William McFarlane Russell

William McFarlane Russell was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, and went on to read for a degree at Cambridge University, earning an MA — an unusual academic background for an airman who would spend much of the war on some of its most clandestine operations. He received a permanent commission in the Royal Air Force and by 1941 had distinguished himself sufficiently to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, with a Bar following in January 1943. In October 1943 he was further honoured with the Distinguished Service Order, gazetted in the London Gazette supplement of 12 October 1943, in recognition of sustained exceptional service. By May 1944 he held the rank of Wing Commander and was appointed to command No. 138 (Special Duties) Squadron, based at RAF Tempsford in Bedfordshire — the clandestine unit that flew arms, equipment, and agents deep into Occupied Europe by night in support of the SOE and SIS resistance networks. He took command on 1 May 1944 and was killed just seven days later, on the night of 8 May 1944, when his Handley Page Halifax V (serial LL280) failed to return from operations over enemy territory; he was 35 years old. He is buried at Le Mans West Cemetery, France (Plot 38, 1939–45 Row C, Graves 7–11), and is survived in memory by his parents John and Jean Russell and his wife Mary Brockhurst Russell, of Royal Oak, British Columbia.