White, Edward Kenneth Eddie

Date of birth:: December 11th, 1922 (Alberta, Canada)
Date of death:: July 25th, 1943 (Ten Boer, the Netherlands)
Buried on:: Commonwealth War Graves Protestant Cemetery Ten Boer
Grave: 24.
Service number:: R/150887
Nationality:: Canadian

Biography

Edward was born on December 11 1922 in Calgary, the son of Harry Edward White (English) and Theresa White nee Creaser of Victoria British Columbia. His sister was Theresa Doris Campbell.

He was a baker’s helper and member of the Church of England. His sports were boxing, hockey, softball, basketball and swimming.

He enlisted from June 3 1940 till September 12 1941 in Red Deer Alberta as a Gunner with the 22/78 Bty RCA CASF. He enlisted on March 2 1942 then the RCAF in Edmonton and he went thereafter on November 4 1942 overseas to the UK.

He was a member of 405 Squadron, bomber command which was formed on 23.04.1941 at Driffield, England.

Whilst at Driffield Eddie was on a Wellington II bomber and were in group 6, of the 405 squadron, bomber command. On 20.06.1941 the squadron was relocated to Pocklington and in April 1942, whilst there the crews were given the Halifax II. On the 07.08.1942 the crew were relocated to Topcliffe and then on 25.10.1942 were relocated to Beaulieu. At some point between being based at Beaulieu and moving yet again to Topcliffe on 01.03.1943, Eddie visited relatives in Hurst, Berkshire and Reading, Berkshire. On 06.03.1943 the crew were relocated to Leeming and then moved to Gransden Lodge on 19.04.1943 where probably became 8 group, 405 Squadron, pathfinders.

The crew consisted of WO II Clifford Kettley, P/O Michael Smyth, F/O Marcel Tomczak, F/S Edward White, Sgt Albert Wood, F/O Alexander McCracken and F/O Alexander Sochowski.

The crew had some close calls in the missions they were to fly. One such narrow escape happened in the night of 23/24 May 1943, on a mission to Dortmund. 826 planes were sent out on operation out of which 38 did not return.

In another raid, on 13.07.1943, the city of Aachen was attacked by 374 aircraft. 20 aircraft got lost. Eddy’s plane was shot at by enemy fighters but returned to its base in England safely.

The mission on the 25th July 1943 was their 17th mission.

On the night of 25/26th July F/S Eddie White and his crew took off at 21:46 hours from Gransden Lodge, Cambridgeshire in Halifax HR864 LQ ‘M for Mother’ to bomb the Krupp factory in Essen. Just after they had passed the Dutch coast they were attacked by a German night fighter. The tail gunner, Sgt Smyth, saw the plane, which he could only identify as a twin engine plane, at about 250 metres dead astern. When the fighter attacked, Sgt Smyth fired back and the night fighter took evasive action. He came around for a second time and this time two engines of the Halifax were hit and set ablaze. The plane was doomed and the pilot ordered the crew to bail out.

All of the crew died in the crash, except F/O Sochowski, who bailed out in time and became a P.O.W. He was taken to Stalag Luft III and his P.O.W number was 1649.

He survived the war, returned to Canada and later married. He told his family that their plane was shot down while it was flying low; he managed to escape through the escape hatch in the nose of the Halifax. He died of a heart attack in 1961.

Eddie, WO II Clifford Kettley, P/O Michael Smyth, F/O Marcel Tomczak, F/O Alexander McCracken and Sgt Albert Wood were buried the following day with full military honours.