PL - Francis Maxwell Webber KIA

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Webber, Francis Maxwell (Flying Officer)

Killed in Action 1943-October-04

Canada

Birth Date: 1923 (age 20)

Son of Percy and Mary E. Webber, of Castor, Alberta, Canada.

Home: Castor, Alberta

Service
RCAF

Unit
120 Sqn- Squadron

Rank

Flying Officer

Marshal
Air Chief Marshal	A/C/M
Air Marshal	A/M
Air Vice Marshal	A/V/M
Air Commodore	A/C
Group Captain	G/C
Wing Commander	W/C
Squadron Leader	S/L
Flight Lieutenant	F/L
Flying Officer	F/O
Pilot Officer	P/O
Warrant Officer 1st Class	WO1
Warrant Officer 2nd Class	WO2
Flight Sergeant	FS
Sergeant	SGT
Corporal	CPL
Senior Aircraftman	SAC
Leading Aircraftman	LAC
Aircraftman 1st Class	AC1
Aircraftman 2nd Class	AC2

Position
Pilot

Service Numbers
J/14447

Liberator B 24 FL923

Convoy Patrol 1943-October-04 to 1943-October-04

(CS) Sqn (RAF) Reykjavik

The following account of the action is compiled from German records.

Liberator FK 923, which was mistakenly identified as a Lancaster, was sighted at 1123 hrs when 7-8000 metres away, approaching at an altitude of 800 metres. All the boats flak guns which consisted of two twin and one quadruple 200-mm, were immediately manned and fire was opened. despite heavy flak the aircraft circled, drawing slowly closer to the U-boat, Until at 1138 hrs it ran into the attack replying to the -boats fire with cannon when at a range of 1000 metres. Although hit several times, the aircraft pressed home the attack, dropping six depth charges that fell ahead of the poet bow at a distance of between 10 and 159 metres from the U-boat, which was shaken violently. Both the aircraft's starboard engines were seen to have caught fire and shortly afterwards it came down in the sea, exploding on impact with the water. On assumption that none of the aircrew would escape from the wreckage, the CO ordered the U-boat to dive so that a proper inspection of damage, which turned out to be relatively minor , could be made. One of U 539's crew was slightly wounded

Flt Lt JNG Bruce RAF 66528; Wg Cmdr RM Longmore RAF;Warrant Officer EA Mincham 406306 RNZAF Flt Sergeant AE Parsons 901162 RAF;Warrant Officer W Stott 407563 RNZAF; FO RW Tait 21402 RAF; FO FM Webber RCAF J/14447

source: Malcolm Deeley, Ulster Aviation Society

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

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

Flying Officer Francis Maxwell Webber has no known grave.

Home

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Castor, Alberta

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Runnymede Memorial Surrey
Panel 175

Liberator FL923

Flying Officer Webber, Francis Maxwell (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Action
1943-October-04
Runnymede Memorial Surrey, UK

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 FL923

V

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