Family of RAF pilot born in Liverpool sought

Lancaster pathfinder bomber Credit: RAF

The families of a Pilot Officer born in Liverpool are being sought.

Pilot officer John Donald Range Cromarty was one of three men who were on Lancaster JB640.

The bomber took off for the German capital on the night of January 2 1944, but was not heard from again, with the men all missing, presumed dead.

Mr Cromarty was born to Ernest Cecil Cromarty and Margaret Agnes Range on January 29 1921, in Liverpool. His last known address was Berwick Gardens, Little Sutton, Cheshire.

The squadron had intended to fly 18 Pathfinder Lancasters but only 14 took off, and one of those had to turn back due to engine failure.

The Ministry of Defence said they are trying to trace relatives of the servicemen so they would be able to attend their burial service in Berlin on April 27.

It took off for the German capital on the night of January 2 1944, but was not heard from again, with the men all missing, presumed dead.

The five other men were:

  • Mr Burtenshaw was born on July 2 1923, in Burwood, Sydney, Australia. He was married to Bridget Amelia Kelly in Morden, Surrey, and his last known address was Seddon Road, Morden, Surrey.

  • Mr Chapman was born in Westbury, Wiltshire, in September 1923. He was the son of Edgar Sidney Chapman and Daisy Brewer and had one sister, Olive W. M. Chapman.

  • Mr Steele was born on December 24 1922, in Ashington, Northumberland. He was the son of Edward and Ann Sankey Murray, and married Laura Mckie, with their last known address Cross Row, Ashington.

  • Mr Walker was born on January 14 1923, in Glasgow, to Arthur and Margaret Walker. His last known address was Battlefield Gardens, Glasgow.

  • Mr White was the son of Tom W. P. White and Mary Elizabeth Reading and was born in Shotteswell, Warwickshire. His brother, Lionel Tom White, was also killed while serving as a trooper in the Royal Armoured Corps.

Eyewitnesses remembered seeing a Halifax Bomber being hit by flak and crashing in to a lake at about 3am on January 29 1944, and four bodies were subsequently recovered.

Nicola Nash, from the Ministry of Defence's Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre, said: