PL - William James Charlesworth PoW

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Charlesworth, William James (Warrant Officer 1st Class)

Prisoner of War 1942-October-11

Male Head

Canada

Birth Date: 1919-April-25 (age 23)

Home: Toronto, Ontario

Enlistment Date: 1940-10-23

Service
RCAF

Unit
203 (R) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Occidens Oriensque East and west

Rank

Warrant Officer 1st Class

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

Service Numbers
R/78416
PoW: 808

Maryland Mk. II AH 280

Reconnaissance 1942-October-11 to 1942-October-11

203 (R) Sqn (RAF) Heraklion Crete

Shipping search, north of Crete.

1942-October-11 Maryland AH280 was hit by enemy flak as it circled a convoy while sending out signals for a striking force to home in on. They ditched off the southwest corner of Crete. Escaping the sinking aircraft the crew of four drifted in a two 1-man dinghies for eighteen hours before being picked up by a Dornier flying boat from the 7th Seenotstaffel. A Bristol Beaufighter flying out of Malta had directed the German flying boat to the rafts. In 2000, Hickson was contacted by the German pilot that saved them and many details of the rescue were exchanged.

The following crew members also failed to return:

Lieutenant FJ Bergh, pilot, SAAF
Sergeant W Mitchell, RAF

Operations Record Book 203 Squadron

Britain Source MI9 PoW Release Interrogation

Home

Google Map

Toronto, Ontario

Burial
Google Map

Google Map

Woodland Cemetery

Maryland AH 280

Male Head

Warrant Officer 1st Class Charlesworth, William James (RCAF)

Prisoner of War
1942-October-11
Woodland Cemetery, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Warrant Officer 1st Class Hickson, Donald Douglas (RCAF)

Prisoner of War
1942-October-11
Belleville Cemetery, Belleville, Ontario, Canada

Martin Maryland

(RAF Photo)(Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page)
Martin 167 Maryland. Flown by RCAF aircrew serving with the RAF.

The Martin Model 167 Maryland was an American-designed light bomber that first flew in 1939. It saw action in World War II with France and the United Kingdom.

Many of the aircraft were shipped to Egypt and Malta in time for the 1941 fighting there. The RAF used the aircraft mainly for photo-reconnaissance operations in North and East Africa, it being faster than the Bristol Blenheim. A Maryland bomber photographed the Italian fleet before and after the Battle of Taranto on 11 November 1940. The pilot, Adrian Warburton, scored his five confirmed kills with the Maryland's forward-firing guns.

Three Maryland Mk.Is were transferred to the British Fleet Air Arm and were mainly used for target towing duties.. On 22 May 1941, a Maryland of 771 Naval Air Squadron based at Hatston in the Orkney Islands, reported that the German battleship Bismarck had left Bergen, confirming that she was breaking out into the Atlantic. Wikipedia

YouTube Maryland Bomber

Wkikpedia Wikipedia Maryland Bomber

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page

last update: 2021-10-20 13:36:21

Maryland Mk. II AH 280

PP

RAF Roundel

Y

ditched near Crete October 11 1942

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