HISTORICAL CONTEXT

He was a crew member in Stirling Mk.IV EF295, 620 Squadron, Royal Air Force (RAF).

They took off at 23:45 on the night of 5 June 1944 from RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire to transport parachutists of 591 Parachute Squadron, 6th Airborne Division to a drop zone east of the River Orne for Operation Tonga (the landings by 6th Airborne Division on D-Day).

But the aircraft was hit by German anti-aircraft fire and crashed eight miles east of the drop zone near Château de Grangues, Grangues, Calvados before it could drop the parachutists. He was killed in the crash.