Group Captain Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force, where it originated, as well as the air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. It is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank i ...

William Neil McKechnie, GC (27 August 1907 – 30 August 1944) was a pilot and senior commander in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. He was awarded the

Empire Gallantry Medal The Medal of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for Gallantry, known as the Empire Gallantry Medal (EGM), was a British medal awarded for acts of gallantry. Unlike the then existing Sea Gallantry Medal (SGM) (1854), the Albert Medal ...

in 1929, which was exchanged for the

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...

in 1940. He was killed in action over Germany in 1944.Commonwealth War Graves Commission – McKECHNIE, WILLIAM NEIL
Retrieved 18 January 2016.

Early life

William Neil McKechnie was born on 27 August 1907 in

Kasauli Kasauli is a town and cantonment, located in Solan district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The cantonment was established by the British Raj in 1842 as a Colonial hill station,Sharma, Ambika"Architecture of Kasauli churches" ''The Trib ...

, India, the son of Lieutenant Colonel William Ernest McKechnie,

Indian Medical Service The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officer ...

, and Marion A. McKechnie. He attended

The Perse School (He who does things for others does them for himself) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = Nondenominational Christian , president = , head_label = Head , he ...

in Cambridge. McKechnie later married Mary Roma Doig of Musselburgh, Midlothian.

Empire Gallantry Medal

McKechnie earned the

for an act of bravery in saving Flight Cadet C. J. Giles after an aeroplane crash on 20 June 1929 while still a flight cadet aged 22. ''

The London Gazette ''The London Gazette'' is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom, and the most important among such official journals in the United Kingdom, in which certain statutory notices are ...

'' of 18 October 1929, gives the following details in announcing the award to Group Captain McKechnie of the Empire Gallantry Medal: McKechnie's Empire Gallantry Medal was exchanged for the

in 1940. ''(Royal Warrant for George Cross, section 11)''.

RAF career

McKechnie attended RAF College Cranwell. In January 1939, he was commanding

No. 27 Squadron RAF No. 27 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Boeing Chinook from RAF Odiham. History First World War 27 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps formed at Hounslow Heath Aerodrome on , being split off from 24 Squadron. Initially using air ...

Kohat Kohat ( ps, کوهاټ; ur, ) is a city that serves as the capital of the Kohat District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is regarded as a centre of the Bangash tribe of Pashtuns, who have lived in the region since the late 15th century ...

, India. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, McKechnie was a group captain based at

RAF Metheringham Royal Air Force Metheringham or more simply RAF Metheringham is a former Royal Air Force station situated between the villages of Metheringham and Martin, North Kesteven, Martin and south east of the county town Lincoln, England, Lincoln, Lincol ...

with No. 106 Squadron RAF from 11 November 1943 until his death. He was involved in the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

in which he flew in an

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster is a British Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to the same specification, as well as the Short Stirlin ...

that completed thirteen operations against

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and four other operations over Germany, when the plane was lost it had flown 638.05 hours. Their eighteenth, and final flight, on 29 August 1944, was an operation over

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

where No. 106 Squadron lost two planes, including McKechnie's, without a trace. The

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

lists McKechnie's date of death as 30 August 1944. Those killed in action were: *G/C W.N.McKechnie GC *Sgt R.B.Clarke *F/S H.W.T.Carter RCAF *F/O E.E.Fletcher *Sgt C.C.Jeffrey *Sgt D.Forster *F/S E.L.Collins There is no known grave for McKechnie or any members of his crew, but they are commemorated on

Runnymede Memorial The Air Forces Memorial, or Runnymede Memorial, in Englefield Green, near Egham, Surrey, England is a memorial dedicated to some 20,456 men and women from air forces of the British Empire who were lost in air and other operations during World War ...

panel 200, Surrey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKechnie, William Neil 1907 births 1944 deaths People educated at The Perse School Royal Air Force group captains Recipients of the Empire Gallantry Medal British World War II pilots British World War II bomber pilots Aviators killed by being shot down Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Scottish airmen