Squadron 267 crash Bassein Burma 25 July 1946

[becherpaterson]

Looking for some more details about this crash 25 miles east of Bassein which we believe was secondary to a wing malfunction. specifically who was on board, where was the plane heading, any rescue attempts?

Also keen for information anyone can give me about my second cousin who was on board that flight William Henry Donaldson, a warrant officer service number 1568647.

Thanks Julie-Clare

[Pam Downes]

Hi Julie-Clare,

Welcome to British-Genealogy.

There is very basic information on Wikipedia which just says the date, place, and that the plane crashed into a swamp, 'wing had failed flying in bad weather'.

Searching the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site cwgc.org I found that William is commemorated on the Singapore Memorial.
https://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/...ORE%20MEMORIAL
Using a date filter I then found three other RAF people, so I presume they were the other crew members. Grahame Walter Cursons, Walter Alan Thomas Scott, and Robert Francis Treacy.
The fact that their names are on columns would indicate to me that their bodies were either never recovered, or else buried elsewhere and were then unable to be exhumed and buried in the cemetery. I may be wrong.

You can apply for William's service records. You will need his death certificate, thirty quid, and some patience while waiting for the records to arrive. How detailed the records will be is pot luck. See here for the 'how and where to send' and the forms you need.

I'm not expert enough to advise you on how to find out more information about the crash or any rescue attempt, but hopefully someone else can.

Pam

[becherpaterson]

thank you so much Pam this is a great start, really appreciate it

[Peter Goodey]

Squadron 267 Summary of Events

https://discovery.nationalarchives.go...ils/r/D8398243

This is downloadable but it's all I can spot for July 1946

There is a Summary of Events example here

[becherpaterson]

thanks for this, downloaded and it gives a nice account of events until the squadron was disbanded the week before the crash but not anything about the crash itself. still good to have though.

[Lesley Robertson]

I'm willing to bet that many of the people listed on memorials (rather than gravestones) could be matched with the many graves now showing "unknown airman" (or soldier, sailor, etc), "known unto God", or one of the variations if there had been a way to identify the bodies....

[peter nicholl]

Hi Julie-Clare
Try a search for The Singapore Free Press, 2nd August 1946. Use Dakota and Burma. There is an article on the crash and [U]all[U] of the people killed, including W O Donaldson. The quality of the article is a bit rubbishy, but there may be other sources.
Peter

[becherpaterson]

this is fascinating thank you so much Peter!