AN airman who was born in Lochmaben but ended up in the Canadian military during WWII will be honoured in a service next month.
Air Bomber, Flying Officer George William McCartney (J/28883) was part of the Royal Canadian Air Force and was killed in the early hours of August 26 1944, aged just 23.
He was on a Halifax bomber MZ311 with six other men. They had been tasked to lay sea mines, a practice known as gardening, in the Bay of Biscay to disrupt enemy naval activities and hinder shipping traffic.
Their job done, the bomber team were returning towards the safety and comfort of their home base at RAF Breighton in Yorkshire, when some unknown occurrence caused them to perish in a crash high up on the escarpment of Cleeve Common, overlooking Cheltenham in Gloucestershire.
A small fragment of aircraft wreckage was found there in August 2020 and, following extensive and painstaking research, it was identified as being the final remaining part of Halifax MZ311.
Further research over the last year identified and located many of the surviving relatives of the tragic crew.
A stone marker and plaque bearing their names was unveiled at the spot in December 2022 and a memorial dedication service is taking place next month to mark the 80th anniversary of their death.
The service will be conducted by The Venerable Air Vice-Marshal Ron Hesketh CB RAF Retd, former Chaplain-in-Chief to the Royal Air Force. Also in attendance will be members of Cleeve Common Trust, The Royal Air Forces Association, a representative of The High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom and The Royal Canadian Air Force.
Weather permitting, there will also be a flypast by a Royal Canadian Air Force C130 in salute to fallen comrades.
In addition, 12 relatives of George McCartney will be attending, including his great niece and nephew and great great nieces and nephews. They are coming from the USA, Canada and Australia
George was born in Lochmaben in 1921, the son of William and Janet. He emigrated to News Brunswick in Canada with his father and twin sister Marion after the death of their mother.
In 1940 George enlisted and he was commissioned in 1943, joining 78 Squadron at RAF Breighton from 1666 HCU, based at RAF Wombleton, on April 28 1944.
George is buried in the Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey.
Researchers say members of his mother’s family – the Gibsons – still farm in Dumfriesshire.
Judith Wordsworth is one of the event organisers and said: “The courage of these men, alongside their contemporaries, to launch repeatedly into the night knowing full well that the odds against their survival were very high, is simply astonishing by any measure, which makes their loss on their way home and over English soil even more tragic.
“The statistics on aircraft and crew losses serve to remind us of the horrendous cost paid by Bomber Command as it sent out its crews night after night.
“We owe our freedom today to the unflinching courage and determination of these men, and a key role of the Royal Air Forces Association is to ensure that we, and others, proudly and thankfully remember them as we do with this memorial and this dedication on August 26 2024.”
