MONRO, JAMES BRIAN Rank: Flying Officer Trade: Pilot Service No: 403970 Date of Death: 26/06/1942 Age: 21 Regiment/Service: Royal New Zealand Air Force Grave Reference Grave 49. Cemetery TERSCHELLING (WEST-TERSCHELLING) GENERAL CEMETERY Additional Information: Son of Colin and Mina Isabella Monro, of Wellington City, New Zealand. http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2649177/MONRO,%20JAMES%20BRIAN
Details of the above loss...... 25-26 June 1942 24 OTU Whitley V BD379 Op. Bremen. Took off from Honeybourne at 2220 hours armed with 2 x 500lb HE GP, 24 x 30lb and 360 4lb incendiaries and carrying 705 gallons of petrol. At 0411 hours the direction finding station at Sealand intercepted an SOS signal originating from the Whitley, and responded MBAN 4942 2nd cl - 041. Nothing further was heard and it is presumed the aircraft came down in the sea off the Frisian Islands. In view of the distance and the proximity to the enemy coast it was decided not to mount an Air-Sea rescue operation. Crew. F/O. J B. Monro RNZAF + F/O. G R. Lind RAAF + F/S. J. Storey + P/O. I P. Clark + Sgt. H H. Hudson + Source - RAF Bomber Command Losses Vol.7 - W R. Chorley
This link includes two pictures of his grave at the Terschelling General Cemetery: http://www.longway-terschelling.nl/graven/g049.html
Not much extra here from the work of Alan Storr on top of that already posted by Peter Clare: Whitley BD 379 of No 24 Operational Training Unit, RAF, took off at 2230 hours on 25 June 1942 to bomb Bremen. A message was received from the aircraft at 0411 hours on 26 June that the aircraft was going into the sea at any minute. The aircraft position at the time was over the North Sea in the vicinity of Terschelling, Holland. There were no further messages from the aircraft which did not return to base. Crew: RNZAF 403970 FO Monro, J B (Pilot) RAAF 400229 FO Lind, G R (Observer) RAF 1355773 Sergeant Clark, I. P. RAF 942732 Sergeant Hudson, H.H. RAF 937066 Flight Sergeant Storey, J The bodies of FO Monro, (RNZAF), Flt Sgt Storey Sgt Hudson and Sgt Clark (RAF) were washed ashore near Terschelling and are buried at Westterschelling Cemetery. There was no record of FO Lind (RAAF) having been buried and it was recorded in 1950 that he lost his life at sea.
