Washbrook, William Leigh (Pilot Officer)

Killed in Action 1945-January-03

Pilot Officer William Leigh Washbrook RCAF

Birth Date: 1922

Born:

Parents: Son of William A. and Gladys M. Washbrook, of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

Spouse:

Home: Lethbridge, Alberta

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RCAF

Unit

215 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Surgite Nox Adest Arise night is at hand

Base

RAF Dhubalia, India

Rank

Pilot Officer

Position

Air Gunner

Service Numbers

J/93729
Prev: R/178331

Home
Google MapLethbridge, Alberta
Memorial Location
Google MapSingapore War Memorial
Column 457

Took off from Dhubalia, India at 07:21 on a bombing raid to the Burma - Siam Railway bridge at Anakwin, Burma.

Shot down by flak on surrounding hills while attacking bridge and crashed at Tigen, Burma.

Killed includes Washbrook: F/Lt Kenneth Denison Cox RCAF J/ KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 455. F/Lt Arthur Hugh Harris RCAF J/13395 KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 455. Warrant Officer Class 1 Harold Oliver Irvine RCAF R/119324 KIA Singapore Memorial, Column . Flying Officer James Murray Potts RCAF J/23534 KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 456. Sergeant William David Adams RAF KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 451. Flight Sergeant Harry Dawson RAF KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 450. F/Lt Sao Hkun U RAF KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 446. Flying Officer James Hepworth Nesbitt RAF KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 448. WO Alfred Thomas Read RAF KIA Singapore Memorial, Column 449.

Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Crew or Other Personnel

Liberator KH214

Flight Lieutenant Charles Milne Brodie RCAF

Flight Lieutenant Brodie, Charles Milne (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Action
1945-January-03
Singapore War Memorial, Singapore

Flight Lieutenant Kenneth Denison Cox RCAF

Flight Lieutenant Cox, Kenneth Denison (RCAF)
Navigator
Killed in Action
1945-January-03
Singapore War Memorial, Singapore

Flight Lieutenant Arthur Hugh Harris RCAF

Flight Lieutenant Harris, Arthur Hugh (RCAF)
Wireless Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1945-January-03
Singapore War Memorial, Singapore

Warrant Officer 1 Harold Oliver Irvine RCAF

Warrant Officer 1 Irvine, Harold Oliver (RCAF)
Wireless Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1945-January-03
Singapore War Memorial, Singapore

Flying Officer James Murray Potts RCAF

Flying Officer Potts, James Murray (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Action
1945-January-03
Singapore War Memorial, Singapore

Pilot Officer William Leigh Washbrook RCAF

Pilot Officer Washbrook, William Leigh (RCAF)
Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1945-January-03
Singapore War Memorial, Singapore

Liberator serial: KH214

(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