Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Photo of FRANCIS AUBREY BELL – From the research work done by Margaret Rose and submitted for the project Operation Picture Me

Memorial – Permanent memorial erected at crash site.

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 Francis Aubrey Bell is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Memorial – Flying Officer Francis Aubrey Bell is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens

Photo of Francis Aubrey Bell

Memorial – The WW2 Halifax Bomber Memorial on Great Carrs, The Lake District National Park Cumbria England Photo from www.go4awalk.com courtesy Chris Leonard.

Memorial – The WW2 Halifax Bomber Memorial on Great Carrs, The Lake District National Park Cumbria England Photo from www.go4awalk.com courtesy Chris Leonard.

Grave Marker – Photo courtesy of Alan Clark, England. Inscription chosen by family: "He who lives in Love Lives in God And God in Him For God is Love."

Crash site – Photo of crash area in Cumberland. Halifax LL505 flew from #1659 Heavy Conversion Unit, Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, and crashed and burned on impact near RAF Millom, near Haverigg, Cumberland, October 22, 1944. News item from www.bbc.co.uk Wednesday, 2 November 2005. Cliff-top Memorial for Lost Crew Little Langdale The bomber crashed near Little Langdale, in Cumbria A permanent memorial to the crew of a World War II bomber is to be set up at the site where it crashed in the Lake District in 1944. Eight crew members, seven Canadians and one Briton, died on Great Carrs after getting lost in bad weather. Representatives from the RAF and the Canadian embassy will take part in the rededication ceremony at the site, near Little Langdale, on Armistice Day. The Vicar of Coniston, the Rev Mark East, will officiate at the ceremony. The Halifax Mark V bomber was on a night navigation exercise from Topcliffe in Yorkshire when it ran into thick cloud. The pilot descended but the bomber crashed near the summit of Great Carrs. Squadron Leader Tony Parrini has campaigned for the memorial. He said: "There has been a great deal of interest in this project because there has never been a formal memorial to these brave men at the site which is the most visited World War II aircraft crash in Cumbria. "We want to put that right, and doing so on Armistice Day seemed the most appropriate way of going about it." The wreckage remains at the site and a team of Air Cadets built a cairn in which they placed a container with the crew members' names, but it disappeared. The crew were J A Johnston, 27; R N Whitley, 20; F A Bell, 33; H E Pyche, 21; D F Titt, 19; G Riddoch, 20; and C G Whittingstall, 20, of the Royal Canadian Air Force and W B Ferguson, 19, of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve