McGill, George Edward (Flight Lieutenant)

Prisoner of War KIA 1944-March-25

Flight Lieutenant George Edward McGill RCAF

Birth Date: 1918-April-14

Born: Toronto, Ontario

Parents: Son of George Wellington and Rita (nee Strahmayer) McGill of Toronto, Ontario.

Spouse:

Home: Toronto, Ontario

Enlistment: Toronto, Ontario

Enlistment Date: 1940-September-03

Service

RCAF

Unit

103 Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Noli Me Tangere Touch me not

Base

Rank

Flight Lieutenant

Position

Observer

Service Numbers

J/5312

Home
Google MapToronto, Ontario
Final Burial
Google MapCmentarz Wojenny Wspolnoty Brytyjskiej w Poznaniu
8 C 7

103 Squadron (Noli Me Tangere). Wellington aircraft Z1142 was enroute to the target on January 10, 1942 when it was hit in the bomb bay and caught on fire. The pilot ordered the crew to bail out a few miles west of the target and the fire was extinguished about ten minutes later by the second pilot.

Flight Lieutenant McGill was taken Prisoner of War and imprisoned in Stalag Luft 9A. He was one of six Canadians shot by the Gestapo in an attempted escape from Stalag Luft 3.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

www.findagrave.com

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Wellington serial: Z1142

Source: Harold A Skaarup Web Page
Vickers Wellington B. Mk. III (Serial No. X3763), coded KW-E, No. 425 'Alouette' (B) Squadron, RCAF, late summer of 1942

The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson, a key feature of the aircraft is its geodetic airframe fuselage structure, which was principally designed by Barnes Wallis. Development had been started in response to Air Ministry Specification B.9/32, issued in the middle of 1932, for a bomber for the Royal Air Force. This specification called for a twin-engined day bomber capable of delivering higher performance than any previous design.

The Wellington was used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, performing as one of the principal bombers used by Bomber Command. During 1943, it started to be superseded as a bomber by the larger four-engined "heavies" such as the Avro Lancaster. The Wellington continued to serve throughout the war in other duties, particularly as an anti-submarine aircraft.

It holds the distinction of having been the only British bomber that was produced for the duration of the war, and of having been produced in a greater quantity than any other British-built bomber. The Wellington remained as first-line equipment when the war ended, although it had been increasingly relegated to secondary roles. The Wellington was one of two bombers named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, the other being the Vickers Wellesley.

In August 1936, an initial order for 180 Wellington Mk I aircraft, powered by a pair of 1,050 hp (780 kW) Bristol Pegasus radial engines, was received by Vickers; it had been placed so rapidly that the order occurred prior to the first meeting intended to decide the details of the production aircraft. In October 1937, another order for a further 100 Wellington Mk Is, produced by the Gloster Aircraft Company, was issued; it was followed by an order for 100 Wellington Mk II aircraft with Rolls-Royce Merlin X V12 engines. Yet another order was placed for 64 Wellingtons produced by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft. With this flurry of order and production having been assured by the end of 1937, Vickers set about simplifying the manufacturing process of the aircraft and announced a target of building one Wellington per day.

A total of 180 Wellington Mk I aircraft were built; 150 for the RAF and 30 for the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) (which were transferred to the RAF on the outbreak of war and used by 75 Squadron). In October 1938, the Mk I entered service with 9 Squadron. The Wellington was initially outnumbered by the Handley Page Hampden (also ordered by the Ministry to B.9/32) and the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley (to B.34/3 for a 'night' bomber) but outlasted both rival aircraft in service. The Wellington went on to be built in 16 separate variants, in addition to two training conversions after the war. The number of Wellingtons built totalled 11,462 of all versions, a greater quantity produced than any other British bomber. On 13 October 1945, the last Wellington to be produced rolled out. Wikipedia

Wikipedia Wikipedia Vickers Wellington

unvetted Source RCAF - Vickers Wellington

YouTube YouTube Vickers Wellington documentary

unvetted Source Harold A Skaarup Web Page

Supplemental Story

Stories and Videos

The Great Escape: Canadian Airmen Role

The Movie by the same name implies that The Great Escape was an American operation. It was not. It was primarily a British Commonwealth Operation and Canadian airmen had a very prominent role. In fact six Canadian airmen who were captured after escape were executed by German forces.

YouTube The True Story Of The Great Escape

Further Reading:

  1. THE GREAT ESCAPE: A CANADIAN STORY by Ted Barris
  2. THE GREAT ESCAPE by Paul Brickhill

The Escape

Seventy-six Allied Officers escape from Prisoner of War Camp Stalag Luft 3. 50 were subsequently murdered in retaliation for their escape attempt on the order of Adolph Hitler. 15 were recaptured, and 11 escaped.

6 - RCAF

  1. Flight Lieutenant GE McGill
  2. Flight Lieutenant H Birkland MiD
  3. Flight Lieutenant GA Kidder
  4. Flight Lieutenant PW Langford MiD
  5. Flight Lieutenant JC Wernham MiD
  6. Flight Lieutenant GW Wiley

4 - RAAF

  1. Squadron Leader J Catanach
  2. Flight Lieutenant AH Hake
  3. Flying Officer RV Kierath
  4. Squadron Leader JEA Williams

2 - RNZAF

  1. Flying Officer A Christensen
  2. Flying Officer PPJ Pohe

2 - SAAF

  1. Flight Lieutenant N McGarr
  2. Lt RJ Stevens

2 - Norway (RAF)

  1. Flying Officer H Espelid
  2. Flying Officer J Fugelsang

1 - France (RAF)

  1. Lt BW Scheidhower

1 - Greece (RAF)

  1. Flying Officer S Skanziklas

32 - RAF

  1. Flight Lieutenant E Brettell DFC
  2. Flight Lieutenant LG Butt DFC
  3. Squadron Leader RJ Bushell
  4. Flight Lieutenant MJ Casey
  5. Flying Officer D.H. Cochram
  6. Squadron Leader IK Cross DFC
  7. Flight Lieutenant BH Evans
  8. Lt Gouws
  9. F/Ls WJ Grisman
  10. Flight Lieutenant AD Gunn
  11. Flight Lieutenant CB Hall
  12. Flight Lieutenant AH Hayter
  13. Flight Lieutenant ES Humphreys
  14. Flight Lieutenant A Kiewnarski
  15. Squadron Leader TG Kirby-Green
  16. Flying Officer W Kolanowski
  17. Flight Lieutenant TB Leigh
  18. Flight Lieutenant R Marcinkcus
  19. Flight Lieutenant HT Milford
  20. Flying Officer J Mondschein
  21. Flying Officer K Pawluk
  22. Flight Lieutenant HA Picard
  23. Flight Lieutenant CD Swain
  24. Flying Officer RC Stewart
  25. Flying Officer JG Stower
  26. Flying Officer DD Street
  27. Flight Lieutenant E Valenta
  28. Flight Lieutenant GW Walenn
  29. Flight Lieutenant JF Williams
  30. Flight Lieutenant JLR Long
  31. Flying Officer S Krol
  32. Flying Officer P Tobolski

The Great Escape

  1. From which Prison Camp were the Canadian and British Airmen trying to escape and where was it located?
  2. How deep was the escape tunnel?
  3. How long was the tunnel?
  4. How many men expected to escape?
  5. How how many did escape?
  6. How many were re-captured?
  7. How long did it take to plan and execute the escape?
  8. What special skills were required to facilitate the escape?
  9. Was the Gestapo's treatment of the re-captured prisoners legal under the terms of the Geneva Convention?

Additional Projects

  • Compare and contrast the 1963 movie with the actual events
  • Compare the differences between Internment and Prisoner of War
  • Were there allied prison camps for Captured German and Japanese?
  • Were there detainment camps for non-combatants?