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Canadian Virtual War Memorial

William Wilkins Mitchell

In memory of:

Flying Officer William Wilkins Mitchell

May 23, 1944

Military Service


Service Number:

C/2106

Force:

Air Force

Unit:

Royal Canadian Air Force

Division:

419 Sqdn.

Additional Information


Commemorated on Page 396 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance. Request a copy of this page. Download high resolution copy of this page.

Burial Information


Cemetery:
Grave Reference:

Coll. grave 3. H. 18-22.

Location:

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.

Information courtesy of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

Digital Collection

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  • Memorial– Father J P Lardie's comments as inscribed on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Memorial– Flying Officer William Wilkins Mitchell is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Memorial– Flying Officer William Wilkins Mitchell is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Grave marker– Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of WILLIAM WILKINS MITCHELL– Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Letter– Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Photo of WILLIAM WILKINS MITCHELL– Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Id card– Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
  • Newspaper Clipping– The Toronto Star February 17, 1945
Killed in raid on Dortmund May 22/23, 1944.
Additional information on crash:
F/O Mitchell was a pilot serving on 419 (RCAF) Squadron.  He was second pilot on Lancaster KB 717 for the raid on Dortmund 22/23 May 1944.  The aircraft was airborne 2240 from Middleton St. George, and shot down over Germany by a nightfighter.  The crew were buried at Monchen-Gladbach, exhumed and reburied in the War Cemetery at Rheinberg, Germany.  They are:
F/O (P) Chas. E. G. Patterson, age 22, from Toronto, Ont.
P/O (N) William A. Bailey, age 20, from Brantford, Ont. 
P/O (BA) Donovan E. Derbyshire, age 21, from Southwood Station, Ont.
F/Sgt (AG) Adam P. Chawanski, age 22, from Winnipeg, Man.
W/O2 (AG) Arthur C. Beckett, age 20, from Edmonton, Alberta 
and two RAF crew members from Wales: P/O (FE) Robt. E. N. Wood and F/Sgt(WAG) Ogwen Jones.


[Sources:  //lostbombers.co.uk; They Shall Grow Not Old, Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum, Brandon, Manitoba; CWGC.]
  • Newspaper Clipping– The Toronto Star February 17, 1945
  • Cemetery– Entrance - Rheinberg War Cemetery - May 2015
Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Cemetery– Cross of Sacrifice - Rheinberg War Cemetery - May 2015
Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Cemetery– Rheinberg War Cemetery - May 2015
Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens
  • Grave Marker– Grave marker - Rheinberg War Cemetery - May 2015
Photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Learn more about the Canadian Virtual War Memorial

To learn more please visit our help page. If you have questions or comments regarding the information contained in this registry, email or call us. For inquiries regarding the names and information found in the RCMP Honour Roll, please email the RCMP.

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