crashed at Deepdale Farm, Langdale End, North Yorkshire, England

Pilot Officer FC Hindmarsh (RCAF), Pilot Officer DG Bell (RCAF), Pilot Officer AK Clarke (RCAF), Pilot Officer TH Woodard (RCAF), Sergeant FE Cranch (RCAF), Sergeant H Halliwell (RAFVR) and passenger Leading Aircraftman DV MacKenzie (RCAF) were all killed in this flying accident

There was one surviving crew member, rear air gunner Sergeant DSM MacNeil (RCAF)

On 1944-04-12, Squadron Leader A. Ross Dawson, the Chief Technical Officer with 1664/1679 HCU at Wombleton, wrote in his diary:

Warning: The following material contains graphic content that may not be suitable for all readers.

"Got news of a crash a/c west of Pickering . . . located it at last, way up in the Moors and what a mess it was. I had a hard time trying to find out what kind of aircraft it was until I found an engine with a DH Hydromatic prop on it and then I knew it was a Halifax MkII, LW 614 -S, from East Moor we found out later. It was still burning when we got there. . . six recovered bodies, all Canadian boys. . .there was still another body in the wreckage but couldn't get it out since he was only in pieces anyway. I've got over being squeamish about such things but I still don't like the smell . . it is really & truly horrible."

Museum Diary of A Ross Dawson, courtesy CWM

Addendum: The crew were engaged in ground to air firing when one of the engines failed. The aircraft went out of control at 50 feet, stalled crashed and burst into flames. Detail provided by David E Thompson, Middlesborough, England

General Halifax LW614

General [Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...

Took off from East More on an air-firing exercise.

Crashed after engine failure (and possibly fire) and crashed near Deepdale Farm, Deepdale, Yorkshire.

Killed: Pilot Officer David Gordon Bell RCAF J/88695 KIA Stonefall Cemetery, Harrowgate, Yorkshire Sec. F. Row E. Grave 19. Pilot Officer Arthur Kenneth Clarke RCAF J/89944 pilot KIA Stonefall Cemetery Sec. F. Row E. Grave 20. Pilot Officer Francis Edward Cranch RCAF J/89914 KIA Tottenham Cemetery Park Sec. Grave 2814.] Pilot Officer Felix Campbell Hindmarsh RCAF J/89248 KIA Mount Vernon RC Burial Ground, Edinburgh Sec. O. Grave 216. LAC David Victor MacKenzie RCAF R/142262 KIA Stonefall Cemetery Sec. F. Row E. Grave 18. Pilot Officer Thomas Harold Woodward RCAF J/86325 KIA Stonefall Cemetery Sec. F. Row E. Grave 17. Sergeant Harvey Halliwell RAF KIA St. Leonard Church, Middleton.

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 MapVancouver, British Columbia
Burial
Google MapTottenham And Wood Green Cemetery
Park Section Grave 2814

Halifax LW614

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/A.Mk.III LW614

QORAF RoundelS
Served with No. 432 (B) Squadron, RCAF at East Moor, Yorkshire. Coded "QO*S". Attacked rail yards at Ghent on 10 April 1944. Crashed after engine failure (and possibly fire) during an air firing exercise on 12 April 1944. Crashed near Deepdale Farm, Deepdale, Yorkshire. 7 fatalities, one survivor. According to Halifax File, it crashed into high ground near Hackness, Yorks and burnt, engine failure 12.4.44
Units 431/432

432 (B) Sqn Saeviter Ad Lucem ("Leaside")

History of the Squadron during World War II (Aircraft: Wellington X, Lancaster II, Halifax III, VII)

The Squadron was the twelfth RCAF bomber squadron to be formed overseas in WWII. It was formed on May 1, 1943 at Skipton-on-Swale, Yorkshire, UK as a unit of No 6 (RCAF) Group of RAF Bomber Command: indeed, it was the first bomber squadron to be formed directly into No 6 Group. Using the squadron identification letters QO it flew Vickers Wellington Mk X medium bombers until it moved to East Moor, Yorkshire on 19th September 1943, when it re-equipped with Avro Lancaster Mk II aircraft. East Moor was part of No 62 (RCAF) Base. The squadron re-equipped with Handley Page Halifax Mk III aircraft in February 1944, and with Halifax Mk VII in July of that year, and continued with them until the squadron was disbanded at East Moor on May 15, 1945.

In the course of operations the squadron flew 246 missions, involving 3130 individual sorties, for the loss of 73 aircraft. 8980 tons of bombs were dropped. Awards to squadron members included 2 DSOs, 119 DFCs,1 Bar to DFC, 1 CGM, 20 DFMs and 1 Croix de Guerre (France). Battle Honours were: English Channel and North Sea 1943, Fortress Europe 1943-44, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1944, Ruhr 1943-45, Berlin 1943-44, German Ports 1943-45, Normandy 1944, Rhine, Biscay 1943.Moyes, Kostenuk and Griffin

Squadron History (Bomber Command Museum PDF)

Maps for Movements of 432 Squadron 1943-45

MAP 1: 432 Squadron Bases 1943-45 (marked in green). Right-click on image to display enlarged in new tab

432 Squadron History Summary 1943-45

History of the Squadron Post-WWII (Aircraft: Canuck)

The squadron was re-formed at Bagotville, Quebec as an All-Weather Fighter unit on 1 October 1954. The squadron flew Avro CF-100 Canuck aircraft on North American Air Defence until it was disbanded on 15 October 1961.

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