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Greenacre, Gordon Charles George (Flying Officer)

Killed in Action 1944-March-31

Male Head

Birth Date: 1922 (age 22)

Son of Clifford Edward and Daisy May Greenacre, of Wroxham, Norfolk

Home: Wroxham, Norfolk, England

Service
RAFVR
Unit
76 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Resolute
Base
RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor
Rank
Flying 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
Pilot
Service Numbers
156083

Halifax B/A.Mk.III LW647

Bombing Nuremberg Germany 1944-March-30 to 1944-March-31

76 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor

76 Squadron (Resolute) RAF Holme-on-Spalding Moor. Halifax BIII aircraft LW 647 MP-W was shot down by a night fighter forty miles north-east of Frankfurt, Germany at Neider Moos, Germany, during an operation against targets in Nuremberg, Germany. There are multiple night fighter pilot claims for this loss

Pilot Officer AH Death (RCAF), Pilot Officer AD Maw (RCAF), Pilot Officer AS Arneil (RAFVR), Flying Officer GCG Greenacre (RAFVR) and Flying Officer A Thorpe (RAFVR) were all killed in action

Sergeant JA Henthorn (RAFVR) and Pilot Officer A Monk (RAFVR) survived and both were taken as Prisoners of War

The Nuremberg Raid by Martin Middlebrook page 145

General [Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...

General 76 Squadron Halifax III LW647 MP-W Flying Officer Greenacre RAF Holme-on-...

General 5e67702749f431bf2ef36931_NACH 1944 Part2sample1.pdf

General Roll of Honour - Norfolk - Wroxham St Mary

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Commonwealth War Graves Commission International Bomber Command Centre

Find-A-Grave.com Finadagrave.com

Flying Officer Gordon Charles George Greenacre was exhumed and reburied.

Home
Google MapWroxham, Norfolk, England
Target
Google MapNuremberg Germany
First Burial
Google MapNiedermoos Civil Cemetery, Germany, near crash site
Re-Burial
Google MapDurnbach War Cemetery
Plot 6 Row F Grave 16

Halifax LW647

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.Mk.III LW647

MPRAF RoundelW
Failed to Return, Nurenburg, 31.3.44, crashed at Niedermoos after being attacked by nightfighter.
Unit 76

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