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The United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence laid to rest Second World War Royal Air Force airman Sgt Wilfred Lawson at the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery in Germany on March 16, 2017.
Canada’s Department of National Defence assisted in the identification of this missing British airman when his remains were found three years ago.
Lawson was killed the night of Jan. 27-28, 1944, when his Lancaster II bomber, LL721 from 426 Squadron, was shot down near Berlin. The six other crew members were with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Three of them survived and were taken prisoner; two died and were buried in the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery. The remaining two crew members (Lawson and RCAF pilot officer Alfred Carlson) were declared missing.
On Aug. 16, 2014, parts of the bomber were recovered in Germany, with the remains of one crew member, believed to be Lawson. When DNA testing with one of Lawson’s descendants proved inconclusive, DND offered to arrange a test with a descendant of Carlson. The result excluded him as a match, allowing for the positive identification and subsequent interment of Lawson’s remains.
“We are pleased to have been able to support the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence in identifying Sgt Lawson, making it possible for him to be laid to rest with a name by his unit,” said Minister of National Defence Harjit S. Sajjan. “We will not forget him, our own pilot officer Carlson, or the other five Canadian members of the aircrew of flight LL721. They gave everything they had for the war effort.”
The families of both Lawson and Carlson were invited to attend the funeral service.
“Sgt Lawson gave his life for his country, as did so many thousands of Allied sailors, soldiers and airmen during the Second World War,” said Kent Hehr, Veterans Affairs Minister and Associate Minister of National Defence. “We are grateful for the opportunity to commemorate him, and his Canadian colleagues, alongside our friends in the United Kingdom.”
