King resident on last sortie of Second World War

March 18, 2014 · 0 Comments

By Mark Pavilons
From the first battle of the Second World War, to the final sortie, we remember the valiant efforts of Canadians who fought for our freedom.
The unique air raids by Bomber Command on April 25, 1945 may not have made many headlines, or gone down in the annals of military history. They were, nevertheless, part of the mayhem that typified the last global conflict.
Lancaster air crews of Squadron 619 took part in the very last allied air raid of the war, and a King resident was among those who gave their lives in service.
They were part of the rarely acknowledged attacks of April 25 on Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest” at Obersalzberg, just above the town of Berchtesgaden.
A large bomber contingent sought to destroy the last bastion of Nazism in this final air strike that really had no military significance. Even at the time there were more critics than supporters of this last-ditch effort to destroy this mountain retreat.
The politics and media propaganda surrounding this mission may have overshadowed the efforts of the men who made the ultimate sacrifice.
A UK man is trying to help honour the airmen who died in this raid, and he’s trying to find ties to the Lancaster gunner from King City.
David Young said he took up researching Bomber Command records to help anyone who needs it. And he found a cause in this final mission.
Sgt. Gordon Victor Walker, RCAF, was an air gunner in a Lancaster S/N LM756 of 619 Squadron RAF.
Reportedly, it was one of only two shot down by German flak that day. It crashed roughly 10 kilometres north of Berchtesgaden. Four men were killed and three were taken prisoner.
The four who died in LM756 were the last casualties on operations in Bomber Command in the Second World War. Three of the four were Canadians. The pilot was Wilfred T, DeMarco of Timmins, Ontario; the navigator, Norman Hubert Johnston, of Calgary, Alberta, and the rear gunner was Gordon Walker of King City. His mother and father were Cecil and Annie May Walker of King City.
All those who died are buried in Klagenfurt War Cemetery, Austria.
Young said the mayor of the Austrian village of Adnet is organizing a memorial to be dedicated on the 70th anniversary of the crash near their village, next April. Berchtestgaden is in the Bavarian Alps, near the border with Austria. The mayor was hoping that if we could find any relatives of the crew they would be able if they so wished to attend the event.
Young said he was asked to help find the families and he has accounted for six families, so locating the Walkers will accomplish his task.
Staff at the King Township Museum and Archives have been unable to find any information about Sgt. Walker, but they have located relatives in Ontario.
If anyone has any information on Walker or any living relatives, please contact Young at daveyoung45@aol.com.
Sandra Kirby from King City is Walker’s third cousin. She said she will be in touch with Sgt. Walker’s niece about Young’s letter.
She did say Gord grew up on Keele Street north in King City, where a nursery school is now located, and his mother, Kirby’s great aunt, was given the honour of placing a wreath at the Aurora Cenotaph one Remembrance Day many years ago. Gord’s name is inscribed at the Aurora Cenotaph, and he is named, along with many others, on the Roll of Honour that is kept at King City United Church.

Mission Details

Hundreds of British and American aircraft took off from some 19 different bases the morning of April 25, 1945 with international crewmen from Canada, England, Australia, Poland and Rhodesia.
The first target was the Eagle’s Nest, a chalet style building on a 1,800-metre peak built for Hitler to entertain guests. The second target was the Berghof, Hitler’s housing complex on the edge of Obersalzberg, some three kilometres east of Berchtesgaden.
The raids resulted in an estimated 300 deaths (including civilians) at these and other secondary targets.
Initial reports indicated the raid was largely ineffective, missing their small targets. The Eagle’s Nest escaped damage and the Berghof was later torched by retreating German troops.
By April that year, the end of the war was on the horizon. By mid-April the majority of German resistance collapsed and Luftwaffe air defences were decimated. Soviet forces surrounded Berlin by April 25.
There were rumours the Germans would mount an offensive from their alpine perch, but it was known at the time that Hitler was holed up in his Berlin bunker, where he stayed until his suicide April 30.
Bomber Command saw their efforts as business as usual, despite the fact there were no strategic bombing targets left in Germany. They carried out raids in early April on Nordhausen, Leipzig, Nuremberg, Bayreuth and Potsdam, after which operations were suspended.
Churchill referred to these bombings as “unwarranted destruction.” He and Josef Stalin had already met to discuss German’s post-war fate, noting further destruction of German cities would complicate the future occupation and reconstruction.
This was the last bombing mission flown of the war.
Fortunately, efforts are being made to honour these men, who died so many years ago.