WARRELL, John Francis

NAME                    WARRELL          John Francis
RANK                    Flying Officer                                                                                                                                                                2nd Tactical Air Force - RCAF 143 Wing - Group 10 RAF Fighter Command                    SQUADRON         RCAF 440 “Red Bat” Squadron City of Ottawa
                              “he who protects the Saguenay”
                              B 78  Eindhoven Airfield in Netherlands
                              Squadron Markings 18                                                                                                            Born                      June 25, 1924 - Gorrie - Township of Howick - County of Huron                                  Residence             Wroxeter - Ontario                                                                                                                  Died                       February 3, 1945          20 years   7 months           
Cemetery              Reichswald Forest War Cemetery - Kleve - Reichswald Forest - Rhine Westphalia - Germany
                              II C 17
Wife                      Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Warrell - Washington, D.C.                                                                      Father                   Mr. James Warrell - Wroxeter - Ontario                                                                                Mother                  Mrs. Gladys Actseon (Warrell) - Wroxeter / Toronto - Ontario.

John was born in Gorrie on June 25, 1924. When growing up he enjoyed playing baseball and hockey and team sports in high school. His hobby was building model aircraft. The family would have attended Wroxeter United Church. He received his public schooling at SS 5 Howick from 1929-37 and he attended Wingham High School from 1937-42 and left school at age 17. Growing up he had the measles, chicken pox and he suffered a fractured clavicle. His desire after his education was to become a police officer.

Canada

He enlisted into the Royal Canadian Air Force in Toronto on July 9, 1942 and received the rank of                Aircraftsman 2. At the time he stood 5' 10" and weighed 155 pounds. His complexion was medium with hazel eyes and brown hair. He was assigned to the Toronto Recruitment Centre for two months and on September 9 he was assigned to No. 1 Manning Depot also in Toronto and he was here until later in November. His first posting on November 24 sent him to No. 14 Service Flying Training School in Aylmer - Ontario.                                        On March 6, 1943 he was sent to No. 6 Initial Training School in Toronto and this was followed by being posted to No. 12 Elementary Flying Training School in Goderich - Ontario on June 13. While here he received the rank of Leading Aircraftsman. The next posting on August 8 was to No. 2 Service Flying Training School in Uplands - Ontario. While posted here he earned the rank of Sergeant and then a bit later he earned the rank of Pilot Officer. He also received his Pilot Flying Badge. Following this he was off to Quebec to the Saugenay area Quebec at Bagotville  on December 11 to No. 1 Operational Training Unit.                                                                                In the spring of 1944 on May 21 he was assigned to No. 1 "Y" Depot at Greenwood in Halifax in preparation for overseas duty. As he waited for overseas duty he received the rank of Flying Officer on May 26, 1944.

Overseas

Prior to embarking he was assigned to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre and on June 2 he embarked from Canada for duty overseas. He disembarked in the United Kingdom on June 10 and the following day reported to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre. He was at this facility until September 5 at which time he was posted to      RAF No. 61 Operational Training Unit based at RAF Heston - Middlesex and here he trained as a fighter pilot. On November 24 he was posted to RAF No. 3 Tactical Exercise Unit at RAF Honiley - Warwickshire. In December 6 he was posted to RAF No. 55 Operational Training Unit at RAF Aston Downs - Gloucestershire.                        On January 6, 1945 his next posting was to RAF No. 83 Operational Training Unit for two days and then on January 8, 1945 he went to RCAF Squadron No. 440

In the Field

When Flying Officer arrived at No. 44 Squadron the squadron was based at Eindhoven in the Netherlands. Between January 8 and February 3 he had flown 32 sorties.                                                                                The first two missions of the day were armed reconnaissance with the last 6 missions being rail - cutting missions. The crash took place in the Dingden District of Borken in Germany.                                                          On this sortie Flying Officer Warrell in Typhoon Mk Ib  PD 497 was airborne at 9:20 am and his aircraft crashed at 9:50 am and at the time the weather was not good. during his armed reconnaissance mission he was flying at 300 feet when his aircraft was seen to flick into the ground. At the time no flak was seen in the vicinity. His aircraft crashed at 09:50 am on February 3, 1945 at Dingden in the district of Borken.
P/O Warrell was flying Red 4 on this mission in the Bocholt area of Germany and at the time the weather
was poor with rain showers. After the completion of their mission and they were beginning the return leg to
base they noticed a train and all went down and attacked this new target. As Red 1 pulled up he noticed a
Typhoon over the target do two flicks – roll – and strike the ground – and then explode. PO Warrell was carrying either 500 pound or 1,000 pound bombs.
Since this was an armed reconnaissance mission they would have been at 4,000 feet and if there was one
target the formation would have been line astern of one another. If there were multiple targets the formation
would two formations of aircraft flying two abreast.
They would have approached the train in a sweeping turn at a 30 degree glide, straightening up at 800 yards,
take aim, and open fire at 600 yards, close to 200 yards and then break sharply to avoid any debris. During
the run-in he would have throttled back to avoid high speeds and it is estimated he would have been flying
at about 300 mph. He then would have fired bursts of about 3 seconds and it would have been a steady fire.
His death was caused by massive head and body injuries.                                                                                  Flying Officer Warrell was originally buries in Dingden - Borken - Germany

In the month of January 1946 both his widow and his mother received the Memorial Cross and the in month of January his widow received the medals awarded to her husband and included the 1939-45 Star, the France-Germany Star, the Defence and War Medals plus the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with clasp. His widow also received his Operational Wings.

John is honoured and remembered on the Fordwich Cenotaph and on the Memorial Plaque of Wroxeter United Church and on the Memorial Plaque of the Wingham High School. He is also honoured and remembered on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and in the Books of Remembrance located in Ottawa in the Centre Block of our Canadian Parliament.