Andrew Rankin


I'm indebted to the RAF Commands website (link) for this photo and much valuable information here and elsewhere.

Andrew Rankin was born on 27th April 1922 at 12 Maxwell Avenue, Westerton.  His father and mother were Robert and Mary Dickson Watson who were married in 1919.  Robert was a property agent.

By 1935 the family had moved to 79 Drymen Road.  

Modern street view looking north up Drymen Road, by the junction with North Erskine Park, 79 on the left.

Around that time, Andrew is briefly mentioned in a set of school results for Bearsden Public School published in the Milngavie and Bearsden Herald of 28th June 1935 - he's in Junior II and commended for Drawing:

Andrew joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve.  He achieved the rank of Pilot Officer and in 1943 was with 75 Squadron, a squadron with a strong New Zealand representation among the crew.  

Studying the squadron records, Andrew a nd the crew flew the following missions

Flying from RAF Newmarket

1st June - minelaying off the Fresian Islands

14th June - minelaying in the Gironde estuary

21st June - Krefeld

22nd June - Mannheim

24th June - Wuppertal

25th June - Gelsenkirchen

Flying from RAF Mepal (An interesting first hand account of life at Mepal is here).

13th July - Aachen.  Attacked by a Ju88, wireless operator wounded (Frank Thorstensen).  Rear gunner returned fire and claimed enemy aircraft as destroyed. 

24th July - Hamburg

25th July - Essen

27th July - Hamburg

29th July - Hamburg

30th July - Remscheid

10th August - Nuremberg

12th August - Turin

On 23rd August 1943 he was flying a Stirling III bomber to attack Berlin, his 15th mission.  

Photo credit to website dedicated to 75 Squadron (link)

His plane was shot down by a night fighter three miles south of Lanka (14 miles north-north-east of Berlin).

The crew who were killed with Andrew were:

navigator: Mervin Arthur Ericksen, 26, a married man from Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (photo below).  His brother-in-law, Walter Wilson May, also served in the air force (RNZAF) and was shot down over Germany and taken prisoner.

flight engineer Frank Morris Freeman, 34, a married man from Northampton

wireless operator Frederick William Thorstensen, 26, from New Zealand

bomb aimer James Third, 34, originally from Fraserburgh but whose family moved to New Zealand

air gunner George Ogden, 19 from Knightswood in Glasgow

They were originally buried in Biesenthal (from CWGC records) but are now buried in the Berlin 1939-1945 CWGC Cemetery

On Andrew's headstone, his family chose the words: "For all our to-morrows,/ He gave his to-days".

One man survived and was taken prisoner, mid-upper gunner Dennis Catterick (service number 1318470); he was held at Stalag 4B in Muhlberg (Elbe).

Berlin. 727 aircraft, 56 losses (7.9%)- the greatest loss in a single raid so far in the war. Sequential marking was used to keep the main force on course. A Master Bomber approach was also used (W/C J E [Johnny] Fauquier). PFF were unable to locate the centre of Berlin using H2S and instead marked the southern suburbs. The main force arrived late and many cut a corner, making their arrival point incorrect. As might be expected for Berlin, the flak and fighter defences were formidable. Nevertheless, this was the most serious raid on Berlin so far in the war. Much of the government district was badly damaged and 20 ships were also sunk. 854 people were killed, many of whom had failed to take refuge in air raid shelters.


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