• Operation Chastise (Dambusters Raid)

Date of birth:

August 13th, 1910 (Glasgow, Scotland)

Date of death:

May 16th, 1943

Buried on:

Commonwealth War Graves General Cemetery Harlingen
Plot: E . Row: 4. Grave: 11.

Service number:

R/101749

Nationality:

Canadian

James McDowell was born in Glasgow on August 13, 1910, to parents John and Agnes McDowell. Following the death of his father in World War I, he and his family emigrated to Canada in 1924, settling in Port Arthur, Ontario.

Initially, McDowell found employment with the Coca-Cola company in Port Arthur and married Dorothea Edna Craig. Together they had two daughters, Darleen and Marilyn. McDowell later secured a position as a gold miner, ultimately working at the MacLeod Cockshutt mine in Geraldton from 1935 to 1941.

In 1941, Jimmy McDowell enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and returned to Port Arthur. After completing his training as an air gunner, he was dispatched to England for additional training before being assigned to 467 Squadron in February 1943 and subsequently to 617 Squadron on March 24.

His plane was shot down during Operation Chastise and crashed into the Waddenzee, approximately 18 miles west of Harlingen. The wreckage was never recovered, but James McDowell's body was. He was interred the following day at Harlingen General Cemetery. His fellow crew members are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.

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• Photo 1: Bomber Command Museum of Canada
• - Flight Sergeant James McDowell | War Casualty Details 2649074 | CWGC
  - Dambusters

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