Pilot Officer D M WALKER (110563), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve) [Royal Air Force WW2 Casualty ] Circumstances of Death: Lost in aircraft Lodestar EW984 Squadron Number: 267 Summary of Events: Y | The National Archives Page 93 Aircraft Name: Lodestar II EW984 Date of Crash: 22 Oct 42 Unit 267 Sqdn Airfield /Crash Location , Egypt Struck top of Officers Mess Tent , turned over, crashed and completely burnt out. Other Casualities in Lodestar II EW984 Corporal Reginald BENSON (572958) Lodestar EW984 NA/PRO 1942-10-22 267 Sqdn AIR27 Egypt Heliopolis War CemeteryFlight Lieutenant Ernest Francis Victor COPSEY (42334) Pilot Lodestar EW984 NA/PRO 1942-10-22 267 Sqdn AIR27 Egypt Heliopolis War CemeteryCorporal Gerald Alexander GRANT (521986) Lodestar EW984 NA/PRO 1942-10-22 267 Sqdn AIR27 Egypt Heliopolis War CemeteryFlying Officer Roy Anderson HARPER (400087) Lodestar EW984 1942-10-22 267 Sqdn AIR27 Egypt Heliopolis War CemeteryPilot Officer Corliss St. Leger HAWKES (128712) Pilot Lodestar EW984 NA/PRO 1942-10-22 267 Sqdn AIR27 Egypt Heliopolis War CemeteryWarrant Officer Class II Vern Selby IRWIN (R/77313) Air Observe Lodestar EW984 NA/PRO 1942-10-22 267 Sqdn AIR27 Egypt Heliopolis War CemeterySergeant George Rollinson MACBRYDE (1162806) Wireless Op Lodestar EW984 NA/PRO 1942-10-22 267 Sqdn AIR27 Egypt Heliopolis War CemeterySergeant Arthur William MILLS (1189309) Wireless Op Lodestar EW984 NA/PRO 1942-10-22 267 Sqdn AIR27 Egypt Heliopolis War CemeteryFlight Sergeant Brian Joseph O'CONNOR (404933) Observer Lodestar EW984 NA/PRO 1942-10-22 267 Sqdn AIR27 Egypt Heliopolis War CemeteryWarrant Officer Class I Walter H. PLANT (R/68178) Air Observe Lodestar EW984 NA/PRO 1942-10-22 267 Sqdn AIR27 Egypt Heliopolis War CemeteryWing Commander John Patrick Stracey SMYTH (37430) Pilot Lodestar EW984 NA/PRO 1942-10-22 267 Sqdn AIR27 Egypt Heliopolis War CemeteryPilot Officer John Cecil Oliver TRENCH (118479) Pilot Lodestar EW984 NA/PRO 1942-10-22 267 Sqdn AIR27 Egypt Heliopolis War CemeteryPilot Officer David Maxwell WALKER (110563) Pilot Lodestar EW984 NA/PRO 1942-10-22 267 Sqdn AIR27 Egypt Heliopolis War Cemetery
Occasionally, when you go looking, you find material that is not always what you would hope to find... ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed Lodestar II EW984 Bilbeis RAF Station Sadly, it looks like whomsoever was in charge of the flight sealed their own fate... high-jinks... "The Lodestar took off from Bilbeis, Egypt, on a passenger flight to Lydda, Israel. Shortly after becoming airborne the pilot began to perform passes over Bilbeis Camp. He made a run at the Officers' Mess tent at a reported height of 8 feet. The left wing-tip of the Lodestar struck the tent and broke away causing the plane to roll inverted and crash, bursting into flames. All on board (3 crew and 10 passengers) lost their lives." There does seem to be a discrepancy over the construction number of this airframe as it appears to have ended up in New Zealand after WW2, which does not seem possible after this sort of incident...
My grandfather was Vern Irwin. He was on that plane with twelve others who lost their lives. The Lodestar was piloted by the Wing Commander JPS Smyth who wanted to do a “training flight” with some of his pilots and observers. The accident is documented in an air incident report in my grandfather’s military file which I obtained more than three decades ago. I’ve been fascinated by this story for a long time and actually paid a visit to his gravesite in Cairo last November. I’ve uploaded a photo in which you can see your great uncle’s grave marker which is to the left and just behind my grandfather’s marker in the middle ground.
Thank you, the gravestones are so poignant. I would love to visit it sometime, hopefully when Covid is all over. Was it very difficult to get copies of the military records? I’m very new to all of this and am trying to piece together family history which isn’t always very easy
I did my research initially with an "access to information" request to National Archives in Ottawa. This was nearly thirty years ago. No internet at that time. It was an old fashioned letter that I wrote to National Archives. I had to demonstrate some knowledge of who my grandfather was and my connection to him, along with some basic information about when and where he died, a service number, and so on. Luckily I had a copy of a notification letter that was sent to my grandmother at the time he died, so I had the necessary information. It took a while for a response. I got an official Government of Canada letter with a request for a small sum to cover the cost of photocopying and postage, and after that another letter with a large package of documents which included everything from his attestation papers to his burial records. Also included were things like his course records. Of course he was a participant in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, which was significantly based in Canada. My avatar picture shows my grandfather standing in front of an aircraft in Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario in 1940. He was posted overseas in 1941 and taken on strength with 267 Squadron on May 21, 1942, which was then based in Heliopolis (Cairo), Egypt. I've attached a picture of him and his crewmate Walter Plant, who was also a passenger on the same plane as your great uncle, standing in front of the Sphynx.
Hello everyone. I was wondering if anyone had any information on a pilot who was a member of this squadron From 1944 until the end of the war. His name was Flight Sgt R G DREW. Thanks in advance.
Can’t offer any specific information but you might want to check out the book we bought at the Spitfire museum called Drop Zone Burma Adventures in Allied Air Supply 1943-45 by Roger Annett - our copy happened to be signed by a W/O Pilot from 267
Chris Martin, Welcome aboard. PM to you in a moment on research. Your post may get better help if placed elsewhere, in: Searching for Someone & Military Genealogy Meantime I found this auction item, alas with the items sold: His Service Number is shown as: 1333982. To my surprise his surname and this find nothing. There are numerous images of his log books and with magnification more could be learnt. I recognised one Algerian airfuield. Unless you are the auction buyer! Link and scroll to the last entry: https://www.vintageflyinghelmets.com/sales-april-2022 Curiously the same items were sold in 2017 via: WW2 Royal Air Force Log Book Pair of W/O R G Drew 267 Squadron who flew Supply Drop Missions to R A set of medals to another pilot helps to set the context of their operations: 410 - An important Second World War clandestine operations' D.F.M. and... Plus the memoirs of a ground crew member: Interview with Raymond Barrett · IBCC Digital Archive Another pilot appears in: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Men_Behind_the_Medals/yPE7AwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq="DREW"+++"267+Squadron"&pg=PT166&printsec=frontcover
Thanks David for checking. I was able to do a check on the national archives site for the period 1944-1945 and there are 173 pages of documents not scanned in to the site. It will cost me over 200 pounds to obtain these records. Not cheap but I think I may have to take the plunge.
Chris, On the assumption you are not a relative of Mr Drew I am unsure if you can apply for his RAF service record. Others know the procedures far better. Just checked the CWGC and he is not recorded as a WW2 death. Do you have any other information to identify him? Just R. G. Drew poses problems. As 267 Squadron was on 'special duties' so secrecy may still be relevant you may find that the National Archives yield could be small. I viewed an online RAF War Diary last year and it missed out actual flying sorties for the period I was looking for. This year I paid a researcher who could access another archive in South Africa and on the first page of many pages was the item sought and on a second set of documents there was almost nothing. Caveat: this is only the third time I have had to use archives.
no I am not a relative. I was lucky enough to purchase his logbooks, which have not yet arrived. So that will provide a wealth of information for sure. I think between these and those documents in the archives I am hoping to fill in some blanks. Thanks for all your input. I appreciate it!!
My great-granduncle was on this squadron, Sadly passed along with the others when they crashed. Its been great fun reading up on the life of George and others stories here. Does anyone know a cheap or free way to look on his military records? Thanks
There is no such thing as a 'free way to look at his military records'. Yes, there is a long wait to get a copy of a service record. Slightly quicker for the RAF. See: : https://www.gov.uk/guidance/request-records-of-deceased-service-personnel I will send a PM in a moment.
The post The chap in the line 410 .... DFM from this post was my great uncle John Appleby, from Cwmbran, S Wales who was the Flight Sergeant Wireless Operator on Operation Wildhorn lll, retrieving V2 items from southern Poland in a single Dakota, KG477. Those were his medals that were sold at auction a few years ago.
