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Kirtland, Charles Henry Albert DFC (Flight Lieutenant)

Survived 1943-November-19

Male Head

Birth Date: unkown date (age unknown)

Decorations: DFC


Distinguished Service Cross
Service
RAFVR
Unit
428 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Usque Ad Finem To the Very End
Base
RAF Middleton St George
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
Service Numbers
176161

Halifax B/A/Met.Mk.V LK950

Bombing Leverkusen Germany 1943-November-19 to 1943-November-19

428 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Middleton St George

428 Ghost Squadron (Usque Ad Finem) RAF Middleton-St-George. Halifax BV aircraft LK 950 NA-T was hit by flak during an operation against targets in Leverkusen, Germany but managed to get back over the UK. The aircraft was abandoned after suffering multiple engine failures and crashed in a cemetery near Canterbury, Kent, England

Sergeant JA McEwen (RCAF) bailed out at 15,000 feet, the first crew member out of the aircraft and was missing, presumed killed in action. The remaining crew all survived, uninjured

Sergeant K Hawthorne (RCAF), Flying Officer FR Storen, (RCAF) Flight Sergeant DLG Smith (RCAF), Warrant Officer 1st Class LL Fournier (RCAF), Sergeant LJ Oshowy (RCAF) and Sergeant CHA Kirtland (RAFVR) all survived, safe

There were two 428 Squadron Halifax V aircraft lost on this operation. Please see aircraft serial LK 956 NA-S for additional information on this aircraft and crew

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

General Crashes_in_the_South_East.pdf

General Daily Operations

Target
Google MapLeverkusen Germany

Halifax LK950

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/Met.Mk.V LK950

NARAF RoundelT
Served with No. 428 (B) Squadron, RCAF, coded NA*T. Hit by flak on 19/20 November 1943, the starboard inner u/s. Over England on return, both port engines quit and the crew bailed out. Crashed and burnt into a cemetery near Canterbury, Kent, 1 killed.

1943-11-20 Failed to Return Failed to return from attack on Leverkusen, see comments 2019-08-20

428 (B) Sqn Usque Ad Finem ("Ghost")

History of the Squadron during World War II (Aircraft: Wellington III, X, Halifax V, II, Lancaster X)

No 428 Squadron was the ninth long-range heavy bomber squadron and the 26th RCAF squadron formed overseas during the Second World War. It was formed at RAF Dalton in Yorkshire, England on November 7, 1942. The squadron was initially assigned to No. 4 Group RAF Bomber Command. With the creation of No. 6 Group RCAF, the squadron was reallocated on January 1, 1943 operating with it until April 25, 1945.

The squadron was originally equipped with Vickers Wellington Mk III and X, and its first operational mission was on January 26–27, 1943, when five Wellingtons bombed the U-Boat base at Lorient in Brittany, on the Bay of Biscay. In the early part of June 1943, the squadron moved to RAF Middleton St. George, Durham where it remained for the remainder of the war. Around this time the squadron was converted to Handley Page Halifaxes (Mk Vs, and later supplemented by Mk II Series IIA). In January 1944, Halifax bombers from No. 428 Squadron participated in the first high-level mining raid "Gardening", when mines were dropped by parachute from 15,000 feet (4,570 m) over Brest on 4/5 Jan and Saint-Nazaire on 6/7 Jan 1944. The squadron flew its last sortie with the Halifax on June 12, 1944 then converted to the Canadian-built Avro Lancaster Mk X, the first sortie taking place on June 14, 1944.

For the final phase of the air campaign against Germany, the squadron took part in day and night raids, with its last operational sortie taking place on April 25, 1945, when 15 Lancasters bombed anti-aircraft gun batteries defending the mouth of the Weser, on the Frisian Island of Wangerooge. The squadron remained in service in the United Kingdom until the end of May 1945, then flew to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia . The squadron was intended to be part of the "Tiger Force" to carry on the war against Japan, but the Japanese surrender led to the disbandment of the force. The squadron was therefore disbanded at Yarmouth in September 1945.

In the course of WWII operations, the squadron flew 283 missions involving 3467 individual sorties. 84 aircraft were lost and a total of 9378 tons of bombs were dropped. the aircrew earned 2 DSO's, 71 DFC's, 2 CGM's and 6 DFM's. Battle Honours were: English Channel and North Sea 1943-44, Baltic 1944, Fortress Europe 1943-44, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1943-44, Ruhr 1943-45, Berlin 1943-44, German Ports 1943-45, Normandy 1944, Rhine, Biscay 1943-44. Wikipedia, Kostenuk and Griffin

Squadron History (Bomber Command Museum PDF)

Maps for Movements of 428 Squadron 1942-45

MAP 1: 428 Squadron Bases 1942-45 (marked in green). Right-click on image to display enlarged in new tab

428 Squadron History Summary 1942-45

History of the Squadron Post-WWII (Aircraft: Canuck)

The squadron was re-activated as the fifth Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck equipped squadron, on June 21, 1954, at RCAF Station Uplands as 428 All-Weather (Fighter) Squadron. It was re-activated, as one of nine Canadian based RCAF squadrons, to be operating under the new RCAF Air Defence Command, protecting North American airspace from Soviet intruders and long range bombers. The squadron was finally disbanded on 1 June 1961.

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