Simon Glancey has submitted the following:
Flying Officer Murray was killed when Handley Page Halifax V LL255 WL-V of 434 (R.C.A.F.) Squadron was lost on a mission to Leipzig. The Halifax crashed near Stendal, with the loss of all seven crew members.
Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War: 1944; W.R. Chorley; 1997; Midland Counties Publications; ISBN 0 904597 91 1, page 91
Tony Hibberd adds the following:
Halifax LL255 WL-V had departed Croft at 2335 for Ops Leipzig. It was probably intercepted at 6400M, ESE of Fassberg by a Night-Fighter captained by Oblt Heinz Ferger (III/NJG3) and shot down at 0320 for his 10th Abschuss.
The Berwick Advertiser of 27/08/1942 holds the explanation for his remembrance at Belford:
>BELFORD GIRL WEDS CANADIAN RADIO SINGER
Air Force blue predominated at the wedding at St. Mary’s Church, Stafford, on Saturday of Assistant Section Leader Catherine Falla, W.A.A.F., daughter of Mrs and the late Mr J. W. Falla, 5, The Meadows, Belford, and Pilot-Officer C. L. Murray, R.C.A.F., son of Mr and Mrs J. F. Murray, 143, Roseberry Street, St. James, Winnipeg, Canada. The officiating clergyman was the Rev. L. Lambert.
The bride and groom were both in uniform, as was the bride’s sister, Cpl. A. Falla, W.A.A.F., who acted as bridesmaid. The best man was Mr C. Bert.
After the reception, which was held in Stafford, the bride and groom left for their honeymoon, which was spent in the North.
Miss Falla, who is well known in the Belford district, joined the W.A.A.F. at the outbreak of war. She gained a commission in July of this year. Educated at Belford, Miss Falla was, before the war, employed at Alnwick Golf Course.
Her husband, who is a native of Winnipeg, is a pilot in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Before the war he was a vocalist on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Network.
Charles Leonard Murray is remembered at Belford on B16.01 and B16.02
