McCoy, Daniel Albert (Pilot Officer)

Evader 1944-April-28

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Service

RCAF

Unit

432 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Saeviter Ad Lucem Ferociously toward the light

Base

East Moor

Rank

Pilot Officer

Position

Air Gunner (Rear)

Service Numbers

J/35656

Pilot Officer McCoy survived and escaped capture as an Evader and made his way to Paris, France, from where he was returned to England 1944-09-05

RAF Evaders, The Comprehensive Story of Thousands of Escapers and Their Escape Lines, Western Europe, 1940-1945 by Oliver Clutton-Brock, page 384

Unvetted Source IS9-3350

Unvetted Source Escaper List

Mission

Halifax B/A.Mk.III LW592

Bombing Montzen Belgium 1944-April-27 to 1944-April-28

432 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF East Moor

144 aircraft- 120 Halifaxes, 16 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitoes-of 4, 6 and 8 Groups. The bombing force, particularly the second of the 2 waves, was intercepted by German fighters and 14 Halifaxes and I Lancaster were shot down. Only one part of the railway yards was hit by the bombing. The only Lancaster lost was that of Squadron Leader E. M. Blenkinsopp, a Canadian pilot of 405 Squadron who was acting as Deputy Master Bomber. Blen-kinsopp managed to team up with a Belgian Resistance group and remained with them until captured by the Germans in December 1944. He was taken to Hamburg to work as a forced labourer and later died in Belsen concentration camp 'of heart failure'. He has no known grave

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source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt

Halifax BIII aircraft LW 592 QO-A missing during a raid to bomb the rail yards in Montzen, Belgium, shot down by night fighter pilot Oberleutnant Johannes Hager, Staffelkapitan of the 6/NJG 1 based at Saint-Dizier airfield in France. The Halifax crashed at Sur-les-Bois, Saint-Georges-sur-Meuse, province of Liege, Belgium

Flying Officer JW Burrows (RCAF) and Pilot Officer PE Driver (RCAF) were killed in action

Sergeant AC Phillips (RAFVR) survived and was taken as Prisoner of War

Pilot Officer HH Whaley (RCAF), Pilot Officer DC McDonald (RCAF), Pilot Officer DA McCoy (RCAF) and Flight Sergeant KJ Doyle (RCAF) survived and avoided capture as Evaders

There were three 432 Squadron Halifax III aircraft lost on this operation. Please see aircraft serials LK 807 QO-J and MZ 588 QO-W for additional information on these aircraft and crews

Unvetted Source Aviation Safety Network

Unvetted Source Sur-les-Bois-Halifax III LW592 QO-A 432 Squadron-Halifax JD371 KN...

Unvetted Source [Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database]...

Unit 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.