Operation: Chemnitz, Germany
Date: March 5 1945 (Monday)
Unit: No. 420 Squadron RCAF - Motto: Pugnamus finitum; "We fight to the finish"
Type: Handley Page Halifax III
Serial: NA184
Code: PT-W
Base: RAF Tholthorpe, North Riding of Yorkshire
Location: Crashed near RAF Dishforth, North Riding of Yorkshire
Pilot: F/O. Earl William Clark J89818 RCAF Age 27 - Killed (1)
Fl/Eng: Sgt. James Burton Kirby 1606854 RAFVR Age 20 - Killed (2)
Nav: P/O. B.V. Freed J40803 RCAF - Injured (3)
Air/Bmr: F/O. William Hugh Oakes J40103 RCAF Age 25 - Killed (4)
W/Op/Air/Gnr: F/Sgt. Robert J. Arnold R252886 RCAF - Injured (5)
Air/Gnr: WO1. Harold Morris O’Conner R98689 RCAF - Injured (6)
Air/Gnr: P/O. Jerome Aquinius Epoch J94406 Age 20 - Killed (7)
REASON FOR LOSS:
Severe airframe icing. For further details click JB122 ADDENDUM: AIRFRAME ICING - Loss 1
BURIAL DETAILS, MEMORIALS AND EPITAPHS
(1) F/O Earl William Clark was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 19,
His epitaph reads:
The path of duty
Was the way to glory
Son of Richard and Clara Clark; husband of Eunice Clark, of Verdun, Province of Quebec, Canada
(2) Sgt James Burton Kirby was buried at Windsor Cemetery, Berkshire - Sec. A.N. Grave 15A
His epitaph reads
In proud and loving memory
Of our darling Jimmy
So sadly missed by
Mother and Barbara
Son of James and Winifred Kirby, of Windsor
(4) F/O William Hugh Oakes was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 20.
His epitaph reads
The love
That makes undaunted
The final sacrifice
Son of William H. and Helen B. Oakes, of Swan Lake, Manitoba, Canada.
(7) P/O Jerome Aquinius Epoch was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 18.
His epitaph reads
May he rest in peace
Son of George Alphonsus and Jane Teresa Epoch, of
Kenilworth, Ontario, Canada.
References:
Aircrew Remembered Archive Report: JB122 Addendum- Airframe Icing. Journey’s End, Kevin Wilson - Chapter Fourteen, A COLD AND SILENT KILLER pp. 266-292. Library and Archives Canada/ancestry.ca. Commonwealth War Graves Commission website.
Photo Credits:
LAC/ancestry.ca: Canada, WWII Service Files of War Dead, 1939-1947. A1. F/O Earl Clark- File 25053 Image 189. B1. P/O Jerome Epoch- File 27471 Image 157.
Co-Authors:
John Naylor
Maureen Hicks
Pete Pearson
Reg Price DFC, 625 Squadron vet
Submission by John Proctor, Jack Albrecht and Nic Lewis.
JA 08-09-2019