578 Squadron were based at Burn, near Selby, North Yorkshire. On the night of 20/21 July 1944 twenty six Halifax bombers of 578 Squadron Royal Air Force took off from Burn to attack the German synthetic oil refinery at Bottrop in the Rhine Valley, on what was to prove the most disastrous single operation mounted by the Squadron.

Four aircraft were shot down by the enemy but four crew members managed to parachute to safety, to be made prisoners of war. 

Two further aircraft LK-E and LK-K managed to return but within a few minutes flying time of Burn they collided in mid air and crashed to earth at Balkholme, with the loss of all crew: LK-E: William Davidson; Eric Clark; Leslie Matthewman; Harold Watkins; Edward Roxby; Thomas Barnett and Albert Page. LK-K: Maurice Day; Ambrose Pugh; Lewis Barber; Jack Morrish; John Smith; Kenneth Nicholson and Derrick Parham.

Perthshire Advertiser, 26th July 1944 “DEATHS - On Active Service “DAVIDSON. -Killed on operations during July, Sergeant-Pilot William Davidson, R.A.F., aged 20, beloved youngest son of Mr and Mrs James Davidson, Craigie Park Terrace, Edinburgh Road, Perth. Funeral private, No letters please.”

“PERTH AIRMAN KILLED Sergt.-Pilot William Davidson the youngest son of Mr and Mrs James Davidson, Craigie Park Terrace, Edinburgh Road, Perth, has been officially reported killed on operational duty. 

“Educated at Southern District School and Perth Academy, Sergt. Pilot Davidson volunteered for the R.A.F. over two years ago. He received most of his training in Canada.”

AN INTERVIEW WITH DOROTHY AT PERTH CEMETERY As part of the "Perth Academy Remembers" project we arranged to meet and interview relatives of our former pupils who lost their lives in the Second World War.

These interviews are now part of the Perth Academy Remembers film, which is available on YouTube.

Dorothy Garvie was also educated at Perth Academy and for many years was a teacher at Letham Primary School in Perth, a feeder primary for the Academy.

 Dorothy is a well-loved and well-remembered teacher who taught many members of the Perth Academy community.

A summary of her interview is included below. "Bill was a cousin of my mother, who was brought up by his mother and father. Bill was a much loved son and the youngest of four children.

"Bill went to Perth Academy until he was 18 and along with other pupils at the school he carried out fire-watching duties on the roof of the school.

"When he left school Bill went to work in the army records in the old Academy building on the North Inch for a short time before he went to train as a pilot in the UK and then as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in Canada. I remember my mother telling me how proud they all were when he got his pilots wings.

"Bill came from a very quiet family and my brother told me he remembers the day the letter arrived and mum sitting with Granny. What he remembers most is the silence and everyone talking in whispers.

"It was so lovely that the people of the village of Balkholme and the Royal Air Force built a memorial to the twelve people who died that night. This is so special to us as a family and very kind of them."

A VISIT TO THE BALKHOLME MEMORIAL

In 2022 two dear friends of my mum very kindly offered to visit the memorial at Balkholme and leave a poppy tribute on behalf of Bill Davidson's family and his old school, Perth Academy.