Butler, Murray Anderson (Pilot Officer)

42 Sqn RAF (Fortiter In Re) Wick, Scotland, Beaufort I aircraft L9810 AW-M shot down by fighters near Bergen, Norway after an attack using armour-piecing bombs against the German Battlecruiser Scharnhorst at Trondheim, Norway. This aircraft was one of three shot down from a force of nine aircraft making the first operational use of the new Beaufort. Due to ongoing investigation of engine problems the crews were all volunteers; the aircraft were grounded for engine modifications soon after this operation (Barker). Pilot Officer MA Butler (RAF)(Can) and Sergeant WJ Bates (RAF) were killed. Flying Officer W Barrie-Smith (RAF) and Sergeant F Dale (RAF) missing, presumed killed. Cpl Bates was buried in Norway. Flying Officer Barrie-Smith and Sergeant Dale have no known graves and are commemorated on the Runnymede War Memorial. The body of Pilot Officer Butler washed ashore on Madsbøl beach, Benmark August 23, 1940. Oddly, two mines also washed ashore at the same time, rolling about in the rough waves on either side of the body. Pilot Officer Butler's body was removed from the water safely and buried in Denmark at the Hjardemål Klit Cemetery. Detail from aircrewremembered.com Cenotaph at bond Head Demetery, Newcastle, Durham Regional Municipality, Ontario, Canada