Operation: Chemnitz
Date: March 5 1945 (Monday)
Unit: 426 RCAF Squadron - Motto: On Wings of Fire
Squadron Badge heraldry: A Thunderbird
Type: Handley Page Halifax VII
Serial: PN228
Code: OW-A
Base: RAF Linton on Ouse, North Riding of Yorkshire
Location: Crashed near Linton on Ouse following collision with 425 Squadron aircraft MZ845
Pilot: S/L Eric Thomas Garrett J10741 RCAF Age 24 - Killed (1)
Fl/Eng: P/O Eric Stanley Jerome 195710 RAFVR Age 24 - Killed (2)
Nav: F/O John Leslie Atkinson J35829 RCAF Age 32 - Killed (3)
Air/Bmr: F/O Kenneth George Parker J36081 RCAF Age 22 - Killed (4)
W/Op/Air/Gnr: P/O William Gordon Miller J94338 RCAF Age 20 - Killed (5)
Air/Gnr: P/O John Blair Linstead J94527 RCAF Age 19 - Killed (6)
Air/Gnr: P/O Harold Dick Mcleod J94365 RCAF Age 20 - Killed (7)
REASON FOR LOSS:
Collision with another aircraft, Halifax MZ845. With no surviving crew members it is impossible to exclude the possibility that the pilot had lost control as a result of severe icing conditions that existed at the time. For further details see JB122 ADDENDUM: AIRFRAME ICING - Loss 4
BURIAL DETAILS, MEMORIALS AND EPITAPHS
(1) Sqn Ldr Eric Thomas Garrett was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 12.
His epitaph reads
O valiant spirit
R.I.P.
Son of Charles E.C. and Sheila Garrett, of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Your mission completed,
(2) P/O Eric Stanley Jerome was buried at Acton Cemetery - Section M, Row V, Grave 55.
His epitaph reads:
“Until the day break
And the shadows flee away”
Till then
Son of Thomas and Elsie Jerome; husband of Joan Louise Jerome, of Acton, London.
(3) F/O John Leslie Atkinson was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 11.
His epitaph reads:
Greater love
Hath no man than this
Son of John Thomas and Beatrice Mae Atkinson; husband of Mary Atkinson, of Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada. B.Comm. Accountant.
(4) F/O Kenneth George Parker was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 10.
His epitaph reads:
Your cheery word
And smiling face
Are greatly missed
Son of George and Janet Stewart Scott Parker, of Arnprior, Ontario, Canada.
(5) P/O William Gordon Miller was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 1.
His epitaph reads:
May his soul
Rest in peace
Son of Harold Gordon and Mary Ann Miller, of White Rock, British Columbia, Canada.
(6) P/O John Blair Linstead was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 9.
His epitaph reads:
He is gone but not forgotten
By his mother and dad
Brother and sisters
Son of Thomas John and Helen Blair Linstead, of High River, Alberta, Canada.
(7) P/O Harold Dick Mcleod was buried at Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Sec. H. Row P. Grave 8.
His epitaph reads:
To a dear son and brother:
Till we meet again
Hail and farewell!
Oh, gallant heart
Son of John W.G. and Anne I. Mcleod, of Toronto, 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. F1. S/L Eric Garrett- File 27570 Image 257. F2. F/O John Atkinson - File 24771 Image 363. F3. F/O Kenneth Parker - File 28376 Image 239. F4. P/O William Miller - File 28245 Image 83. F5. P/O John Linstead - File 27993 Image 172. F6 P/O Harold McLeod - File 28129 Image 163.
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