Funeral of Lloyd Albert Hannah was buried at Stonefall Cemetery on 18 October 1944
Funeral of Lloyd Albert Hannah, Stonefall Cemetery on 18 October 1944

Stonefall Commonwealth War Graves – stories of bravery and loss

625 Squadron Lancaster LL956 CF-Q were taking off from  RAF Kelstern on 14 Ocrober 1944 to bomb Duisberg, they were part of a 30-aircraft bombing raid.

The plane got into trouble only 6-minutes from landing gear up and Flying Officer, Lloyd Hannah Harold, died along with bomb aimer, flight sergeant Bennet.

Six other members of the craft bailed out to safety.

The Canadian airman, Lloyd Hannah Harold was buried at Stonefall Cemetery on 18 October 1944, he was 26.

Lloyd Hannah Harold was buried at Stonefall Cemetery on 18 October 1944
Lloyd Albert Hannah was buried at Stonefall Cemetery on 18 October 1944

On a bombing raid to Dússeldorf, on 3 November 1944, in Lancaster III, 405 Squadron took heavy gunfire. Pilot,  Harold Alan Hannah took shrapnel to his lungs and went unconscious.

Hannah was wrestled from his seat and given morphine. He remained concious for the trip home, where they did a belly landing. Hannah died in hospital on 27 January 1945,  and was  buried at Stonefall Cemetary, just a few rows back from his brother.  He was 24.

Flying Officer Harold Alan Hannah
Flying Officer Harold Alan Hannah

With thanks to www.aircrewremembered.com for the use of images and facts.

To mark the 75th anniversary of death of more than 500 air force personnel buried at Stonefall Cemetery, Harrogate the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC ) is organising guided tours of the site to share the work of the Commission and the stories of the men and women stories, including D-Day pilots, who gave their lives.

With over 1000 Commonwealth War Graves, Stonefall Cemetery is one of the largest CWGC sites in the North of England. Nearly all the casualties are airmen from the Second World War, with over two-thirds belonging to the Canadian forces.

On Saturday 8 June the CWGC will be running tours of the cemetery and sharing some stories of those commemorated at this site. We will be welcoming members of the public to three separate tours throughout the day – one beginning at 11:00am, another at 1:00pm and a third at 3:00pm.

The stories to be told include those of a crew of Canadian airmen who died on the 8 June 1945 on a training flight and the story of Flying Officer Harold Allan Hannah who flew as part of D-Day and was then killed whilst on a raid over Germany when a piece of shrapnel pierced the Lancaster Bomber he was flying and entered his lung.

You can book a place on one of the tours here: https://www.cwgc.org/

See the video:

 

2 Comments

  1. Sorry, I will not be able to attend this event, as I will be in France.

    Two members of my father’s crew are buried in Stonefall, Lloyd Barker, and Irwin Klien, both of 431 “Iroquois” Squadron, both killed when their Halifax bomber blew up on landing after a bomb hung up and dropped off as it touched the runway. The incident happened at RAF Croft on 15 March 1944. By luck my father, F/Sgt Bill Gracie wasn’t on the aircraft at the time.

    Please keep me informed of events of this nature.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Advertising

Advertising

Go toTop