Medals to the R.F.C. and R.A.F. from the Collection Formed by the Late Squadron Leader David Haller

Family group:

Four: Flying Officer R. Burrell, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who was killed in action in a raid on Frankfurt while serving as Navigator in No. 44 Squadron in December 1943
1939-45 Star; Air Crew Europe Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45, in their original Air Ministry card forwarding box addressed to ‘Mrs. C. J. Burrell, 68, Marton Burn Road, Middlesbrough, Yorkshire’, extremely fine

Pair: Lieutenant L. Burrell, Cameron Highlanders
British War and Victory Medals (Lieut. L. Burrell), very fine (6) £250-300

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Medals to the R.F.C. and R.A.F. from the Collection Formed by the Late Squadron Leader David Haller.

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Robert Burrell, who was born in Middlesborough, Yorkshire, in September 1921, the son of Lawrence and Catherine Burrell, enlisted in the Royal Air Force in 1941 and, having completed his training as a Navigator in Canada and the U.S.A., was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

Posted to No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron in late October 1943, a Lancaster unit operating out of Dunholme Lodge, he completed four sorties to Berlin prior to his death in action on the night of 20-21 December, when his Lancaster, piloted by Pilot Officer R. W. G. Evans, was shot down by an Me. 110 night fighter, crashing in flames at Rossdorf. Two of the crew survived, and the remainder were buried in Durnbach War Cemetery; sold with a file of research.