Sergeant James Alexander CRUICKSHANK (1564167)
103 Squadron Royal Air Force

Date of birth: Unknown
Date of death: 26th August 1944

Killed in action aged 1943
Buried at Littlehampton Cemetery Sussex Section D Grave 4350
James Alexander "Hamish" Cruickshank was born at Granton-on-Spey the eldest son of Alexander Cruickshank and Mary (nee Knight) Cruickshank of 9 Cardow Cottages, Knockando.

Before the war he was employed by Messrs MacDougall and Co before joining the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve where he trained as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. He had been on leave two weeks before his last mission.

On the night of the 25th/26th of August 1944 Bomber Command despatched 412 Lancaster bombers for an attack on the Opel motor vehicle factory at Russelsheim near Frankfurt. The marking of the target was successfully carried out by the Pathfinders and the bombing was completed in 10 minutes. German reports record that the forge and gearbox assembly departments were damaged and out of action for several weeks but 90% of the machine tools in other departments escaped unscathed. 179 people were killed in the raid.

James Cruickshank and his crew took off in Lancaster Mark III ND632 PM-Y at 8.13pm on the 25th of August 1944 from RAF Elsham Wolds in Lincolnshire for the operation. Their aircraft was damaged by friendly machine gun fire in the inner starboard engine during the mission, which they shut down and headed for home on three engines. They decided to land at Ford Fleet Air Arm base in Sussex where visibility was poor with patches of mist between fifty and one hundred feet deep in places.. They arrived at Ford at around 3.15am. They fired a red Verey Light and were given permission to land. After making a circuit they made their approach but, in the fog and low cloud, they missed the runway, swung to port and crashed into two Beaufighters and two Mosquitos before crashing into a hangar and bursting into flames, killing all on board.

The crew was: -

Flying Officer Lawrence Edward Westcott (Pilot)
Sergeant Ernest Bull (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Allen Parker Tebbutt (Navigator)
Flying Officer Norman John Lewis (Air Bomber)
Sergeant James Alexander Cruickshank (Wireless Operator)
Flight Sergeant Norman George Albert Burges RAAF (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant William Voellner (Rear Gunner)

The crew had flown eleven operational missions together before their loss. An investigation into the crash found that the aircraft had been damaged by British .303 ammunition, probably while other aircraft in the formation were engaging with enemy night fighters during the operation. Theirs was one of fifteen Lancasters lost on the raid.

"He was of a bright disposition, he was a keen airman."
Knockando

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