Jack Bate
FO Arthur John "Jack" Bate (2 August 1923 - 6 November 1944). Jack was a flying officer (fighter pilot) with the 101st Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF).
Early life
Jack was the second of two children born to Eva Mary Cooke.
He was employed as an apprentice in the car department of the Canadian National Railway in Transcona.
Military career
He enlisted and was assigned the service number J/36280.
He was the bomb aimer of an Avro Lancaster Mark I, PB692, the afternoon of 6 November 1944, when it crashed near Wanne-Eickel, Herne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, in Germany.
"[Jack] died when his aircraft, Avro Lancaster I PB692, was believed to have crashed near Wanne-Eickel during a daylight raid on a synthetic oil plant at Gelsenkirchen."
Word has been received by Mr. and Mrs. A. T. Bate, 125 Victoria ave. east, Transcona, that their elder son, F.O. JACK BATE, R.C.A.F., was reported missing following air operations over enemy territory on Nov. 6. F.O. Bate enlisted in November, 1942, and went overseas in October, 1943. He was formerly employed as an apprentice in the car department of the C.N.R., Transcona.
Date: Monday 6 November 1944 Time: afternoon Avro Lancaster Mk I Owner/operator: 101 Sqn RAF Registration: PB692 MSN: SR-K2 Fatalities: Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Destroyed Location: Wanne-Eickel, Herne, Nordrhein-Westfalen - Germany Phase: Combat Nature: Military Departure airport: RAF Ludford Magna, Lincolnshire Destination airport: Gelsenkirchen Narrative: Took off from RAF Ludford Magna at 12:00. Crashed in the district of Wanne-Eickel.
The crew were initially buried Gelsenkirchen/Huellen Cemetery. Reinterred 12 May 1947.
Crew
Pilot: J/26395 Fg Off Walter Norman Moore RCAF - Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Plot 20 Row B Grave 10. Flight Engineer: 1114763 Sgt George Arthur Dalton - Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Plot 20 Row B Grave 8. Navigator: J/36315 Fg Off Phil Leeds RCAF - Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Plot 20 Row A Grave 17. Bomb Aimer: J/36280 Fg Off Arthur John Bate RCAF - Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Plot 25 Row C Grave 18. Wireless Operator: 517497 Sgt Stanley Allen Meadows - Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Plot 20 Row B Grave 3. Mid Upper Gunner: J/95352 Plt Off Harold Kester Mainprize RCAF - Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Plot 20 Row B Joint Grave 12-13. Rear Gunner: J/95271 Plt Off Ian Maccallum Hamilton RCAF - Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Plot 20 Row B Grave 11.
Air-Britain Royal Air Force Aircraft PA100-RZ999 Google Maps CWGC Bomber Command Losses 1944 - W R Chorley
Jack was a fighter pilot [actually a bomb aimer of a Lancaster bomber] and was shot down and killed in 1944 (age 21). I don't know how his body was recovered but he is buried in France.
— Bill Currie, email to Michael Currie, 7 June 2014
Sources
[1] https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/rcafmemorialwall_b.shtml
[2] https://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/parkcirclecenotaph.shtml
[3] https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/637485
[4] http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/159449
[5] https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=56032442