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Watson, Ernest William (Flight Lieutenant)

Killed in Action 1945-January-16

Birth Date: 1922 (age 23)

Son of Ernest William and Annie Watson, of Toronto, Ontario.

Home: Toronto, Ontario

Service
RCAF
Unit
420 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Pugnamus Finitum We fight to the finish
Rank
Flight Lieutenant
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/27864

Halifax B/A/Met.Mk.III NA192

Bombing Magdeburg Germany 1945-January-16 to 1945-January-16

(B) Sqn (RCAF) Tholthorpe

371 aircraft- 320 Halifaxes, 44 Lancasters, 7 Mosquitoes - of 4, 6 and 8 Groups. 17 Halifax.es lost, 4·6 per cent of the total force, 5·3 per cent of the Halifax force.

This was an area raid. Bomber Command claimed that it was successful, with 44 per cent of the built-up area being destroyed. No local report is available

Crew Halifax NA192

The night of January 16, 1945, found Watson's crew with 16 operations in the bag as they wheeled Halifax III NA192 (PT-Q) onto the runway for what would turn out to be the Snowy Owl's worst night of the war. There were 18 aircraft headed for Magdeburg, Germany, and by the time the kites returned 420 was down four, with 15 crew dead.

NA192 made it to the target, but took heavy damage from anti-aircraft fire and went into a dive. Two of the crew, Flight Sergeant D Jacobi, and Flight Sergeant T Lynch, managed to escape and were captured, but the other five were killed. (Source Malcolm Kelly, Author SPROG)

Watson joined up in November of 1940, just as the Battle of Britain was ending, and found success in the air, showing himself to be a fine pilot with a natural understanding of what was happening, why, and how to explain it. An unfortunate combination of skills for someone who wanted to fly in combat.

The air force spoke, and Bill found himself an instructor. Off to Boundary Bay, B.C., for a year, then through Dunnville, Trenton, and Brantford, all in Ontario. Always hoping for a chance at combat. (Through a complicated early-war system, Watson was actually a ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"civilianââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ instructor for two years before coming ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"backââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ to the RCAF.)

Billââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s time came and he was off to England in November of 1943, where he did final training, crewed up and made his way to 420 Squadron (Snowy Owl), No. 6 Group, Bomber Command. They were based at Tholthorpe, in Yorkshire.(Source Malcolm Kelly, Author SPROG)

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 MapToronto, Ontario
Target
Google MapMagdeburg Germany
Burial
Google MapBerlin War Cemetery
Plot 5 Row G Grave 17

Halifax NA192

Male Head

Pilot Officer Jacobi, Douglas James (RCAF)

Prisoner of War
1945-January-16
cemetery unknown

Flying Officer Louie, Quan Jil (RCAF)
Wireless Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1945-January-16
Berlin War Cemetery, Charlottenburg, Germany

Male Head

Flight Sergeant Lynch, Terrance Eugene (RCAF)

Prisoner of War
1945-January-16
cemetery unknown

Pilot Officer Partridge, William John Desmond (RCAF)
Wireless Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1945-January-16
Berlin War Cemetery, Charlottenburg, Germany

Flight Lieutenant Watson, Ernest William (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Action
1945-January-16
Berlin War Cemetery, Charlottenburg, Germany

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/Met.Mk.III NA192

PTRAF RoundelQ
"Halifax NA192 was one of 340 aircraft built by Rootes Securities Ltd. Speke under Contract No. ACFT/637 and Requisition No. HA3/E11/40 and delivered to No.420 (Snowy Owl) Squadron at Tholthorpe on Friday 24th November 1944 coded PT-Q for operational service. Having been assigned to Flight Lieutenant Watson RCAF, Halifax NA192 failed to return from the night's operation to Magdeburg, became the Squadron's 78th aircraft to become non effective and struck off charge, the 113th Squadron aircraft taking off from Tholthorpe, the 332nd aircraft from No.62 (Beaver) Base, the 81st aircraft assigned to attack Magdeburg, the 1,007th aircraft from No.6 (RCAF) Bomber Group and the 1,301st aircraft from the RCAF serving in Bomber Command to become non effective and struck off charge" Halifax NA192 was eventually struck off charge by the Squadron on Sunday 28th January"

"Lest we forget"

Source: Buzz Hope (Information from "and in the morning"' database and can be verified by MOD documentation and the CWGC Register)

420 (B) Sqn Pugnamus Finitum ("Snowy Owl")

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

420 Squadron RCAF was the fourth RCAF bomber unit formed overseas in WWII. It was formed at Waddington, Lincolnshire, UK on December 19, 1941 as a unit of No 5 Group of RAF Bomber Command flying Handley Page Hampden Mk 1 aircraft, with the squadron code letters PT. In early August 1942 the squadron transferred to No 4 Group of Bomber Command, and was based at Skipton-on-Swale, Yorkshire : at this time it was equipped with Vickers Wellington Mk. III aircraft. In October 1942 it moved to Middleton St. George, Durham , where on January 1, 1943 it became a unit of the newly-created no. 6 (RCAF) Group of Bomber Command. It remained there until May 1943, when, by now flying tropicalized Wellington Mk X aircraft, it flew to Tunisia in North Africa to join No 331 (RCAF) Wing of No. 205 Group. From the bases of Kairouan/Zina and Hani East Landing Ground (both locations approximate)it attacked targets in Sicily and Italy as part of the invasion force. In October, the squadron returned by sea to England, leaving its aircraft behind, and rejoined 6 Group at Dalton, Yorkshire, re-equipping with Handley Page Halifax Mk. III aircraft. The squadron finally moved to Tholthorpe, Yorkshire in December 1943, where it remained until the end of hostilities in Europe. From April 1945 the squadron re-equipped with Lancaster Mk. X aircraft, although they were not used operationally. In June 1945 the squadron flew its aircraft to Debert, Nova Scotia , where it disbanded in September of 1945

In the course of hostilities, the squadron flew 4186 sorties for the loss of 65 aircraft. 9771 tons of bombs were dropped. The squadron won 38 DFC's, 1 Bar to DFC, and 9 DFM's. Battle Honors were: English Channel and North Sea 1942-44, Baltic 1942, Fortress Europe 1942-44, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1942-44, Ruhr 1942-45, Berlin 1944, German Ports 1942-45, Normandy 1944, Rhine, Biscay 1942-43, Sicily 1943, Italy 1943, SalernoWikipedia, Kostenuk and Griffin, Moyes

Museum 420 Squadron History (Bomber Command Museum (Large PDF)

Museum 420 Tholthorpe Airfield Operations Record Book

Museum 420 Squadron Operations Record Book

Maps for Movements of 420 Squadron 1941-45

MAP 1: 420 Squadron Movements in England 1941-45 (right-click on image to display enlarged new tab)
MAP 2: 420 Squadron Movements in Yorkshire and Durham 1942-45
MAP 3: 420 Squadron Movements in Tunisia, North Africa 1943

420 Squadron History Summary 1941-45

420 Squadron History Summary 1941-45 Page 2

History of the Squadron Post-WWII (Aircraft: Harvard, Mustang, Silver Star, Tracker)

No. 420 Squadron reformed at London, Ontario on 15 September 1948, and flew North American Mustang and Harvard aircraft in a fighter role until the squadron disbanded on 1 September 1956. The squadron was re-formed as an Air Reserve squadron based initially at CFB Shearwater, Nova Scotia flying the de Havilland Canada Tracker aircraft that had once been the backbone of the Canadian Naval Air's anti-submarine program. As an Air Reserve Squadron it participated with regular fisheries patrols. It was one of the few active Air Reserve Squadrons in Canada and was paired with the Regular Force's 880 Squadron. The Squadron was rebased to CFB Summerside, Prince Edward Island when their base was downsized. No 420 Squadron was reduced to nil strength on 15 May 1995.

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