CREW MEMBER PROFILE |
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Surname: |
MCARA |
First Name/s: |
Ronald Stenhouse |
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Service No/s: |
(1554548) 134095 |
Service: |
RAFVR |
Branch: |
Pilot |
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Awards: |
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SERVICE RECORDS |
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Date |
Event |
Aircraft Flown |
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05 Jul 1941 |
Enlisted at the Music Hall, 54 George Street, Edinburgh, Midlothian, as Aircraftman Second Class (AC2), mustering as Air Crew Hand (Pilot/Observer). |
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06 Jul 1941 |
Transferred to the Reserve, pending call-up. |
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13 Oct 1941 |
Called up to 1 Air Crew Reception Centre (1 ACRC), Regent’s Park (Lord’s Cricket Ground), St. John’s Wood, London NW8. |
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25 Oct 1941 |
No. 17 Initial Training Wing (17 ITW), Belvedere House, Scarborough, Yorkshire. |
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02 Jan 1942 |
Promoted to Leading Aircraftman (LAC), remustering to Under Training Pilot. |
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28 Jan 1942 |
No. 51 (Training) Group Pool, Moorfield House, Yeadon, Leeds, Yorkshire, and attached to 11 Elementary Flying Training School (11 EFTS), Perth, Perthshire, Scotland (Tiger Moth tbc), for pilot aptitude testing |
Tiger Moth TBC |
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01 Mar 1942 |
Embarked UK for Canada (port & vessel n/k); date TBC |
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25 Mar 1942 |
Disembarked Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. |
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25 Mar 1942 |
No. 31 (RAF) Personnel Depot (31 PD), Moncton, New Brunswick |
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27 Apr 1942 |
Attached to No. 3 Basic Flying Training School (No. 3 BFTS), Spartan Aircraft Company, Miami Municipal Airport, Miami, Tulsa, Oklahoma. |
Stearman/Valiant/Harvard tbc |
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09 Nov 1942 |
Discharged on appointment to a Commission. |
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10 Nov 1942 |
Commissioned as Plt Off on probation (emergency) 134095 from the rank of LAC (London Gazette 05 Jan 43, p166) (on award of pilot’s flying badge). |
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14 Nov 1942 |
Embarked Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the UK (vessel n/k). Date TBC |
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22 Nov 1942 |
Disembarked in the UK (port n/k). |
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23 Nov 1942 |
No. 7 Personnel Reception Centre (7 PRC), Spa Hotel, Harrogate, Yorkshire (using the Spa, Majestic, Queen, Adelphi, or Cecil Hotels for accommodation). |
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11 Dec 1942 |
No. 31 (RAF) Personnel Depot (31 PD), Moncton, New Brunswick. Date TBC |
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23 Feb 1943 |
No. 6 (Pilot) Advanced Flying Unit (6 (P)AFU), Little Rissington, Gloucestershire. |
Oxford/Anson tbc |
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10 May 1943 |
Promoted to Fg Off on probation (war substantive) (London Gazette 18 Jun 43, p2775). |
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11 May 1943 |
No. 28 Operational Training Unit (28 OTU), Wymeswold, Leicestershire (Wellington); here he assembled his crew, which probably comprised: |
Wellington |
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23 Jul 1943 |
23 Jul 43 - No. 1656 Heavy Conversion Unit (1656 HCU), Lindholme, Yorkshire (Lancaster); here the crew assembled (after 18 Sep 43 when the other crew members arrived), and probably now comprised: |
Lancaster |
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05 Dec 1943 |
No. 576 Sqn, ‘A’ Flight, Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire. |
Lancaster |
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576 Squadron FLYING RECORDS |
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Date |
Aircraft |
Code |
Flight Details |
T/O |
Land |
Flt Time |
Crew |
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16 Dec 1943 |
DV342 |
UL-G2 |
BERLIN |
1630 |
nk |
nk |
P1 Fg Off R.S. McAra |
NOTES: |
Failed to return. All crew killed. Shot down either by Hptm. Walter Borgers of Stab III./NJG5 (Aircrew Remembered), or by Fwbl. Herbert Herre of 3./JG 302 in a Bf109G (AviationSafety.net & Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943) (tbc) at 2008 hrs at 10,000 ft. Seen to burst into flames and explode over Lichtenberg, 10 km ENE Berlin. Pieces of the aircraft fell over a wide area; one of the engines fell in Rittergutstraße, where two of the crew (Chapman & Russell) were found; another engine fell in Verbindungsweg. A local policeman remembered that they were dressed in blue and each wore a white woollen sweater and escape boots. Both men wore parachute harnesses but there was no sign of the parachutes. The two bodies were taken to a central mortuary in Berlin and later buried in Doberlitz-Elsgrund German Military Cemetery, later interred at the Berlin 1939-45 War Cemetery. No trace of the other crewmen was found. |
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PERSONAL INFORMATION |
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Personal Records Restricted - not available to the public |
PHOTOS & DOCUMENTS |
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Personal Documents Restricted - not available to the public |
