Trafford

Joined the Metro-Vicker's Company as a Machie Operator in April 1939.
Joined the R.E. in March 1940 and later posted to the Airborne Division.
Presumed K.in A. in Norway 1942.

Commemorated on the Operation Freshman Memorial situated a few miles north
of Wick, Scotland.   This memorial commemorates the personnel lost whilst
serving at RAF Skitton, in particular, those lost on the unsuccessful
Commando attack on a heavy water plant at Vemork, Norway on the 19th
November 1942.   Many men were lost when their aircraft or gliders crashed.
 The survivors were executed by the Germans, some after being tortured by
the SS.

34 glider borne commandos took part in this raid - 41 personnel killed and
2 Horsa Gliders and 1 Halifax bomber aircraft lost.

FROM WIKIPEDIA - When the British government learned of the German nuclear
developments, it was decided that a raid would be launched to destroy the
plant and deny the Germans the heavy water required to develop a nuclear
weapon. Several different strategies were discussed and discarded as
impractical; it was decided that a small airborne force composed of sappers
from the Royal Engineer units attached to 1st Airborne Division would land
by glider, a short distance from the plant, demolish it with explosives and
then escape over the Norwegian border into Sweden.

After an extensive training period, the airborne force took off in two
aircraft–glider combinations on the night of 19 November 1942. Both the
gliders and tugs were operated by aircrews attached to HQ No. 38 Wing RAF.

The tugs and gliders managed to reach the Norwegian coast, but neither was
able to reach their objective. The first pair suffered from navigational
difficulties and severe weather, which resulted in the tow rope snapping
and the first glider crash-landing, with its Halifax tug aircraft returning
to base. Three airborne troops were killed outright, and the survivors were
captured shortly after the crash. The second pair fared even worse, with
both the aircraft and glider crashing into a mountain after the aircraft
flew low in search of the first glider. Both members of the glider crew
were killed outright, while the driver died soon afterwards from injuries
sustained in the crash.

Those who survived the crashes were captured by German forces and killed as
a result of Wehrmacht's Commando Order, which stated that any Allied
personnel captured while involved in commando operations were to be killed
immediately. At the end of the war, the Wehrmacht personnel involved were
tried, sentenced to death and executed for their part in the murders.