Burke, Ian Campbell, brother of Edmund Seymour Burke (q.v.); b. Aug. 14, 1917; adm. Sept. 22, 1931 (R); left April 1935; Pilot Officer, R.A.F.V.R. Jan. 5, 1941; killed in action 20 Sept. 1941.
Ian Campbell Burke was born at 89, Lower Sagget Street, Dublin on the 14th of August 1917 the younger son of Edmund Burke Edmund “Edo” Burke, a company director, and Sylvia Jayne (nee Hardy) Burke of Glenridge Hotel, Virginia Water in Surrey in Surrey and of the Granby Court Hotel, 88/89, Queen’s Gate, Brompton in London. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from the 22nd of September 1931 to April 1935.
On leaving school he was articled to a firm of Chartered Accountants and later worked as a tea salesroom assistant. He achieved a Royal Aero Club Certificate (No. 19921) at the Horton Kirby Flying Club on the 28th of August 1939, while flying a DH Moth, Gypsy Mk I. On the outbreak of war he was a member of the Civil Air Guard.
He enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve where he rose to the rank of Leading Aircraftman before being commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 11th of January 1941, with seniority from the 5th of January 1941.
On the night of the 19th/20th of September 1941, Bomber Command dispatched 70 aircraft, most of which were Wellingtons, for an operation on Stettin. 60 aircraft reached and bombed the target but most crews had trouble locating the industrial targets allocated to them.
Ian Burke and his crew took off from RAF Binbrook before landing at RAF Mildenhall to refuel, from where they took off again at 10.58pm on the 19th of September 1941 in Wellington Mk II W5384 QT- for the operation. During the outward flight the port engine failed and the aircraft aborted its mission. It continued flying using only its starboard engine for most of the return flight. When its remaining engine also failed the aircraft was forced to ditch in the sea some eight miles to the east of Orford Ness, Suffolk at 3am. Five of the crew failed to get to the dinghy and were lost with only one of the crew being rescued.
The crew was: -
Pilot Officer Ian Campbell Burke (Pilot)
Sergeant Alexander Carstairs (Navigator)
Sergeant John Graham Jones (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant Trevor Gordon Lister (2nd Pilot)
Sergeant David John Mackintosh (Air Gunner)
Sergeant T.J. Rayment (Rear Gunner) (Injured)
Theirs was one of two aircraft which were lost during the raid.
The only survivor, Sergeant Rayment, later related that the port engine had failed two hours into the flight and before the aircraft had reached the target. The pilot turned the aircraft around and jettisoned the bomb load over enemy territory before flying for home at between 2,000 and 3,000 feet. While close to the Suffolk coast the starboard engine suddenly failed and a “good” landing was made on the sea. All of the crew were standing by to evacuate the aircraft and it not known why the remaining members of the crew did not survive. Sergeant Rayment was rescued and taken to the Naval Sick Bay at Ipswich where he was treated for exposure. It is thought that the port engine failed due to a leak in its coolant system but the failure of the starboard engine remains unexplained.
The body of John Jones was washed ashore on the 29th of September and was taken to the mortuary at RAF Martlesham where it was discovered that he had been killed by bullet wounds to the head and neck.
His brother, Sub Lieutenant (A) Edmund Seymour Burke RNVR OW, 800 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm was killed in action on the 30th of July 1941.
He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial Panel 31.