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Murdoch, Alistair Kay DFC (Flight Lieutenant)

Killed in Flying Accident 1945-March-13

Birth Date: 1916 (age 29)

Son of Alexander Gardiner Murdoch and of Muriel Lilian (nee Bruce) Murdoch

Husband of Elspeth Cameron Murdoch (nee Hutcheson), of Edinburgh

Home: Edinburgh, Scotland

Decorations: DFC


Distinguished Service Cross
Service
RAFVR
Unit
246 (T) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Base
RAF Holmsley South
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
Passenger
Service Numbers
143482

Liberator CV ll EW626

Transport 1945-March-13 to 1945-March-13

246 (T) Sqn (RAF) RAF Station Lagens, Azores

246 Squadron RAF Transport Command, RAF Holmsley South. Liberator CV II aircraft EW626 was carrying military passengers en-route to Prestwick, Scotland when it crashed on take-off at Aqualla, four miles west of RAF Station Lagens, the Azores. The pilot was instructed to make a right turn after take-off but instead turned left and flew into a hillside, killing all aboard

The following personnel were killed: Flight Lieutenant LF Jarvis (RCAF), Leading Aircraftman W Bridgen (RAFAAF), Leading Aircraftman CS Hubbard (RAFVR) Leading Aircraftman D Lindsay (RAF), Warrant Officer D Brochard (RAFVR)(Czech), Squadron Leader AJ Davey DSO (RAFVR), Corporal F Jeckells (RAFVR), Corporal W McKenzie (RAFVR), Flying Officer V Jilek (RAFVR)(Czech), Flying Officer CG Montgomery (RAFVR), Flying Officer AP Walker (RAFVR), Flight Sergeant L Kondziolka (RAFVR)(Czech), Sergeant GA Cain (RAF), Sergeant JH Lawrence (RAFVR), Flight Lieutenant AK Murdoch DFC (RAFVR), Flight Lieutenant JE Yarnell (RAFVR) and Flight Lieutenant AJ Volek (RAFVR)(Czech)

There was one more unidentified passenger killed of whom no information has yet been found. This tragic crash resulted in a loss of 19 casualties

Ocean Bridge, The History of RAF Ferry Command by Carl A Christie page 327

The Liberator in Royal Air Force and Commonwealth Service by James D Oughton with John Hamlin and Andrew Thomas page 176

General Aviation Safety Network

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

General Czech involvement with RAF Transport Squadrons I Free...

General Kenotaf Dalibor Brochard I Spolek pro vojenska pietni mistra

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Find-A-Grave.com Finadagrave.com

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Liberator EW626

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 CV ll EW626



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