MAGOFFIN, James Ivan

NAME                    MAGOFFIN          James Ivan
RANK                    Sergeant / Air Gunner      191611                                                                                                                                RAF Bomber Command - Group 5                                                                                    SQUADRON         RAF No. 207 Squadron
                              “always prepared”
                              RAF Spilsby Airfield in Lincolnshire
                              Squadron Markings EM                                                                                                          Born                      July 7, 1921 - Bluevale - Township of Turnberry - County of Huron                                              Residence             Lucknow - Ontario                                                                                                                      Died                      June 22, 1944          22 years   11 months
Cemetery              Adegem Canadian War Cemetery - Maldegem - Oost-Vlaanderen - Belgium
                              XI J 7
Parents                 Mr. Tom and Anne Magoffin - Lucknow - Ontario.                                                              Brothers                Mr. John Magoffin living in Wingham - Ontario                                                                                                           Mr. Ernest Magoffin living in Lucknow - Ontario                                                                  Sisters                  Miss Lorene Magoffin living in Orillia - Ontario                                                                                                           Miss Fern Magoffin living in London - Ontario                                                                                                             Miss Yvonne Magoffin living in Lucknow - Ontario 

James was born in Bluevale on July 7, 1921 and as he grew up he played hockey and baseball and liked to
shoot, trap and do wood working. The family would have attended Lucknow United Church. Growing up he had the measles, chicken pox, the scarlet fever and whooping cough. He attended public school at SS No. 7 West Wawanosh from 1927-34. Prior to his enlistment he worked on the farm of James Forrester of the Lucknow area from 1938-42.

Canada

Upon enlisting into the Royal Canadian Air Force on September 10, 1942 in London and obtaining the rank of Aircraftsman 2 he stood 5' 10" and weighed 142 pounds. He had a fair complexion with brown eyes and hair. He stayed here at the London Recruitment Centre until October 10 when he was assigned to No. 1 Manning Depot in Toronto. Near the end of November 26 he was assigned to No. 10 Recruitment Centre in Hamilton - Ontario. While here he obtained the rank of Aircraftsman 1.                                                                                                  In the middle of January 1943 on the 16th he was posted to No. 4 Wireless School in Guelph - Ontario. On February 17 he was posted to No. 1 Equipment Depot in Toronto - Ontario where he obtained the rank of Leading Aircraftsman and he stayed there until April 18 when he was posted to No. 4 Initial Training School in Edmonton - Alberta. The next posting brought him back to Trenton - Ontario on July 10 to the Air Gunner Ground Training School. Then it was west to the Manitoba prairies on August 22 to No. 3 Bombing and Gunnery School based at MacDonald. His ground training average was 86% and his air training average was 83%. He obtained the rank of Sergeant when posted here and also received his Air Gunners Badge. On October 22 he was posted to No. 1 "Y" Depot in Halifax in preparation for overseas duties and the same day he was assigned to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre in England.

Overseas

Sergeant Magoffin embarked from Canada for overseas on October 22 and disembarked in the United Kingdom on October 30 and a day later he reported to No. 3 Personnel Reception Centre in Bournemouth - Dorset. His first posting overseas was on November 16 to RAF No. 17 Operational Training Unit based at RAF Silverstone on the border of Northamptonshire/Buckinghamshire.                                                                                              On February 29, 1944 he was posted to the RAF Aircrew School and he remained here until March 27 when his next posting sent him to RAF No. 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit based at RAF Winthorpe - Nottinghamshire. Then it was on to No. 5 Lancaster Finishing School based at RAF Syerston - Nottinghamshire.

In the Field                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  His final posting was to his squadron which was RAF No. 207 Squadron based at RAF Spilsby - Lincolnshire and he arrived there on May 25.                                                                                                                                      The target for the night on June 21/22 was Wesseling which was a city that bordered the City of Cologne on the Rhine River. It was a strategic target because of the synthetic oil that was produced there and the Scholven refineries at Buer near Duisburg in the Ruhr Valley. Lancaster ME 683 EM W lifted off at 11:20 pm with Pilot Officer Coreless from Clinton in Huron County as the pilot and Sergeant Magoffin was the rear air gunners. They were one of 22 aircraft from the squadron and joined the main bomber stream.  This was his eighth sortie and he had 29.40 hours in the air. The bomb load was 1 - 4,000 lb. bomb and 15 - 500 lb. bombs for a load of 11,000 lbs. It was a dark nigh over the continent with a 2% moon and a blanket of low cloud which silhouetted the bombers when the aircraft was attacked at 1:30 am on the outward bound leg to the target on June 22 by Luftwaffe Major Wolfgang Schnaufer of the Geschwader NJG.4 based at St. Trond. Pilot Officer Coreless opened the bomb bay door and jettsioned some of his bombs before the aircraft exploded and crashed at Meeuwen Gruitrode in Belgium.  The body of Sertgeant Macgoffin was located in a cornfield and taken by cart to where his comrades were. The crew was originally buried at the Meeuwen Cemetery in separate coffins.                              The crew of Lancaster ME 683  EM W met their fate at the hands of Major Heinz Wolfgang Schnaufer who was Germany's top scoring night fighter pilot. Before the night of June 21/22 he had 80 confirmed kills. When he returned to base his count was 84.                                                                                                                          The Priest in Meeuwen witnessed Lancaster ME 683 pass over a bit north of his church after jettisoning part of the bomb load onto the wood between Ellikom and where the present day Meeuwen industrial park is before making an arc to the south and exploding above the country side into a field 1/2 mile from the centre of town. The debris field was not spread out over a wide area indicating the aircraft exploded at a low altitude. A second witness lived in the house closest to the crash site and said pieces of the aircraft landed on their roof. When the aircraft exploded several of the 500 lb. bombs exploded but the next day they saw the 4,000 pound bomb in the ground and it was cracked but had not exploded. The wreckage remained for approximately a month when lorries arrived and the pieces were loaded and taken away. He recalls a big box being discovered which was the dingy from the starboard wing housing

In February of 1946 his mother Anne received the Memorial Cross and this was followed in April 1947 by the medals awarded to James which included the 1939-45 Star, the France-Germany Star, the Defence and War Medals plus the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with clasp. That same month his mother received his Operational Wings.

James is honoured and remembered on both the Lucknow Cenotaph as well as the St Helens Cenotaph. He is honoured and remembered on the Memorial Plaque of Lucknow United Church. He is honoured and remembered on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and in the Books of Remembrance located in the Centre Block of the Canadian Parliament. He is honoured and remembered at the RCAF Bomber Command Memorial and at the site of the International Bomber Command Centre. He is also honoured and remember in the Leicester Cathedral on the RAF Squadron Honour Roll and on the RAF Spilsby Memorial to No. 207 Squadron