Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum logo

Click on CASPIR logo to go to the entire CASPIR system.

Use the panel to:

  • select Optional Sections
  • Remove Page Breaks, that is, return to the non-print formatted document.
  • Click on the ⇩ to go directly to that section.

Stephens, R N (Flight Lieutenant)

Prisoner of War 1944-September-16

Male Head

Birth Date: unkown date (age )

Home: Toronto, Ontario

Service
RAF
Unit
355 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Liberamus Per Caerula (We liberate through tropical skies)
Rank
Warrant 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
Navigator
Service Numbers
186874

Stephens, in EV902 collided over Burma with EV114 of 56Sqn and crashed. Seven of the ten man crew died in the crash: P/O Frederick Edward Blackman RAF KIA Myanmar Taukkyan War Cemetery Collective grave 28. F. 18-24. Sgt David John Drake RAF POW Myanmar Taukkyan War Cemetery Coll. grave 28. F. 18-24. F/O John Bernard Fitzgerald RCAF J/25844 POW Myanmar Taukkyan War Cemetery Coll. grave 28. F. 18-24. F/Lt Ernest Philip Jeffrey Gray RAAF POW Myanmar Taukkyan War Cemetery Coll. grave 28. F. 18-24. W/O Arthur Green RAF POW Myanmar Taukkyan War Cemetery Coll. grave 28. F. 18-24. Sgt Roy Kelsall RAF POW Myanmar Taukkyan War Cemetery Coll. grave 28. F. 18-24. F/Sgt Leonard James Lewis RAF POW Myanmar Taukkyan War Cemetery Coll. grave 28. F. 18-24.

POWs (three men) including Stephens: ? ? Alan Bailes WAG EV902 and one other unknown man.

Crew on Liberator B 24 EV902

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

CASPIR Aircraft Groups:
RCAF On Strength (148), RCAF 400 Squadron (19), Canadian Aircraft Losses (145), Canadian Ferried (1)
last update: 2021-09-18 19:06:22

Liberator B 24 EV902



355 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF) Liberamus Per Caerula

© Canadian Warplane Heritage 2024

To search on any page:
PC — Ctrl-F
Mac — ⌘-F
Mobile — or …