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208008 Sgt. Eric White RAF Bomber Command 426 Squadron from:Valence, Sutton, Kent (d.13th May 1944) Eric White 653213 was my father's great uncle and Dad asked me to try and find out as much as I could about him as he was never told. I was able to find out that he was the Flight Engineer of Sqdn 426 Bomber Command. He flew in a Halifax mark 111 serial NA510. Others on board were Sqdn leader I M McRobie Flying officer G W Bedford WO 2nd class M A Brazey WO 2nd class C A McLeod Flight sgt A H Hammond Flight sgt Bremrose They took of from RCAF air base Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire heading towards their target Cambrai, France. The Aircraft caught on fire and crashed near Villers-Les-Cagnicourt in Pas-De Calais on 13th June 1944. I believe once they knew they were in trouble they decided to evacuate the plane but Eric White and I M McRobie stayed on board to keep the plane level. It eventually crashed killing both on impact the locals found the body of Eric but McRobie was never found. A H Hammond, C A McLeod and Bremrose all managed to evade with the help of the locals but Bedford and Brazey were taken prisoner. The locals buried Eric White in Cagnicourt and every year hold a ceremony over his grave. Additional Information: I am the youngest nephew of Eric and have visited every year since I located where the gravestone and crash site is. The locals admire and respect his bravery for going down with the plane to save it crash landing in the village where this would have caused many fatalities. I met a guy called Sammiere who was 4 yrs old at the time hes now in his 70s. he, with the help of a translator told me he was the first on the scene to see Eric hanging out the cockpit trapped and burning alive. Eric beckoned to him to get aid,with this he motioned a cutting action on his hip as much to say my legs trapped get someone to cut it free.very heroic may I add.he holds the union jack every year to commemorate Eric who is the only ww2 serviceman to be in the actual community burial ground. Every year I pay my respects and join the locals in a small party, I also donated a book written abt Eric to the local town hall/museum and pictures of Eric standing proud in his uniform these can be seen in cagnicourt town hall. andy Reply Please type your message:      We recommend you copy the text about this item and keep a copy on your own computer before pressing submit. Your Name:             Email Address:       @ **Please type the first part our your email in the first box (eg. john.smith) the @ sign is added automaticallly, please type the second part in the second box (eg. gmail.com). Do not enter your full email in each box or add an @ sign or random spaces.**