The Wartime Memories Project - The Second War

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.     Site Home     WW2 Home     Add Stories     WW2 Search     Library     Help & FAQs  WW2 Features     Airfields     Allied Army     Allied Air Forces     Allied Navy     Axis Forces     Home Front     Battles     Prisoners of War     Allied Ships     Women at War     Those Who Served     Day-by-Day     Library     The Great War  Submissions     Add Stories     Time Capsule     TWMP on Facebook     Childrens Bookshop  FAQ's     Help & FAQs     Glossary     Volunteering     Contact us     News     Bookshop     About Advertisements World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

205079 Sgt. Kenneth Archibald McIver DFC Royal Australian Air Force pilot 467 Sqd. from:Merriwagga, N.S.W. Australia (d.3rd Oct 1943) We are enquiring as to whether Kenneth McIver is listed on the Lincolnshire Memorial established to Bomber Command. He was only 24 and we have been tracing details of his service records, anything anyone could do to help us would be appreciated. His sister in law, Mrs Elizabeth McIver would love to know more about him. Betty Brady Add to this record.  Additional Information: Pilot Officer Kenneth Archibald McIver served with 467 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force. Kenneth's crew were posted to 467 Squadron on 20th of April 1943. Part of the 467 Squadron history notes: 'The crew had a bad tour all the way, 3 times they were flak damaged and returned on 3 engines. Once, attacking Hamburg they lost an engine early and pressed on and completed the attack. In an attack on Cologne the pilot was wounded in the left arm and the A/C was damaged but they pressed on and bombed the target. 2/3.10.43. In the attack on Munich, they encountered bad icing and fuel consumption was abnormal, they ran out of fuel 20 miles from the English coast and ditched in the sea near Beachy Head. F/S McGrath the Bomb Aimer was the only survivor, he was picked up in a dinghy 3.10.43.' Kenneth was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross where the citation stated. "Pilot Officer McIver has completed a number of operational sorties during many of which severe opposition has been encountered. His targets have included Essen, Cologne and other industrial centres in the Ruhr. On one occasion, when detailed to attack Cologne he completed his mission with success although the aircraft was damaged and he was himself wounded in the left arm. This officer has always displayed inspiring courage and determination." On the night of the raid the crew took off from RAF Bottesford at 18:44hrs to bomb Munchen. And Bomber Command Losses for 1943 notes that the aircraft, '... ran out of fuel and came down in the sea 0138hrs 3 Oct 43 some 25 miles off Beachy Head. F/S McGrath was picked up by an ASR walrus. Subsequently two bodies were washed ashore; P/O McIver is buried in North Walsham New Cemetery but Sgt McLelland is buried in Bergen op Zoom Canadian War Cemetery having been found at Katwijk 30 Nov 43. The others are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.' The following crew members were aboard the aircraft: SGT McLelland, A B, RAF FSGT Gale, J K, RAF FSGT McGrath, M E, RAF SGT MacLean, C, RAF SGT Short, R, RAF FSGT Shaw, F W, RAF STEVE SMITH Reply Related Content: No. 463 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force Can you help us to add to our records? Add a record to our website. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area? If so please let us know. Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice. Contact us. Celebrate your own Family History Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc. Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.

The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items. The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running. Hosted by: The Wartime Memories Project Website is archived for preservation by the British Library Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV - All Rights Reserved We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.