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Percival, John Fred MiD (Squadron Leader)

Killed in Action 1944-April-19

Birth Date: 1916 (age 28)

Son of John Leonard Percival and Edith (nee Cadwell) of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Husband of Peggy (nee Trumble)

Home: Vancouver, British Columbia

Decorations: MiD


Mentioned in Dispatches
Service
RAF
Unit
160 Sqn- Squadron
Rank
Squadron Leader
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
42378
160 Burma Squadron (Api Soya Paragasamu). Pilot Officer Lloyd Colborne, air gunner (RCAF ret.) of Winnipeg, Manitoba had this to say about the trip, "We were told there were Japanese on Andaman Island, Bay of Bengal and the Yanks were going to attack it in combination with the Navy. We were ordered to fly our Liberator aircraft within radar detection or about eighty miles from the island. The Japs would think they were under attack and send up their fighters. We were to turn around as soon as we figured they'd seen us on radar. The real attack would begin hoping to catch the fighters out of fuel. We took off at 1:A.M. with no bombs but a full nine-man crew. I was sitting at the right waist gun and noticed we were airborne faster than usual but thought it was because of our reduced weight. The next thing I knew we'd crashed into the jungle at the end of the runway, Squadron Leader Percival and some other members of the crew were killed but some of us survived, I was the only other Canadian on board. Addendum: The aircraft number was BZ 864. Sgt. R.T. Holbrook (RAF), FS.s F.S. Brissenden (RAM), W.M. Beauchamp (RAAF),F/0.s J.W. Crawford (RAF), and K.B. Winfield (RAF) were also killed. Squadron Leader Percival is buried in the Liveramentu Cemetery, Torrington Road, Colombo, Ceylon. Cenotaph St. Cuthberts Churchyard, Southport, Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England Section 2A

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave.com Finadagrave.com

Home
Google MapVancouver, British Columbia
Burial
Google MapCommonwealth War Graves Colombo-Jawatta
2L 12

Liberator BZ864

Consolidated Liberator B-24 / F-7

(DND Photos via James Craik) (Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)
Consolidated Liberator G.R. Mk. VIII, RCAF (Serial No. 11130) ex-USAAF Consolidated (Vultee) B-24L Liberator USAAF (44-50154)
ex-RAF (Serial No. 5009), ex-Indian Air Force (Serial No. HE773).
Currently preserved in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum Ottawa Ontario.

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber flown by the RCAF during the Second Word War. It was designed with a shoulder-mounted, high aspect ratio Davis wing which gave the Liberator a high cruise speed, long range and the ability to carry a heavy bomb load. Early RAF Liberators were the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a matter of routine. In comparison with its contemporaries the B-24 was relatively difficult to fly and had poor low speed performance; it also had a lower ceiling compared with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. Of the roughly 18,500 B-24s built in the USA during the war, 148 were flown by the RCAF on long range anti-submarine patrols, with the B-24 serving an instrumental role in closing the Mid-Atlantic gap in the Battle of the Atlantic. The RCAF also flew a few B-24s post war as transports.

Roughly half of all (RAF) Liberator crews in the China-Burma-India (CBI) Theatre were Canadian by the end of the war. John Muir of Vancouver flew the longest mission of the war: 24hrs, 10mins from Ceylon to Burma and back. (Kyle Hood) Harold Skaarup web page


YouTube Liberator bomber

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Liberator bomber

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

last update: 2021-09-18 19:06:22

Liberator Mk. V BZ864



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