Gavel, Arthur Douglas

Killed in Action 1944-04-17

Birth Date: 1921-February-12

Born: Swift Current Saskatchewan

Son of George W. and Vera B. Gavel, and brother of M.W. Gavel, of Swift Current, Saskatchewan.

Home: Waldeck, Saskatchewan

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: Unknown

Service

RCAF

Unit

525 Sqn- Squadron

Base

Rank

Flying Officer

Position

Flying Officer

Service Numbers

J/23107

Home
Google MapWaldeck, Saskatchewan
First Burial
Google MapFairpark Cemetery At Newquay, Cornwall, Uk
Re-Burial
Google MapRunnymede Memorial Surrey
Grave 687
525 Squadron (Vinciendo Vincimus). Warwick aircraft BV 247 took off from RAF Station St Mawgan, Newquay, on scheduled service flight UMB 55 (U.K: to Maison Bianco, Algiers via Gibraltar) and collided with an enemy aircraft shortly after. The Warwick went down in the sea in Newquay Bay. The aircraft was carrying 1680 lbs. of freight, three aircrew and eleven passengers who were all killed. The aircrew were Flying Officer Gavel, Flying Officer H. Austen, and Sergeant Rowe (RAF). The passengers included: two French Officers enroute to General DeGaulle, two Polish couriers enroute to Warsaw, one Senior Staff officer enroute to Cairo, one Greek expert enroute to Greece, one Canadian/Hungarian enroute to Hungary on an S.O.E. mission, three S.O.E. Officers, and one Russian speaking M.I.6 Officer enroute to Yugoslavia to join Tito. F/O, Gavel's body had wrongly been identified as an unknown Merchant Seaman and was buried in the Fairpark Cemetery at Newquay, the headstone read, "A sailor of the Merchant Marine killed on April 24, 1944." The grave was exhumed in 1984 and pathologist experts identified the remains as those of Flying Officer Gavel. Flying Officer Pilot Gavel is buried in the Fairpark Cemetery at Newquay, Cornwall, England.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Warwick BV247

Flying Officer Austen, Harold Calven (RCAF)
Wireless Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1944-April-17
Brookwood Military Cemetery, Woking, Surrey, UK

Flying Officer Gavel, Arthur Douglas (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Action
1944-April-17
Runnymede Memorial Surrey, UK

Vickers Warwick

Source: Harold A Skaarup Web Page (RAF Photo)
From 1943, Warwicks were loaded with the 1,700 lb (770 kg) Mk. IA airborne lifeboat and used for air-sea rescue. The lifeboat, designed by yachtsman Uffa Fox, laden with supplies and powered by two 4 hp (3.0 kW) motors, was aimed with a bombsight near to ditched air crew and dropped by parachute into the sea from an altitude of about 700 ft (210 m). Warwicks were credited with rescuing crews from Halifaxes, Lancasters, Wellingtons and B-17 Flying Fortresses, and during Operation Market Garden, from Hamilcar gliders, all of which ditched in the English Channel or the North Sea.
Vickers-Warwick-ASR-Mk-I-with-air-droppable-lifeboat.jpg image not found

The Vickers Warwick was a multi-purpose twin-engined bomber, named after the British city of Warwick.  The Warwick was the largest British twin-engined aircraft to see use during the Second World War.  The Warwick was designed and manufactured by Vickers-Armstrong during the late 1930s.  It was intended to serve as a larger counterpart to the Vickers Wellington bomber.  The two aircraft share similar construction and design principles but unlike the smaller Wellington bomber, development of the Warwick was delayed by a lack of suitable high-powered engines.

The Warwick entered quantity production during 1942 and squadron service with the RAF.  It was superseded as a bomber and only 16 of the planned 150 Warwick bombers were completed.  The type was used by the RAF in RAF Transport Command and by RAF Coastal Command as an air-sea rescue, troop and cargo transport, long range anti-submarine patrols and general reconnaissance and operational crew training.

By January 1943, a total of 57 Warwick Mk. I aircraft had been completed; that month, it was decided that the Warwick would be the standard transport and air-sea rescue aircraft.  During mid-1943, a Warwick Mk. I was converted to become the Warwick Mk. II prototype; the principal difference was the fitting of Centaurus IV engines.  A total of 219 Warwick Mk I aircraft were constructed, the last 95 of these with 2,000 horsepower (1,500 kW) R-2800-47 engines.Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Wikipedia Wikipedia Vickers Warwick

General Harold A Skaarup Web Page