415 Squadron Association
When my mother’s dementia was at its worst during the last two years of her life, she could not reliably recognize me or my sister, but when she was shown these pictures, which she had not seen in a long time, she cried out, “Why, it’s Dugald!” Taking advantage of the lucid moment, I asked her if he was a Corrigan. She replied, “Yes…well, sort of,” and that was as far as we got that day, but I figured if his name was with her into her 96th year, then the man who carried it must have been worth remembering. And so began the sleuthing to learn the rest of his story.
Part II: A Home Far Away
On 10 September 1939, Canada independently declared war on Germany.
Dugald Morrison was not yet old enough in 1939, but he signed up at No. 1 “H” Depot, Toronto, on 15 July 1942 for the Royal Canadian Air Force. He had just turned eighteen. His original service No.was R 173578, the “R” signifying an enlisted rank. He was an AC2 (Aircraftman 2nd class; no insignia). The ID card issued described him as 5’11” tall (but 6’1” in his photo against the measurement wall, presumably in his boots), 175 lbs., blue eyes, light brown hair. His home of record was Port Dalhousie, today part of St. Catharines, where his parents lived at the time. He was about to go far away.
“Three thousand miles across a hunted ocean they came,
wearing on the shoulder of their tunics the treasured name, ‘Canada,”
telling the world of their origin.”
So begin the words of Father J.P. Lardie, Chaplain, RCAF, which are inscribed upon the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, Alberta. Dugald Morrison’s name is on that Wall. It is also on several other Honour Rolls. The one closest to home is where the seeds of research were gathered in 2017.
In the thick Honour Roll book in the lobby of the National Air Force Museum in Trenton, ON, stands this listing:
“MORRISON, DUGALD F/O (P) J 28151. From Dalhousie, Ontario.
Killed in Action July 29/44, age 20. #415 Swordfish Squadron
(Ad metam). Target—Hamburg, Germany. Please see F/O A.G. Stein
for casualty list and flight detail. Flying Officer Pilot Morrison is buried
in the Becklingen War Cemetery, Soltau, Germany
From this, I went step-by-step to learn enough to write the best Remembrance Day story I could.
Step One: The Easy Stuff
Rank: Flying Officer was eight levels above an AC2. I am told that the prefix letter “J” on the new Service No. J 28151 was used for officer class, so Dugald must have been in officer candidate training during the time since his enlistment. Most others on the crew had both J and R Nos.
Dalhousie: Chris Cotton at the NAFM, who is, himself, from Port Dalhousie, is the person who taught me the proper way to say “Dalhousie.” It is “Duh-LOO-see.”. He also assured me Dugald was not from Dalhousie (Mills), ON, out on the eastern border with Quebec, close to Montreal. A man from there would not have enlisted in Toronto, but somebody whose parents lived in Port Dalhousie would. Dugald’s casualty record lists him as “single.”
Step Two: The List
Now we follow the “Please see…” suggestion and search in the book for F/O A.G. Stein. Here is the listing from page 724. (Note: Any typos are part of the original text.)
Step Three: Short History Lesson
The details of the lost flight crew under F/O Pilot Arthur George Stein’s listing are straightforward, but dry, with the bare essentials in military shorthand. I was looking for the personal touch. An on-line search for 415 Squadron yields enough information to read all day for a week! I chose seven of the sites and read the texts in their entirety. Here is a concise history of the 415 in WW II. For readers who want to know more, see Sources at the end.
Step Four: Getting Personal
My lucky day occurred on 7 March of this year when I found the site of the 415 Squadron Association (See Sources.) It was the best of all, because there one can read the names of every 415 Squadron crew involved in WW II. They are arranged chronologically and according to type of aircraft flown. There are photos of many of the crews, as well. The name Dugald Morrison was nowhere to be found. Other Morrisons, yes, but not a Dugald. More specifically, he was not listed as a member of F/O (P) A. G. Stein’s crew! Why not? I double checked every name on every crew. Nothing. There will either be a Real Story…or No Story at all. Are you with me? Here we go! You are about to meet Chris Henneberry..
Acting on intuition only, I sent a letter to the contact e-mail for the 415 Squadron Association, noting the omission of Dugald’s name and suggesting there might have been an error made due to the multiple changes in such a short time. Maybe Dugald had not been on Stein’s crew at all? Maybe he had been a last-minute substitution and gotten left off of the roster? What I was about to learn was this: F/O (P) Dugald Morrison had been with 415 Squadron for exactly TWO days before the fatal bombing run, and F/O (P) A.G. Stein, eight days.
The following is the reply of 10 Mar 2024 from the Association President, Chris Henneberry. He has given his permission to be quoted directly. I felt that paraphrasing would not do the clarity of his words justice. His reward (chuckle, chuckle) is a copy of this story.
“I have searched the records we hold to confirm Dugald's short time on 415 Squadron.
In mid July 1944, 415 Squadron was building up crews having been transferred from Coastal Command to Bomber Command/Six Group. The reformed Squadron was located at East Moor in Yorkshire and was receiving crews from each of the other twelve Canadian squadrons in 6 Group.
On 20 July 1944, F/O Stein's crew joined 415 from 433 Squadron. This seven member crew did not include Dugald. The crew flew its first and only mission with 415 Squadron on 28 July 1944. The mission target was Hamburg and they were augmented by Dugald (Pilot) and Sgt McElroy (Air Gunner who joined the Squadron on 21 July 1944). Their aircraft, LW595 Halifax Q, failed to return from this mission with a loss of nine Squadron members.
At the time, it was standard practice that all new Squadron crew commanders (of which Dugald was one) would fly at least one mission, with an experienced crew prior to taking their own crew on an operational mission.
Dugald and his newly formed crew joined 415 Squadron on 26 July 1944. They had just completed their Heavy Conversion on the Halifax bomber at 61 Training Base RCAF located at Topcliffe Air Base (a mere 30 minute drive from East Moor). As a newly arrived crew commander, he was assigned to an operational crew to observe a mission. Tragically he died on that mission.
Of note, most of the members of F/O Morrison's crew, formed a new crew led by F/O Milibank. It would seem that this crew completed its tour of duty with 415 Squadron.
Unfortunately we do not hold a photo of the Morrison crew. Nor do we hold any individual photos of the crew members.
As explained above, on very short notice Dugald joined the Stein crew for a single mission.
F/O D. Morrison, Pilot, is remembered on the 415 Squadron Roll Of Honour, copies of which are held at the Squadron and the Greenwood Military Aviation Museum at 14 Wing Greenwood Nova Scotia. The Honour Roll is also printed in the book "SWORDFISH - The Story of 415 Squadron".”
Last Step: A Close-Up Look
On the night of 28-29 July 1944, when No.6 Group RCAF Bomber Command sent out 234 bombers with various missions, sixteen of them were crewed by the newly formed 415 (B) Squadron. Of the sixteen, one crashed on take-off (crew safe); fourteen made the round-trip run, having bombed the target city. Only one aircraft did not return. It was Handley Page LW595 Halifax-Q, with a crew of 9 instead of 7. It had left East Moor at 22:29 hours and went down at Stotel, Cuxhaven, Germany, short of its mark. The official word is that the cause of the crash is unknown but was probably due to “enemy fire by a night fighter.” According to the casualty notification sent by the RCAF to Dugald Morrison’s parents on 10 Feb1945, he was first reported “Missing” on 29 July and “subsequently reported Missing Believed Killed (German Information).” Dugald and all but one of the other crew members were initially buried by the Germans locally, near the crash, at Geestemunde Cemetery, Feldstrasse 18, Bremerhaven, Germany. Morrison, Robertson, McElroy, and Reason are at Grave Nos. 42-45, respectively, Grave No. 41 was a “Collective Grave” designated “Unknown.”
After the war was over, a cemetery was laid out on the Lunenburger Heide (Heath), where Field Marshall Montgomery accepted the German surrender from Admiral Donitz on 4 May 1945. Remains were brought from other cemeteries and reburied in the new location: Becklingen War Cemetery, B3/ Becklingen, 29614 Soltau, Germany. The cemetery contains 2,374 burials from the Commonwealth. Dugald Morrison’s marker with the poignant inscription is at 24.A.12.
With him, all in a row are:
--P/O Lloyd William McElroy, RCAF, J/90348 (prev, R/215657) age 22, of Darlingford, Manitoba. Air Gunner, Grave 24.A.14. (no epitaph).
--P/O George Campbell Reason, RCAF, J/90353 (prev. R/203204) age 19, of Toronto, Ontario. Wireless Operator, Air Gunner, Grave 24.A.10. “In life, loved and honoured, in death, remembered.”
--P/O Walter Dennis Robertson, RCAF, J/90352 (prev, R/221630) age 19, of Vancouver, British Columbia. Air Gunner, Grave 24.A.13. “Who died in violence, rest in peace.”
In the same row at Becklingen is Grave 24.A.11, where the marker reads “Unknown” and represents No.41 from the cemetery at Geestemunde.
Four of the crew members have markers grouped, almost touching, across two graves at Sage War Cemetery, Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany. They are:
--P/O Alfred Wilfred Prosofsky, RCAF J/90354 (prev. R/203933) age 20, of Regina, Saskatchewan. Air Gunner. Collective Grave 10A 12-13.
--F/O George Kenneth Renaud, RCAF J/27499, age 27 of Edmonton, Alberta. Navigator.
Collective Grave 10A 12-13.
--Sgt. Angus McLeod MacIver, RAFVR 1372381, age 22, of Knock, Isle of Lewis, Scotland. Flight Engineer. Collective Grave 10A 12-13.
--F/O Arthur George Stein, RCAF J/19151, age 25, of Neudorf, Saskatchewan. Pilot (the crew commander). Collective Grave 10A 12-13.
The ninth crew member was:
--Sgt. Robert Alfred Harvey, RCAF, R14844, age and hometown unknown. Bomb Aimer.
We know only that Sgt. Harvey was the lone survivor of the crash and was taken POW by the Germans. I wish I knew his fate. He is the one who had the most forward position, lying prone in the transparent nose of their Halifax Q, the model known as “The Queen of Them All.”
May all nine be at peace in a Home Far Away.
Notes on Something To Do: The author and her husband had an “Ad Astra” stone laid for Dugald Morrison in 2018 in the RCAF Memorial Airpark at the National Air Force Museum of Canada in Trenton, ON. We did this in honour of my mother’s childhood friend. Each year, in September, the Museum holds a dedication ceremony for the men and women honored in the preceding year. You should go. And if you go, then get a small RCAF flag from the Museum’s gift shop to place by Dugald’s stone in Stonebed F-11 or by the stone of any of the crew members who were with him. Be sure to say you need the flag as it looked in July 1944. Here is a picture of Dugald’s stone and one of the correct flag.
A visit to the Museum, itself, is one of the best experiences you could have even if you are not usually a fan of museums. Everybody there is helpful and knowledgeable. And (hint, hint) they are always looking for reliable volunteers. Check out the website at: www.airforcemuseum.ca/ or phone 613-965-7223.
SOURCES consulted for this story:
--Gunshot and Gleanings, Seventh Town Historical Society, 1987, pp.36, 45.
--Canada Census, 1921, 1931
--Ontario, Canada, Marriages 1826-1939
--England and Wales Birth Registration Index 1837-2008
--Commonwealth War Graves Commission: https://www.cwgc.org/
--National Air Force Museum of Canada, Trenton, ON: www.airforcemuseum.ca/
--St. Catharines Public Library: info@myscpl.ca/ ;emails of 8-9 April 2024
--415 Squadron Association: http://www.415sqn.com>history
--Chris Henneberry, President 415 Squadron Association, e-mail exchange 10Mar-June 2024
--Canadian Virtual War Memorial, Operation Picture Me
--Veterans Affairs Canada: https://www.veterans.gc.ca/; e-mail with T. Shaw, 7 June 2024
--Royal Canadian Air Force Association: https://www.rcafassociation.ca>heritage/history/415
--Wikipedia: 415 Long Range Patrol Force Development History
--Canadian Aircraft Serials Personnel Information Resources: https://caspir.warplane.com/
--"Canada’s Air War 1944” from: https://www.bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca/ [PDF]
--Second World War Service Files--War Dead1939 to 1947 (bac-lac.gc.ca)
--https://tailendcharlietedchurch.wordpress.com/ (works, but must be typed in)
--Bomber Command Museum of Canada: https://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca
This is the story of a young Canadian Flying Officer who was killed in action in the skies over Germany during World War II. He is buried far from home beneath a stone which reads:
Flying Officer
D. Morrison
Pilot
Royal Canadian Air Force
29th July 1944 Age 20
“Your memory hallowed
In the land you loved”
The story is both sad and ironic. Find a rocking chair and listen for those notes as you read.
PLANE DOWN
by Mary Lou Walker
F/O DUGALD MORRISON, PILOT, 1924-1944
Part I: The Local Connection
Dugald Morrison was born in 1924 in Sydney, Nova Scotia, the son of George Morrison (1880-1969), a native of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, an electrical engineer, and his second wife Martha “Mattie” Eleanor Corrigan (1890-1974) of Carrying Place, Ontario. She was a dietician. Given the somewhat insular nature of the Corrigan family, it is a wonder how they ever met, but meet they did, and were married 13 October 1919 in Hastings County. The news was published in “The Standard” of St. Catharines, where George was living, and three days later in Trenton, where the marriage took place. George was 39 and Mattie 28. It was five years before they had Dugald, their only child.
Mattie Corrigan and her five siblings grew up in what is today known as the Miskin-Weller House (see p. 36 in Gunshot and Gleanings) on Narrow Lot 8, Ameliasburgh side of the Carrying Place. Her father was Richard James Miskin Corrigan (1842-1895). Her mother was Gertrude Goebel Corrigan (b. 1855, Germany; d. 1912). Their six children were:
Mary Ethel (1876-1954), unmarried, no issue
Maria (pron. “Mariah”), (1877-1934), unmarried, no issue
William (1881-?, but after Maria), unmarried, no issue
Edith (1883-?), married, no known issue
George B. (1886-1963), unmarried, no issue
Martha “Mattie” Eleanor (1890-1974), married, one child.
As you can see, Dugald was the only child born to any of this branch of the Corrigans, so his birth was a great event for this family.
Note: I am old enough to have known some of the Corrigans personally. If there are errors here, please set me straight with hard facts. However, pay NO attention to the Find-a-Grave postings which show three of these children as their father’s siblings (!!) with spouses and children. Family Search and Trees by Dan are only somewhat better.
George Morrison had one daughter, Flora “Florrie” MacDonald Morrison, with his first wife, Flora MacDonald Kilgour, who was born 20 December 1884 in Old Machar, Scotland and died 8 April 1912 in London.. Young Flora was born in 1912 in Brentford, Middelsex, England. Her mother died when the child was born, and George Morrison emigrated to Canada (maybe to Nova Scotia at first) in 1913, leaving Flora behind with family. She did not come to Canada until 1919, when she was 7 years old. You can see her at age 9 on the 1921 census, living with George (41) and Martha (30) at 89 North St., St. Catharines City, Lincoln Twp. This was about 18 months after her father and Martha were married. Dugald had not yet been born.
In 1931, the Morrisons are at 258 Sheldrake Blvd., Toronto, York Twp. Flora is 19 and a “student of physical culture.” She and her father are Presbyterian. Dugald, birthplace Nova Scotia, is a 7-year-old “public school student.” He and his mother are Roman Catholic. I have not continued to follow Flora in much detail. If she ever married or had children, I find no record of it. She appears to have donated a collection to the St. Catharines Public Library, for there is a picture on-line of “Flora Morrison” taken upon that occasion, but I cannot prove she is the Flora who was Dugald’s half-sister. There seems to be a close family resemblance to him, however. Flora Macdonald Morrison died in Toronto in 1981.
On page 45 of Gunshot and Gleanings, Flora is mentioned as one of the local girls who picked berries for market for Bill Hanthorn at the Carrying Place. In the summers and holidays at the Corrigans is where my mother and her sisters crossed paths with Dugald and Florrie. Here are two pictures of my mother Pauline Buchin, age 11 or 12 , and Dugald, age 7 or 8, on the lawn at his mother’s family home . One of them includes Dugald’s Aunt Maria and his mother, Mattie: