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Murray Kesselman
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Born at Winnipeg on 29 November 1921, middle of three children of George Kesselman and Martha Hilman. He graduated grade 11 at Gordon Bell High School in 1939. He was working with his father as a travelling shoe salesman when he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force on 11 May 1942.
He trained initially as a pilot but was reclassified to Navigator on 30 March 1943 and, on 17 September 1943, he received his Navigator wings and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. On 17 June 1944, he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer and on 8 October 1943 he departed New York for England. On 27 July 1944, he joined 199 Squadron RAF Station North Creake, England.
On 16 September 1944, Stirling aircraft LJ536 took off with 11 other aircraft from RAF Station North Creake on a special night operation to drop supplies and agents in occupied Europe. It failed to return. Kesselman and the seven other members of the crew, including Pilot Officer James Duncan Campbell from Austin were killed. They have no known graves. Despite several post-war inquiries by the Missing Research and Evaluation Service, the fate of crew was never determined.
He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial in Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, England. In 1978, the province of Manitoba named Kesselman Lake in his honour.
This page was prepared by Robert Nash.
Page revised: 24 May 2024
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