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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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432 Squadron Crest
16.04.1945 No. 432 Squadron Halifax VII NP805 QO-J, F/O. William H. Porritt

Operation: Air Test

Date: 16th April 1945 (Monday)

Unit: 432 Squadron (RCAF)

Type: Halifax VII

Serial: NP805

Code: QO-J

Base: RAF East Moor

Location: East Moor, Yorkshire, England.

Pilot: F/O. William Howard Porritt J/86081 RCAF Age 25. Killed.

Fl/Eng: Fl/Sgt Kenneth McEwen Davidson R/288750 RCAF Injured

Nav: F/O John Henry Burns J/43596 RCAF Injured

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt Edward Cohen R/183422 RCAF Injured

Air/Bmr: F/O William Murray Reid J/40936 RCAF Injured

Air/Gnr: F/O. Leonard Raymond Jorgenson J/46220 RCAF Injured

Air/Gnr: F/O James Percy Grey J/45212 RCAF Injured

Ground crew:

LAC. Joseph Donat Marcel Bedard R/177118 RCAF Age 20. Killed.

LAC. Regis Fernand Charbonneau R/268734 RCAF Age 19. Killed.

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took-Off at 12:10 from East Moor, possibly with control locks still in place. At high speed the Halifax careered off the runway and crashed into trees, bursting into flames.

Eye witness, F/O. Len Jorgenson of Morris, Manitoba provided the following account:

‘The Halifax was taking off from RCAF Station East Moor at noon, for a X-country flight prior to operations that night and had a full gas load of 1400 gallons but no bombs. At the end of the runway there was a low semi-flat roofed building (Picket Post) where LAC. Charbonneau and LAC. Beddard were sunbathing in the spring sunshine and watching the take-offs.


The aircraft was barely airborne when the pilot yelled that the rudders and controls were locked and to prepare for a crash. The under carriage hit the building killing the two LACs, the Halifax crashed and burst into flames.

F/O. Porritt was killed, but the rest of the crew got out with various grades of injury. Fl/Sgt. Kenneth McEwan Davidson R/288750 RCAF spent the following two years in hospital, so serious were his injuries. I think a few of us have nightmares over that one. I also wonder why the controls were frozen. Most controls on the aircraft had V shaped pieces of wood with red flags inserted to prevent the control surfaces from flapping in the wind.

Did we forget to take out these inserts or were they taken off by someone?... Fl/Sgt. Davidson the Flight Engineer, was thrown to the front of the aircraft in the crash. Through the flames he saw the pilot was buckled up and either unconscious or dead. Davidson tried to pull him out but he was stuck, and the flames were burning him severely.’

Burial details:

F/O. William Howard Porritt. Harrogate Cemetery (Stonefall). Sec. H. Row J. Grave 15. Born on 16th March 1920 the son of Howard Clifford Merril Porritt and Ethel Blanche Porritt (née Miller) of Cookstown, Ontario, Canada.

LAC. Joseph Donat Marcel Bedard. Harrogate Cemetery (Stonefall). Sec. H. Row J. Grave 13. Son of Emile and Gabrielle Bedard of Lac aux Sables, Portneufco, Province of Quebec, Canada.

LAC. Regis Fernand Charbonneau. Harrogate Cemetery (Stonefall). Sec. H. Row J. Grave 14. Born on 11th January 1926, the son of Emile and Irena Charbonneau (née Caron) of St. Augustin des deux Montagnes, Province of Quebec, Canada.

Researched for relatives of those killed. With thanks to David Baxter for sending in the crew photos, November 2015. Other sources as quoted below.

KTY 05.02.2016 Map added

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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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