49 Squadron Association

Awarded the DFC & Bar.

Flew 26 operations with 49Sqn.

S/L Massey was killed on 9th October 1943 whilst flying with 159Sqn and is buried in the Rangoon War Cemetery.







The above images were taken especially for the 49 Squadron Association by Daniel Kiggins.
Follow the cemetery link above to view more pictures and the acknowledgement of Daniel's assistance.





Newspaper images located by Ashley Hales.

Operations against the Japanese began on 17 November 1942 and the long range bombing and reconnaissance missions were undertaken for the rest of the war over targets in Burma, Siam, Malaya, Indo-China and the Dutch East Indies.

The following details come from the book.......... "The Liberator in Royal Air Force and Commonwealth Service".

A page one story on the downing of BZ841 was printed in the English language propaganda newspaper Greater Asia (published in Rangoon) on 12 Oct 1943.

The story reported that Hayabusa (Nakajima Ki-83, or Oscar) fighter pilot Sergeant-Major Daisuki Nishizawa shot down the Liberator. The newspaper also printed a photo of the crashed aircraft's rear fuselage/rudder/turret. It was clearly a Liberator, but there is no definitive proof that this photo is of BZ841.

BZ841 was the only Liberator lost over Burma at the time; so there are no other possibilities.
Japanese researcher Hiroshi Ichimura believes that BZ841 was caught in searchlights and Nishizawa made two head-on attacks. The Liberator, in flames, exploded in mid-air.

Killed in the aerial encounter were 84686 S/Ldr Louis Patrick Massey DFC & Bar and his seven crewmates; they are buried in Rangoon War Cemetery, Burma.

Sgt Maj. Nishizawa was a Ki-43 (Oscar) pilot with the Japanese Army Air Force's 64th Sentai (Flying Regiment). He was killed over Rangoon in another encounter with Liberators, on the night of 27/28 Nov 1943.