Newman, Richard John

Date of birth:: October 17th, 1922 (Toronto/Ontario, Canada)
Date of death:: November 22nd, 1943 (Diever/Drenthe, Netherlands)
Buried on:: Commonwealth War Graves Diever
Plot: E. Row: 5. Grave: 4.
Service number:: J21637
Nationality:: Canadian

Biography

Richard Newman was born on 17 October 1922 in Toronto, the son of Harry Allen Newman and Margaret Newman Ridley Newman-Folensbee of Toronto.

He was a student and a member of the Church of England. His sports were skiing, skating, hunting, fishing, baseball and rugby and as a hobby tinkering with machines. He spoke English and French.

On 19 February 1942, he enlisted in Toronto and received the Air Navigator's Badge in Canada on 4 December 1942. On 12 January 1943, he went overseas to the UK and participated in several air operations of his squadron to NW Europe.

Richard died on Monday 22 November 1943 at the age of 21 while on a mission to Berlin. Their Halifax bomber LW231 VR-F had taken off that evening from RAF Middleton St George for a mission to Berlin and was shot at by a German night fighter. The aircraft crashed burning in the “Staatsbossen” near Diever, killing all crew members.

The other crew members killed were Sgt George A. Howitson, age 21, Plot E. Row 5. Coll. grave 4-7, P/O William L. Hunter, age 21 yrs., Plot E. Row 5. grave 3,WWII Joseph A. Lesage, age 22 yrs., Plot E. Row 5. grave 1, Sgt George A. May, age 19 yrs, Plot E. Row 5. grave 2 and Fl Sgt Malcolm A. McKellar, age 20 yrs, Plot E. Row 5. Coll. grave 4-7 (all RCAF) and Sgt Wilbert B. Jones, age 18 yrs, Plot E. Row 5. Coll. grave 4-7 (RAFVR)

His headstone reads: “SO MUCH FOR SO LITTLE”

He was posthumously honoured with the RCAF Operational Wings and Certificate of gallant services in action against the enemy on 1 May 1947 and his father was awarded The Memorial Bar in April 1946.

The names of the crew members are on a memorial at the crash site in the woods near Diever

He served with the 419 Sqdn Royal Canadian Air Force.

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