Mellor, Philip George
Killed in Action 1944-05-09
Birth Date: 1911-March-07
Born: Liverpool, England
George William & Nellie Mellor
Home: West Derby, Liverpool, England.
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: Unknown
Service
RAF
Unit
432 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Saeviter Ad Lucem Ferociously toward the light
Base
RAF East Moor
Rank
Sergeant
Position
Sergeant
Service Numbers
2211651
Target
Haine-Saint-Pierre Belgium
First Burial
Wevelgem Communal Cemetery
Took off from East Moor at 01:22 in Halifax Mk III (Sqn code QO-L Bomber Command) tasked to bomb the rail yards at Haine-Saint-Pierre Belgium.
Shot down in flames from 6000 feet by a night-fighter and crashed near the River Lys at Posthoorn (West-Vlaanderen) roughly 2 km SW of Courtrai.
Killed includes Mellor:Pilot Officer Kenneth Laverne Cannings RCAF J/90920 KIA Wevelgem Communal Cemetery Grave E. 463.Flying Officer Thomas Russell Martin RCAF J/12197 pilot KIA Wevelgem Communal Cemetery Grave E. 462.
POWs:Sergeant Wilburt Lynn Cantlon RCAF R/205472 POW Stalag Luft L3, Sagan & Belaria, POW# 4908.Sergeant Kenneth Lloyd McCartney RCAF R/209139 POW Stalag Luft L3 Sagan & Belaria, POW# 4916.
Evaders:Flying Officer D A D'Andrea RCAF J/28953 Evader.Flying Officer L Panzer RCAF J/27423 Evader.
Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)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
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.