MITCHELL, George Donald
- 19 years
- Canadian
- Sergeant Air Gunner
- R/221524
- Wellington Mk. III, BK501
- 25th January 1944
-
Lessay Communal Cemetery
[Row A Grave 1]
On 23 July 1943 he was posted to No. 2 Air Gunners Ground Training School in Trenton, Ontario where he learned the mechanics of air gunnery after which he went to No. 3 Bombing and Gunnery School in MacDonald, Manitoba where he put the theory into practice. On graduation on 15 October 1943 he received two weeks leave before being shipped to the UK on 29 October.
As part of their training, OTU crews would participate in mine laying and leaflet dropping operations to build teamwork and prepare for operational missions.
On the night of 25 January 1944, with their training almost complete, Sergeant Mitchell and the rest of his crew took off at 7:22 PM in Wellington BK501 to drop leaflets on Granville, France. They did not return from this mission. Sergeant Mitchell’s body washed ashore at Hatainville, France on 28 January. Sergeant Mitchell was 19 years old at the time of his death.