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Palmer, Freeman Henry (Pilot Officer)

Killed in Action 1944-January-29

Birth Date: 1921-April-21 (age 22)

Born: Buffalo, Erie County, New York, USA

Son of Freeman Henry Palmer and Amelia Augusta (nee Knapp) Palmer, of Toronto, Ontario

Home: Prescott, Ontario

Enlistment: Toronto, Ontario

Enlistment Date: 1942-01-01

Service
RCAF
Unit
419 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Moosa Aswayita Beware of Moose
Base
RAF Middleton St George
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
Pilot
Service Numbers
J/19660
Prev: R/136052

Halifax B/GR.Mk.II JP119

Bombing Berlin Germany 1944-January-28 to 1944-January-29

419 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Middleton St. George

Battle of Berlin

677 aircraft - 432 Lancasters, 241 Halifaxes, 4 Mosquitoes. Part of the German fighter force was drawn up by the early diversions and the bomber approach route over Northern Denmark proved too distant for some of the other German fighters. The German controller was, however, able to concentrate his fighters over the target and many aircraft were shot down there. 46 aircraft - 26 Halifaxes, 20 Lancasters - lost, 6·8 per cent of the force.

.

The cloud over Berlin was broken and some ground-marking was possible but the Bomber Command claim that this was the most concentrated attack of this period is not quite fully confirmed by German records. The western and southern districts were hit but so too were 77 places outside the. city. The Berlin recording system was now showing an increasing deterioration. No overall figure for property damage was recorded; approximately 180,000 people were bombed out on this night. Although many industrial firms were again hit, the feature of this night is the unusually high proportion of administrative and public buildings appearing in the lists of buildings hit: the new Chancellery, 4 theatres, the 'French' cathedral, 6 hospitals, 5 embassies, the State Patent Office, etc. The report concludes with this entry: 'The casualties are still not known but they are bound to be considerable. It is reported that a vast amount of wreckage must still be cleared; rescue workers are among the mountains of it..

source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt

419 Moose Squadron (Moosa aswayita) RAF Middleton St George. Halifax BII aircraft JP 119 VR-O was a attacked by a night fighter, possibly Oberfeldwebel Hans Berschwinger of the 4/NJG 2 before suffering a mid-air collision with 7 Squadron RAF Lancaster aircraft JA 718 during a raid on industrial targets in western and southern Berlin, Germany. Both aircraft crashed in the same area near Zuhlen, Rheinsberg, Brandenburg, Germany

The entire crew of Halifax JP 119 VR-O were lost. Two of seven crew on Lancaster III aircraft JA 718 MG-T were missing, presumed killed in action and three others killed in action. Two crew member from Lancaster JA 718 survived to become Prisoners of War

Pilot Officer F H Palmer (RCAF) and Pilot Officer E Milner (RCAF) on Halifax JP 119 were missing, presumed killed in action. The missing have no known grave and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial

The other crew members of Halifax JP 119: Flying Officer S J Gibson (RCAF), Flying Officer F Forrest (RCAF), Flying Officer G E Lemmerick (RCAF), Pilot Officer R Tarbet (RCAF), Sergeant J H Parrott (RAFVR) and Flight Sergeant F P Reilly (RAFVR) were all killed in action

General Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

General 419 Squadron RCAF 1941 to 1945 Crew of Halifax JP119

General Aviation Safety Network

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Commonwealth War Graves Commission International Bomber Command Centre

Find-A-Grave.com Finadagrave.com

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

Pilot Officer Freeman Henry Palmer has no known grave.

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Panel 252

Halifax JP119

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