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Washbrook, William Leigh (Pilot Officer)

Killed in Action 1945-January-03

Birth Date: 1922 (age 23)

Son of William A. and Gladys M. Washbrook, of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

Home: Lethbridge, Alberta

Service
RCAF
Unit
215 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Surgite Nox Adest Arise night is at hand
Base
RAF Dhubalia, India
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/93729
Prev: R/178331

Took off from Dhubalia, India at 07:21 on a bombing raid to the Burma - Siam Railway bridge at Anakwin, Burma.

Shot down by flak on surrounding hills while attacking bridge and crashed at Tigen, Burma.

Killed includes Washbrook: F/Lt Kenneth Denison Cox RCAF J/ KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 455. F/Lt Arthur Hugh Harris RCAF J/13395 KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 455. Warrant Officer Class 1 Harold Oliver Irvine RCAF R/119324 KIA Singapore Memorial, Column . Flying Officer James Murray Potts RCAF J/23534 KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 456. Sergeant William David Adams RAF KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 451. Flight Sergeant Harry Dawson RAF KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 450. F/Lt Sao Hkun U RAF KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 446. Flying Officer James Hepworth Nesbitt RAF KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 448. WO Alfred Thomas Read RAF KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 449.

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

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

Pilot Officer William Leigh Washbrook has no known grave.

Home
Google MapLethbridge, Alberta

Google MapSingapore War Memorial
Column 457

Liberator KH214

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 B 24 KH214



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