Atkinson, Theodore Blanchard (Flight Lieutenant)

Killed in Action 1945-April-16

Flight Lieutenant Theodore Blanchard Atkinson RCAF

Birth Date: 1920

Born:

Parents: Son of Manasseh Glenwright Atkinson and Violet Anne Atkinson, of Clarke's Harbour, Shelburne, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Spouse:

Home: Clarke's Harbour, Nova Scotia

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RCAF

Unit

53 Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
United in Effort

Base

RAF Rekjavic, Iceland

Rank

Flight Lieutenant

Position

Wireless Air Gunner

Service Numbers

J/23757
Prev: R/137833

Home
Google MapClarke's Harbour, Nova Scotia
Memorial Location
Google MapRunnymede Memorial Surrey
Panel 278

53 Squadron. Liberator EW 303 aircraft ditched in Helmsdale Bay, one mile off the coast of Scotland.

Crew: Flying Officer Henry Lewis RAF pilot Flying Officer David James McLean Robertson, RAF navigator F/Lt Theodore "Blanchard" Atkinson RCAF WOp-AG.. Born 1920-01-30 in Clark's Harbour, Shelburne County, Cape Sable Island Nova Scotia. Flying Officer Herbert Brown RAF WOp-AG Flight Sergeant Gilbert Llewellyn George RAF WOp-AG WO William Parry RAF WOp-AG.

Detail provided by D.A. Stallard, Trenton, Nova Scotia.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

www.findagrave.com

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Liberator serial: EW303

(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

Wikipedia Wikipedia Liberator bomber

unvetted Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page