424 Squadron's Handley Page Halifax BIII (#LV970) aircraft, with an aircrew of seven, was participating in a night air operation over the rail yards at Villeneuve St. Georges, France. It failed to return to base following the operation and was found to have crashed in France, taking the lives of the entire crew.
The seven airmen who perished in this crash were-
RAF Flying Officer Colin Francis WILSON,
RCAF Flying Officer Philip Nairn Thompson VAN ALSTYNE,
RCAF Flying Officer Leonard Taylor SYKES,
RCAF Pilot Officer Alexander Gunn SINCLAIR,
RCAF Flying Officer Lawrence Francis O'BRIEN,
RCAF Pilot Officer Donald MORE and
RCAF Pilot Officer John Alexander BUCKHAM.
Military Service-
Rank: Pilot Officer
Trade: Air Gunner
Service Number: J/90392
Age: 19
Force: Air Force
Unit: Royal Canadian Air Force
Division: 424 'Tiger' RCAF Squadron; RAF Skipton-on-Swale, Yorkshire
(MOTTO: Castigandos Castigamus ['We chastise those who deserve to be chastised']).
A spray painter by trade, residing on Woodfield Road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he enlisted in the RCAF on 21 Jan 1943 in Toronto,
Son of Mrs. Jean (née Manson) Sinclair of Napanee, Ontario, and the late John Sinclair [both parents born in Scotland; his widowed mother married Frank Clark].
Pilot Officer Alexander Gunn Sinclair is commemorated on Page 444 of Canada's Second World War Book of Remembrance.
He is also commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The seven airmen who perished in this crash were-
RAF Flying Officer Colin Francis WILSON,
RCAF Flying Officer Philip Nairn Thompson VAN ALSTYNE,
RCAF Flying Officer Leonard Taylor SYKES,
RCAF Pilot Officer Alexander Gunn SINCLAIR,
RCAF Flying Officer Lawrence Francis O'BRIEN,
RCAF Pilot Officer Donald MORE and
RCAF Pilot Officer John Alexander BUCKHAM.
Military Service-
Rank: Pilot Officer
Trade: Air Gunner
Service Number: J/90392
Age: 19
Force: Air Force
Unit: Royal Canadian Air Force
Division: 424 'Tiger' RCAF Squadron; RAF Skipton-on-Swale, Yorkshire
(MOTTO: Castigandos Castigamus ['We chastise those who deserve to be chastised']).
A spray painter by trade, residing on Woodfield Road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he enlisted in the RCAF on 21 Jan 1943 in Toronto,
Son of Mrs. Jean (née Manson) Sinclair of Napanee, Ontario, and the late John Sinclair [both parents born in Scotland; his widowed mother married Frank Clark].
Pilot Officer Alexander Gunn Sinclair is commemorated on Page 444 of Canada's Second World War Book of Remembrance.
He is also commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
424 Squadron's Handley Page Halifax BIII (#LV970) aircraft, with an aircrew of seven, was participating in a night air operation over the rail yards at Villeneuve St. Georges, France. It failed to return to base following the operation and was found to have crashed in France, taking the lives of the entire crew.
The seven airmen who perished in this crash were-
RAF Flying Officer Colin Francis WILSON,
RCAF Flying Officer Philip Nairn Thompson VAN ALSTYNE,
RCAF Flying Officer Leonard Taylor SYKES,
RCAF Pilot Officer Alexander Gunn SINCLAIR,
RCAF Flying Officer Lawrence Francis O'BRIEN,
RCAF Pilot Officer Donald MORE and
RCAF Pilot Officer John Alexander BUCKHAM.
Military Service-
Rank: Pilot Officer
Trade: Air Gunner
Service Number: J/90392
Age: 19
Force: Air Force
Unit: Royal Canadian Air Force
Division: 424 'Tiger' RCAF Squadron; RAF Skipton-on-Swale, Yorkshire
(MOTTO: Castigandos Castigamus ['We chastise those who deserve to be chastised']).
A spray painter by trade, residing on Woodfield Road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he enlisted in the RCAF on 21 Jan 1943 in Toronto,
Son of Mrs. Jean (née Manson) Sinclair of Napanee, Ontario, and the late John Sinclair [both parents born in Scotland; his widowed mother married Frank Clark].
Pilot Officer Alexander Gunn Sinclair is commemorated on Page 444 of Canada's Second World War Book of Remembrance.
He is also commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
The seven airmen who perished in this crash were-
RAF Flying Officer Colin Francis WILSON,
RCAF Flying Officer Philip Nairn Thompson VAN ALSTYNE,
RCAF Flying Officer Leonard Taylor SYKES,
RCAF Pilot Officer Alexander Gunn SINCLAIR,
RCAF Flying Officer Lawrence Francis O'BRIEN,
RCAF Pilot Officer Donald MORE and
RCAF Pilot Officer John Alexander BUCKHAM.
Military Service-
Rank: Pilot Officer
Trade: Air Gunner
Service Number: J/90392
Age: 19
Force: Air Force
Unit: Royal Canadian Air Force
Division: 424 'Tiger' RCAF Squadron; RAF Skipton-on-Swale, Yorkshire
(MOTTO: Castigandos Castigamus ['We chastise those who deserve to be chastised']).
A spray painter by trade, residing on Woodfield Road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he enlisted in the RCAF on 21 Jan 1943 in Toronto,
Son of Mrs. Jean (née Manson) Sinclair of Napanee, Ontario, and the late John Sinclair [both parents born in Scotland; his widowed mother married Frank Clark].
Pilot Officer Alexander Gunn Sinclair is commemorated on Page 444 of Canada's Second World War Book of Remembrance.
He is also commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Inscription
(Epitaph...)
THEY THOUGHT
NOT EVEN LIFE ITSELF
TOO MUCH TO GIVE
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