Flt. Sgt. Gilbert Davies Boyer
Wireless Operator/Airgunner RCAF
408 (Goose) Sqdn. RCAF
He was a radio operator/air gunner of the Halifax Mk. II bomber JB866 EQ-T, which was shot down on the evening of April 3, 1943, by Lt. U. Schön of the I.NJG.1 from the German air base in Venlo. The bomber crashed at approximately 10:45 p.m. near Opheusden, in the vicinity of Tielsestraat/Rijnbankdijk.
The target of the flight was Essen (Germany).
The following were killed with him:
Sgt. K.O. Brice, Flt. Engr. RCAF
Flt. Sgt. F.R. Burke, Air Gunner, RCAF
Wt. Offr.II. M.G. Church, Navigator, RCAF
Pilot Officer G.A. Fletcher, Air Bomber, RCAF
Flying Officer J.D. McBride, W.Op/Air Gunner, RCAF
Pilot Officer E.A. Sirett, RCAF Pilot
They were buried on April 5, 1943, in the rectory garden of St. Peter's Church in Uden.
G.D. Boyer (although identified as 'Champ Gill'), M.G. Church, and E.A. Sirett were unknown. They were identified in March 1946.
They were reburied in the Uden War Cemetery in July or September 1946 (this is unclear).
His younger brother, Jack Sinclair Boyer, also a RCAF pilot, was killed in January 1943 during a patrol flight over the North Sea and has been listed as missing since then.
Archive A. Verbakel / Heemkundekring Uden
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