Hermiston, James Wiiliam (Flying Officer)

Killed in Action 1944-June-18

Flying Officer James Wiiliam Hermiston RCAF

Birth Date: 1921

Born:

John Wesley Hermiston & Mabel Hermiston

Home: Victoria, British Columbia (parents)

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: Unknown

Service

RCAF

Unit

547 (MP) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)

Base

RAF St Eval, Cornwall

Rank

Flying Officer

Position

Flying Officer

Service Numbers

J/17585

Home
Google MapVictoria, British Columbia (parents)
Memorial Location
Google MapRunnymede Memorial Surrey
Panel 246

Coastal Command 547Sqn Anti-submarine patrol "˜I', Channel area

Took off from St Eval at 11:50 in Liberator EV-897 on a maritime patrol of Channel Area 'I'.

Seen circling over Brittany by the villagers of Roscoff, 3km north of St Pol, with one or more engines on fire. Moments later the Liberator crashed in the sea near the Ile de Batz, a few kilometres north of the village.

The (RAF flight engineer Sergeant A A Inglis) and (RCAF wireless operator Sergeant R.S. Smart) were the only survivors of the 10-man crew. Both were brought ashore at Roscoff as POWs. The only body recovered was Flying Officer F W McD Stout RNZAF, 2nd pilot buried at Roskoff France. F/o Donald Wilson's body was recovered later from the sea and buried at Bayeaux France. The balance of the crew are listed on the Runnymede memorial.

Killed includes Hermiston: Warrant Officer Class 2 Arthur Christian Lornson RCAF R/163639 KIA Runnymede Memorial, Panel ?. Flying Officer Henry Blenkinsop RAF KIA Runnymede Memorial, Panel ?. Flight Sergeant David Turnbull Davidson RAF KIA Runnymede Memorial, Panel ?. Sergeant Charles Edwin Judge RAF KIA Runnymede Memorial, Panel ?. F/Lt Bertram Eric Scott RAF KIA Runnymede Memorial, Panel ?. Flying Officer Frank William Mcdowell Stout RNZAF KIA Roscoff Communal Cemetery, France Flying Officer Donald Wilson RAF KIA Bayeux War Cemetery, France.

POWs: Sergeant R S Smart RCAF R/170560 POW camp not listed. Sergeant A A Inglis RAF POW camp not listed.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Liberator serial: EV897

(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