Frederick Wilson Ralph was born on August 29, 1918, in Lancashire, England. He was the son of Robert Ralph and Helen Glass (nee Meikleham) Ralph, of Fayetteville, New York. He was married to Ethel L. Ralph on September 9, 1940.
Frederick was a salesman and machine operator. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.
On May 24, 1943, aboard Avro Lancaster Mk III serial number W4984 AR-J, on a bombing mission in Dortmund, Germany, his aircraft was shot down by a German night fighter flown by Oberleutnant August Geiger, then a fire broke out. The pilot lost control of the aircraft and crashed. Although five crew members were able to bail out, their parachutes had been damaged by the fire and failed to save them. Of the crew of seven, only Flt. Sgt Clarence K. D. Goldthorpe survived and was taken as a prisoner.
The other crew members were buried in the Commonwealth War Grave section of the Municipal Cemetery at Schoonebeek.
Crewmembers:
Pilot F/Sgt. Beresford Milton Troy Davis 405966 RAAF (KIA)
Flight engineer Sgt. Eric Rowlands 1040539 RAF (KIA)
Navigator F/Sgt. Kenneth Douglas Dyce 412411 RAAF (KIA)
Bomb aimer F/Sgt. Clarence Goldthorpe 405849 RAAF (POW)
Wo ag F/Sgt. Jack Stanley Biffen 411839 RAAF (KIA)
Air gunner F/Sgt. Charles Sinclair Wright 421066 RAAF (KIA)
Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.fieldsofhonor-database.com, www.cwgc.org