Profile image
Military service
Service number:
161439
Age:
19
Rank:
Flight Sergeant
Force:
Air Force
Unit/Regiment:
Royal Canadian Air Force
Division:
419 Sqdn.
Death:
October 4, 1943
Burial/memorial information
Grave reference:
20. B. 30.
Additional information
Son of Herbert William and Rose Griffin, of Brantford, Ontario, Canada.
Digital gallery of Flight Sergeant Edward Herbert William Griffin
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Grave Marker
Grave marker - Rheinberg War Cemetery - May 2015 Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Cemetery
Entrance - Rheinberg War Cemetery - May 2015 Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Cemetery
Rheinberg War Cemetery - May 2015 Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Cemetery
Cross of Sacrifice - Rheinberg War Cemetery - May 2015 Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Group Photo
The crew of Halifax JD 204, from 419 Sqdn RCAF, was lost 4 October 1943 on the crew's 15th mission. Takeoff was from Middleton St. George at 1740 Hrs, for target FRANKFURT. Expected return 01:26 Hrs October 5th. Hamilton, Dale, Griffin and Bortolussi were killed in the crash. Riley, McEwan, and Reay bailed out and were POW's. Hamilton is standing in the rear 2nd from the left beside his friend Jack Dale.<P> Source of information: Library & Archives Canada via R. Whitehouse<P> Source of photograph: Mr. Robert E. Dale via R. Whitehouse -
Group Photo
This picture is of F/O Bill Hamilton's crew after an air test at Middleton St George in July/August 1943. The crew completed 14 missions and was shot down on the 15th trip, which was to Frankfurt. They had just come back from a 9 day leave the previous day. The aircraft was shot down by a night fighter about 40-50 miles east of Mannheim. The Halifax crashed at a site 8 km SW of Kirchberg (Sohren) The four dead crew were buried side by side in the Rheinberg War Cemetery. Hamilton Plot 20 Row B Grave 28 Dale Plot 20 Row B Grave 29 Griffin Plot 20 Row B Greave 30 Bortolussi Plot 20 Row B Grave 31 They are not quite in the order of the mae west photo, but almost. Source: Photo from the Dale family archives via R Whitehouse Source: All other data taken from the Dale file at Library & Archives Canada via R. Whitehouse -
Letter
Letter from Mrs. Griffin to Mrs Dale 23 November 1943 Mrs. Griffin was the mother of Ed Griffin, the Mid-Upper Gunner, of Halifax MkII JD204 VR-L of 419 Sqdn. Mrs Dale was the mother of Jack Dale the Bomb Aimer. Both had been waiting from 6 Oct 43 for news of the crew. On 21 November 1943 it came. Riley, Reay and McEwan were POW and Hamilton, Dale, Griffin and Bortolussi were dead. This letter is a graphic example of the grief being share by the families of RCAF crews overseas. Sources: Letter is from the Dale Family archives via R. Whitehouse All other information is from Library & Archives Canada via R. Whitehouse -
Letter (page 1)
Letter from Mrs. Griffin to Mrs Dale 3 November 1943 Page #1 This letter says all there is to say about waiting for news of missing loved ones. Families of missing crew members ofter wrote each other. Sources: Letter is from the Dale Family archives via R. Whitehouse All other information is from Library & Archives Canada via R. Whitehouse -
Letter (page 2)
Letter from Mrs. Griffin to Mrs Dale 3 November 1943 Page #2 This letter says all there is to say about waiting for news of missing loved ones. Families of missing crew members ofter wrote each other. Sources: Letter is from the Dale Family archives via R. Whitehouse All other information is from Library & Archives Canada via R. Whitehouse -
Letter (page 3)
Letter from Mrs. Griffin to Mrs Dale 3 November 1943 Page #3 Sources: Letter is from the Dale Family archives via R. Whitehouse All other information is from Library & Archives Canada via R. Whitehouse -
Memorial
Father J P Lardie's comments as inscribed on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Flight Sergeant Edward Herbert William Griffin is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Flight Sergeant Edward Herbert William Griffin is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Newspaper clipping
From the Toronto Star June 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper clipping
From the Toronto Star June 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper clipping
From the Toronto Telegram May 1944. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Edward Herbert William Griffin
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Edward Herbert William Griffin
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Edward Herbert William Griffin
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Edward Herbert William Griffin
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Edward Herbert William Griffin
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Edward Herbert William Griffin
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Edward Herbert William Griffin
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Edward Herbert William Griffin
Digital gallery of
Flight Sergeant Edward Herbert William Griffin
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 166 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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RHEINBERG WAR CEMETERY Germany
Rheinberg is 24 kilometres north of Krefeld and 13 kilometres south of Wesel, in the locality of Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal. The cemetery is 3 kilometres south of the centre of the town of Rheinberg on the road to Kamp Lintfort. From the motorway 57, turn off at Rheinberg and at the T junction follow the 510 in the direction Kamp Lintfort. The cemetery is a short way along this road on the right.
The site of Rheinberg War Cemetery was chosen in April 1946 by the Army Graves Service for the assembly of Commonwealth graves recovered from numerous German cemeteries in the area. The majority of those now buried in the cemetery were airmen, whose graves were brought in from Dusseldorf, Krefeld, Munchen-Gladbach, Essen, Aachen and Dortmund; 450 graves were from Cologne alone. The men of the other fighting services buried here mostly lost their lives during the battle of the Rhineland, or in the advance from the Rhine to the Elbe.
There are now 3,326 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated at Rheinberg War Cemetery. 156 of the burials are unidentified. There are also nine war graves of other nationalities, most of them Polish.
For more information, visit Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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