Surname:	MacKenzie
Forename(s):	Archie
Rank:	Sergeant (Wireless Operator/ AIr Gunner)
Service number:	1105997
Regiment:	Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Date of death:	9 October 1941 Aged 21
Place of death:	Edderton, Ross & Cromarty
Buried Commemorated	Kingussie Cemetery Kingussie War Memorial

Background

Archie (Archibald) was born on 9 July 1920 at King Street, Kingussie to Donald and Margaret MacKenzie m.s. Stewart. His parents had married in 1908 in Kingussie. He was the youngest of four brothers. The others were namely Alister, Hamish and Donald.

At the 1921 Census the family are living in King Street, Kingussie and, his father, Donald’s occupation is given as Mason.

At the time of Archie’s death his parents were living at Rhuarden, Kingussie.

War Record

Archie was in the 19 O.T.U. Squadron based at RAF Kinloss on the Moray Firth.

RAF Kinloss developed “with the build up of Bomber Command there was a requirement for additional aircrew training establishments. To help satisfy this demand, No.19 Operational Training Unit (O.T.U) formed at Kinloss on the 17th of May 1940. It was furnished with around 24 Whitley Mk5 aircraft. Pilots, navigators, bomb-aimers and air-gunners, would arrive here from their respective basic training stations, then sort themselves out into crews of five, before starting their 12 to 14 weeks course of operational training. Unfortunately scores of crashes occurred on all such units, and in this instance numerous Whitleys finished up in the Moray Firth, or even worse, flying into mountains.”
https://forreslocal.com/raf-history-kinloss/

Archie’s take off station, the night he died, was Kinloss. This was a night training exercise at the Tain Bombing Range on 9 October 1941.  He was on board an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley V (T4144) when it was struck by bomb (from higher aircraft) over the range and the aircraft he was in crashed killing all four crew members at Edderton, Ross and Cromarty.

Also commorated at the International Bomber Command Memorial, Lincoln – see https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/114550/