Profile image
Military service
Service number:
J/23905
Age:
22
Rank:
Flying Officer
Force:
Air Force
Unit/Regiment:
Royal Canadian Air Force
Division:
625 Sqdn.
Death:
May 16, 1944
The North Sea
Burial/memorial information
Grave reference:
Panel 247.
Additional information
Son of Frederick Thomas Merrall and Olive Ellen Merrall, of Leaside, Ontario.
Digital gallery of Flying Officer William Robert Merrall
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Inscription
Inscription - Runnymede Memorial - September 2010 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Stone of Remembrance
Stone of Remembrance - Runnymede Memorial - September 2010 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Runnymede Memorial
Runnymede Memorial - September 2010 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Panels
Panels - Runnymede Memorial - September 2010 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Entrance to Memorial
Entrance - Runnymede Memorial - September 2010 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Group Photo
Photo and story courtesy of Air War Over Denmark www.flensted.eu.com<P> Photo of crew members:<BR> Rear L to R: F/S (AG) F. N. McDonough RAAF, F/S (BA) H. R. Lawson RCAF, Sgt. (W/Op) E. Wilkinson, Sgt.(FE) Albert Dix Front Row L to R: F/O (N) Merrall RCAF, P/O (P) Robert Beadle, Sgt. (AG) James Potter.<P> Lancaster I LL894 of 625 (RAF) Sqn took off 22:02 from Kelstern on Gardening (Mining) operation to Kiel Bay. The aircraft is believed to have been shot down by a night fighter at 01:53 hours and crashed into the North Sea 60 kilometres WNW of Westerland/Sylt killing the crew.<P> The body of Sgt Dix was found washed ashore on the island of Fanø on 14/6. He was laid to rest in Fovrfelt cemetery in Esbjerg on 19/6-44. The bodies of the remainder of the crew were unrecovered and their names are on the Runnymede War Memorial.<P> -
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 Robert Merrall is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Flying Officer William Robert Merrall is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Newspaper clipping
From the Toronto Star May 1943. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper clipping
From the Toronto Star May 1943. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Memorial
A plaque on the exterior wall of Leaside Memorial Community Gardens, a hockey arena and recreational complex at 1073 Millwood Road, Toronto. The original facility was opened in 1951 and was named in remembrance of local (Leaside) men who died in World War II. Included in the names on the plaque is that of William Robert Merrall. (Image taken by Gregory J. Barker of Barrie, Ontario, in 2015.)
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer William Robert Merrall
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer William Robert Merrall
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer William Robert Merrall
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer William Robert Merrall
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer William Robert Merrall
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer William Robert Merrall
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer William Robert Merrall
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer William Robert Merrall
Digital gallery of
Flying Officer William Robert Merrall
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 393 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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