Canada. A Birks Memorial Bar to P/O Morrison, RCAF, 103 (RAF) Squadron, KIA
In silver, engraved "P/O V.M.M. MORRISON / R. C. A. F. / DIED IN HIS COUNTRY'S SERVICE / 29 AUG. 1942", measuring 67 mm (w) x 14.5 mm (h), contact marks, in its folder of issue with holes and tears in the cover and base, very fine.
Footnote: Vincent Merrill MacDonald Morrison, the son of Archibald Amos Morrison and Violet MacDonald Morrison of Ottawa, Ontario. Morrison later went overseas, where he was assigned to 103 (RAF) Squadron. Upon the outbreak of the Second World War, 103 (RAF) Squadron was deployed to France as part of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force. On May 10, 1940, the Luftwaffe and the German Army invaded France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The Squadron was heavily committed during the Battle of France, sustaining many losses. In mid June 1940, 103 (RAF) Squadron withdrew from France for RAF Abingdon in England. The Squadron was then transferred to RAF Newton near Nottingham and reverted to the control of No. 1 Group RAF, Bomber Command. In October 1940, it was re-equipped with Vickers Wellington bombers. Operations were carried out with this type on targets on mainland Europe. The Squadron moved into the new airfield at RAF Elsham Wolds in July 1941. In July 1942, the Wellingtons were replaced by Handley Page Halifax bombers. J/8627 Pilot Officer Vincent Merrill MacDonald Morrison, 103 (RAF) Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force was aboard a Halifax aircraft when it was shot down on Saturday, August 29, 1942, the aircraft coming to rest in the Laacher Sea (a volcanic caldera lake) near Andernach Germany. Morrison died at the age of 19 when, after bailing out, his parachute failed to open.
Also killed the same day were three members of the Royal Canadian Air Force: R/53908 Flight Sergeant John Joseph Carey, age 22; J/15721 Pilot Officer Leslie Lewis Garner, age 26; and R/70757 Flight Sergeant Charles Andrew Levern Sutherby, age 26; along with 41897 Flying Officer William Herbert Gould, age 20 of the Royal New Zealand Air Force; and two airmen from the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve: 1286633 Sergeant Thomas Charles Robert Murlis, age 30 and South African native, 1563387 Sergeant John Louis MacLachlan, age 21. All seven airmen are buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery in Rheinberg, Germany, with Morrison buried in Grave: 9. G. 3. Rheinberg is 24 kilometres north of Krefeld and 13 kilometres south of Wesel, in the locality of Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal. The cemetery is 3 kilometres south of the centre of the town of Rheinberg on the road to Kamp Lintfort. The site of Rheinberg War Cemetery was chosen in April 1946 by the Army Graves Service for the assembly of Commonwealth graves recovered from numerous German cemeteries in the area. The majority of those now buried in the cemetery were airmen, whose graves were brought in from Dusseldorf, Krefeld, Munchen-Gladbach, Essen, Aachen and Dortmund; 450 graves were from Cologne alone. The men of the other fighting services buried here mostly lost their lives during the battle of the Rhineland, or in the advance from the Rhine to the Elbe. There are now 3,326 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated at Rheinberg War Cemetery. 156 of the burials are unidentified. There are also nine war graves of other nationalities, most of them Polish. Vincent is commemorated on page 101 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.