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Crowell, Richard Alvinzie (Warrant Officer 2nd Class)

Killed in Action 1944-September-12

Birth Date: 1923-January-18 (age 21)

Born: Shelburne, Nova Scotia

Robert & Eva Mary Crowell

Home: Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA (parents)

Enlistment: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Enlistment Date: 1942-05-28

Service
RCAF
Unit
148 (SD) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Trusty
Base
RAF Brindisi, Italy
Rank
Warrant Officer 2nd Class
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/153348

SOE Operations SILICA NORTH, SEED & ACRE, 148 Squadron, RAF (Brindisi, Italy - 334 Wing, Balkan Air Force): Halifax Mk II BB-412 'C' - took off at 19:30 to drop supplies to partisans in NW Italy. En route to the Val Grande area in the vicinity of Ivrea, 45km NE of Turin, flew into the side of a mountain about 25 metres below the summit at 23:45.

The eight crew, a British Army officer, two Czech Army personnel and two unidentified dispatchers (possibly Italian partisans) are buried in a collective grave in Milan.

crew Killed: Pilot Officer John Ervin O'Brien RCAF J/87441 pilot KIA Flight Sergeant Bruce Woodward Ellison RNZAF KIA WO Richard Alvinzie Crowell RCAF R/153348 KIA Flying Officer Joseph Miller Parkinson RCAF J/27460 KIA Flight Sergeant James Howard Ireland RCAF R/162102 KIA Flight Sergeant Albert Major Vanderhart RCAF R/206366 KIA Sergeant Ronald McKeen RAF KIA.

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

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

Home
Google MapCambridge, Massachusetts, USA (parents)
Target
Google MapSD Warsaw
Burial
Google MapMilan War Cemetery
Coll grave VI C 5-6

Halifax BB412

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.Mk.II BB412

Failed to Return, Special Operations Executivemission to Warsaw 12.9.44
Overseas Aircraft Preparation Unit/178/462/148

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