Last Post - Pilot Officer Raymond Hilton TurnerBack to Program | Home | Back to Last Post Index | |
|
Source: http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers The Remembrance Stone at Harrogate is shown above. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission, asked Rudyard Kipling the British author and Poet to select a phrase to be used in their memorials. Kipling had also lost a son in battle, and he chose "Their Name Liveth For Evermore" from Ecclesiasticus 44:14 "Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name liveth for evermore." Above is an image from Canada Remembers of the Raymond Hilton Turner Grave Marker in Harrograte (Stonefall) Cemetery in Yorkshire, UK The inscription is a Per Ardua Ad Astra logo and beneath that PILOT OFFICER RAYMOND HILTON TURNER JNR. AIR GUNNER ROYAL CANADIAN AIR FORCE 5th March, 1945 Age 20 HE DIED THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE IN PEACE AND SECURITY |
Raymond Hilton Turner, a young man from Fort William, Ontario attended #3 B&G School at McDonald Manitoba. He joined the Emerson Crew in 426 Squadron. The details of his last operation are below. March 5/6, 1945 - Chemnitz 86 Halifaxes from 408, 415, 420, 425, 426, 429, and 432 Squadrons were joined by 84 Lancasters from 419, 424, 428, 431, 433, and 434 Squadrons on an attack at Chemnitz. The crews were over the target at between 15,000 and 18,000 feet, releasing 1,064,000 lbs of high explosives. According to reports, severe damage was caused by this attack. There was severe icing over England and this was a factor in most of the crashes. (JB Note: 16 crews lost their lives, in addition to other less serious accidents.) F/Lt I. Emerson RCAF and crew from 426 Squadron, flying Halifax VII LW-210 coded OW-Y, encountered severe icing after takeoff. The Halifax crashed at York. Sgt W. Symes RAFF/O A. Hutchison RCAF F/O T. Campbell RCAF P/O J. Low RCAF P/O J. MacDougall RCAF P/O R. Turner RCAF Only the wireless operator was able to bail out before the Halifax crashed to earth. 5 civilians were killed and 18 injured, when parts of the Halifax fell on a school and other surrounding buildings. Source: www.6grouprcaf.com. Click here to read the detailed report. (JB Note: It appears from this description that P/O Turner bailed out but died from his injuries and was buried in Harrograte (Stonefall) Cemetery, as confirmed in the lost bomber report below.) Lost Bomber Report "Serial Range LW196 - LW210. 15 Halifax Mk.V11, part of a batch of 240 HP61 Halifax Mk.Bs delivered by Handley Page (Cricklewood & Radlett) between 31May44 and 16Jun44. LW210 was one of four 426 Sqdn Halifaxes lost on this operation. See; NP793; NP799; PN228. LW210 was initially issued to No.420 Sqdn. Airborne 1639 5Mar45 from Linton-on-Ouse and very soon encountered the very severe icing conditions that had affected other aircraft. At about 1700 LW210 broke up in flight, scattering wreckage onto Nunthorpe avenue, York. In addition to the six crew members killed, five civilians were also killed and a further eighteen injured, mostly when an engine sliced through the roof of a local secondary school and demolished the kitchen area. Sgt Symes was taken home for burial; his five Canadian comrades were buried in the Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery. F/S Low later married the nurse who tended to him as he recovered in Hospital. (JB note: Some discrepancy between the 2 reports) This Chemnitz raid was part of Operation Thunderclap. F/L I.Emerson RCAF KIA Sgt W.T.Symes KIA F/O A.M.Hutchison RCAD KIA F/O T.M.Campbell RCAF KIA F/S J.Low RCAF Inj F/S J.N.MacDougall RCAF KIA Sgt R.H.Turner RCAF F/S Low has also been referred to as P/O. " Source: www.lostbombers.co.uk. Click here to read the report and others referenced above. Click here to read the ""They Shall Grow Not Old" entry for Pilot Officer Raymond Hilton Turner.
|