Kerr, David Simpson (Flying Officer)
Killed in Flying Accident 1944-February-02
Birth Date: 1923
Born:
Parents:
Spouse:
Home: St John's, Newfoundland
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: unkown date
Service
RCAF
Unit
432 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Saeviter Ad Lucem Ferociously toward the light
Base
Rank
Flying Officer
Position
Navigator
Service Numbers
J/22198
St John's, Newfoundland
Canadian Virtual War MemorialCrew or Other Personnel
Lancaster LL686
Mission
Lancaster Mk.II LL686
Operational 1944-February-02 to 1944-February-02
(B) Sqn (RCAF) East Moor
Lancaster II aircraft LL 686 QO-F crashed while returning to base on a training flight with engine problems and crashed lining up to land one mile south-east of Ripon, Yorkshire. Flying Officer D.S. Kerr, Pilot Officer(s) W.L. Wolf, P.J. Power, D.D. Finch (Nfld), J.G.Sieben, Sergeants K. Huggins (RAF), R Pratt Robinson, were killed. This was the last Lancaster II lost by 432 Squadron. Pilot Officer Power as a FS had bailed out of the first Lancaster II (DS 847) lost by the squadron November 16, 1943, also lost on a test flight.
Fifty years after the crash a memorial plaque was unveiled overlooking the village green at Aldborough, near Boroughbridge. The names of the crew are inscribed on this plaque. (Detail provided by David E. Thompson, Middlesborough, England.)
Lancaster serial: LL686
Avro Lancaster Mk. X RCAF Serial FM 213
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling, all three aircraft being four-engined heavy bombers adopted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the same wartime era.
The Lancaster has its origins in the twin-engine Avro Manchester which had been developed during the late 1930s in response to the Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use". Originally developed as an evolution of the Manchester (which had proved troublesome in service and was retired in 1942), the Lancaster was designed by Roy Chadwick and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins and in one version, Bristol Hercules engines. It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it was the main aircraft for the night-time bombing campaigns that followed. As increasing numbers of the type were produced, it became the principal heavy bomber used by the RAF, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within the RAF, overshadowing the Halifax and Stirling. Wikipedia
Lancaster Bomber
Wikipedia
Harold A Skaarup Web PageUnit Desciption
432 (B) Sqn Saeviter Ad Lucem ("Leaside")
History of the Squadron during World War II (Aircraft: Wellington X, Lancaster II, Halifax III, VII)
The Squadron was the twelfth RCAF bomber squadron to be formed overseas in WWII. It was formed on May 1, 1943 at Skipton-on-Swale, Yorkshire, UK 
as a unit of No 6 (RCAF) Group of RAF Bomber Command: indeed, it was the first bomber squadron to be formed directly into No 6 Group. Using the squadron identification letters QO it flew Vickers Wellington Mk X medium bombers until it moved to East Moor, Yorkshire on 19th September 1943, when it re-equipped with Avro Lancaster Mk II aircraft. East Moor was part of No 62 (RCAF) Base. The squadron re-equipped with Handley Page Halifax Mk III aircraft in February 1944, and with Halifax Mk VII in July of that year, and continued with them until the squadron was disbanded at East Moor on May 15, 1945.
In the course of operations the squadron flew 246 missions, involving 3130 individual sorties, for the loss of 73 aircraft. 8980 tons of bombs were dropped. Awards to squadron members included 2 DSOs, 119 DFCs,1 Bar to DFC, 1 CGM, 20 DFMs and 1 Croix de Guerre (France). Battle Honours were: English Channel and North Sea 1943, Fortress Europe 1943-44, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1944, Ruhr 1943-45, Berlin 1943-44, German Ports 1943-45, Normandy 1944, Rhine, Biscay 1943.Moyes, Kostenuk and Griffin
Squadron History (Bomber Command Museum PDF)
Maps for Movements of 432 Squadron 1943-45
MAP 1: 432 Squadron Bases 1943-45 (marked in green). Right-click on image to display enlarged in new tab
432 Squadron History Summary 1943-45
History of the Squadron Post-WWII (Aircraft: Canuck)
The squadron was re-formed at Bagotville, Quebec as an All-Weather Fighter unit on 1 October 1954. The squadron flew Avro CF-100 Canuck aircraft on North American Air Defence until it was disbanded on 15 October 1961.