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Liberator EV940
B.VI; ex 42-64321; dld Dorval 26.2.44; dld to India, via Lagens, arr Karachi 25.4.44; 355 Sqn [F]; lost 8 10.44; NFD. More information in: The Liberator in RAF and Commonwealth Service by James D. Oughton , John F. Hamlin, Andrew Thomas |
Incidents/Accidents
| Date | Aircraft | Unit | Pilot Name | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06 Oct 44 | Liberator VI EV940 | 355 Sqdn | F Sgt Harold Norman Harrison* (1575095) | |
| Remarks | Lowlevel dive bombing attack on locomotives in the Uttaradit rail station, Siam. EV940 pulled up sharply after dropping bombs across the target and was hit by fire from a machine gun nest just beyond the target. Crashed in flames 7 to 8 km north (or northwest) of the target. Of the eleven man crew, nine were killed in the aerial combat or crash, including the skipper, 1575095 F/Sgt Harold Norman "Darky" Harrison. They are buried in Collective Grave 4.G.67-75 at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand. Three crewmen bailed out, but one died when his parachute failed to open. The two others were captured, imprisoned in Bangkok, and liberated in 1945. They are 3025036 Sgt Raymond Arthur Thompson (Mid-upper gunner) and 1603067 Sgt F.H. Knight (Rear gunner). | Matt Poole | ||
| 06 Oct 44 | Liberator VI EV940 | 355 Sqdn | Thailand | |
| Remarks | Henk Welting's Database | |||
Casualties in the CWGC Register for Liberator VI EV940
Related Posts in RAF Commands Forum
| Thread | Post Text | Author |
|---|---|---|
| Sgt KNIGHT & THOMPSON PoWs | Hi, 3025036 Sgt (Air Gnr.) Raymond Arthur THOMPSON 1603067 F/Sgt (Air Gnr.) N H KNIGHT 6-10-1944 No.355 Sqn Liberator VI EV940 'F' Failed to return from low bombing attack on locomotives on the Bangkok-Lampang railway. Locomotives sighted UTTRADIT station and attacked. Hit by fire from a M.G. nest just beyond the target, crashed, and blew up on impact four miles north of the UTTRADIT Railway Station. 1575095 F/Sgt (Pilot) Harold Norman HARRISON RAFVR + AUS410876 W/O (Co-Pilot) Murray Bernard CROCKETT RAAF + 996520 F.Sgt (Flt. Eng.) Roy PAGE RAFVR + 1320361 F/Sgt (Nav.) Charles NUNN RAFVR + 1579345 Sgt (Air Bomb.) Harry LAW RAFVR + AUS421713 W/O (W.Op./Air Gnr.) Alfred Milne Hunter DAVIDSON RAAF + AUS421757 W/O (W.Op./Air Gnr.) John Knox Stewart RADNIDGE RAAF + 1796212 Sgt (Air Gnr.) Hugh Cecil MARTIN RAFVR + 3040082 Sgt (Air Gnr.) Thomas AISBITT RAFVR + 3025036 Sgt (Air Gnr.) Raymond Arthur THOMPSON - POW (recovered safely, post-war) 1603067 F/Sgt (Air Gnr.) N H KNIGHT - POW (recovered safely, post-war) All dead buried, Kanchanaburi War Cemetery. Coll, grave 4. G. 67-75. See also: Air War Over Burma:The Allied Air Forces Fight Back in South-East Asia 1942 -1945. Shores,Christopher. London:Grub Street,2005. p.270 Not quite what your after, but its a start. Col. The latest info from Matt Poole, is as follows: Low-level dive bombing attack on locomotives in the Uttaradit rail station, Siam. EV940 pulled up sharply after dropping bombs across the target and was hit by fire from a machine gun nest just beyond the target. Crashed in flames 7 to 8 km north (or northwest) of the target. Of the eleven-man crew, nine were killed in the aerial combat or crash, including the skipper, 1575095 F/Sgt Harold Norman "Darky" Harrison. They are buried in Collective Grave 4. G. 67-75 at Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand. Three crewmen bailed out, but one died when his parachute failed to open. Two others were captured, imprisoned in Bangkok, and liberated in 1945. They are 3025036 Sgt Raymond Arthur Thompson (Mid-upper gunner) and 1603067 Sgt F H Knight (Rear gunner). ....Read More. | COL BRUGGY on 28th April 2010 12:45:40 |
| Sgt KNIGHT & THOMPSON PoWs | Hi, Phil and Col, Mid-Upper Gunner: 3025036 Sgt Raymond Arthur THOMPSON, RAF Rear Gunner: 1603067 Flight Sgt Norman H. KNIGHT, RAF Both Thompson and Knight were held as POWs in Bangkok (in Thai hands, not Japanese -- fortunate for the POWs) and released in 1945. Thompson, but not Knight, is listed in the book "Unsung Heroes of the Royal Air Force, the Far East Prisoners of War 1941-1945" by Les and Pam Stubbs. I updated Pam on the Knight omission (one of apparently only a few omissions in their superb labor of love). The A705 Casualty Files on Davidson and Radnidge, two of the three Australians in the crew, have been digitized and are on-line via the National Archives of Australia. (Search on either 421713 or 421757 - the service numbers of Davidson and Radnidge, respectively.) The A705 of Crockett, the 2nd pilot, is not listed, but he was definitely killed. There is some excellent additional detail in the A705s, including signed statements by both survivors. For example, see pg 29 of the Radnidge file. A signed document in pg 36 of Radnidge's A705 (this is pg 25 in Davidson's file, but it is unsigned) shows that Knight's name was Norman H. Knight. Note also that Knight's rank is F/Sgt in all documents (as Col listed), while Thompson's rank is Sgt. (Col, in reviewing my info before posting this reply I have now caught my own typos in the info you quoted -- wrong rank for Knight, wrong first initial for Knight -- and I have now realized that his name was Norman. Your quoting of my info, then, has the added benefit of leading me to update my own entry on the EV940 crew. Thanks for that.) A summary of the more useful documents from the Davidson and Radnidge A705s: 421713 Davidson of EV940 crew: Of the 55 pages in the casualty file, the following are the most appropriate documents with details of the crash and/or aftermath: 4 4 November 1946 letter on the removal of bodies from original burial site for reburial. 9, 10 Crash investigation report, 19 June 1946. Incorrect aircraft serial, “EV540”, given on page 1. Correctly given as EV940 on pg 2. 11 28 March 1946 casualty report 18 8 May 1946 casualty inquiry 19 Kanburi reburial form 22, 23 21 November 1945 letter to Davidson’s father, with many details; body not yet found at this time. 24 17 September 1945 post-captivity statements from released POWs 25 12 September 1945 post-captivity statement from Norman Knight 26 27 September (1945) cable, with post-captivity statements of EV940 POWs 27 27 September 1945, minor document. 28 15 September 1945 minor document. 29 18 September 1945 letter to Davidson family, minor details. 30 11 September 1945 cable 41 29 November 1944 letter to Davidson father, basic details of the crash 44 19 October 1944 “Circumstantial Report”. EV940 crew listed, crash details given. 46 7 October 1944 letter from 355 Sqn C.O. to Davidson father 47 7 October 1944 letter from 355 Sqn C. ....Read More. | Matt Poole on 29th April 2010 02:59:47 |
| Sgt KNIGHT & THOMPSON PoWs | A tad more from a book: I found a deeply personal passage about the EV940 loss and, in particular, F/Sgt Norman H. Knight in the diary of his friend, 356 Sqn 2nd pilot Tony Donell, also stationed at Salbani, W. Bengal, India. The diary excerpt is found in the book "Signed With Their Honour", which is a privately published (and out of print) history of 355 and 356 Squadrons comprised largely of veterans' recollections. Published by the 355/356 Squadrons Register four or five years ago. The Donell passage: "Saturday 7th. . .Darky Harrison of 355 [EV940] crashed in flames over the target and another of their kites went into Jassore [Jessore, an RAF airfield; not a loss, just a landing short of Salbani]. A very costly day. Does not seem much hope for any of them. I'll let Johnny know and he can write to Norman's wife. Bloody difficult, one hell of a blow to his [Norman Knight's] wife and kid and father and mother, and the latter had been very ill. I know it's happening everywhere but that doesn't distract from the bloodiness of it, seems so futile. Guess it's no use moping about, tuck it all away behind the surface." ....Read More. | Matt Poole on 30th April 2010 06:08:58 |
| POWs held in Thailand - 1944/45 | Hi, Geoff, Can you provide any details on names, dates of Liberator losses, Lib serial numbers, or the like? I might have a tiny bit of info, if any of your info pertains to 159 Sqn Liberator BZ992 or 355 Sqn Liberator EV940, both downed over Siam on 6 October 1944. Men from these aircraft were captured, held in Bangkok, and survived. Sorry...haven't had time to delve too deeply into my files. Cheers, Matt ....Read More. | Matt Poole on 22nd September 2019 04:32:04 |
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