Kernohan, 1796515 Sergeant George, 159th Squadron RAFVR, died on the 6 October 1944. He was aged 22 and was the foster son of parents at Castletown, Ahoghill.
Kernohan’s No. 159 Squadron, reformed at RAF Molesworth on 2 July 1942, was posted, without aircraft, to the Middle East on 12 February 1942 and then to India on 18 May 1942. It was equipped with B-24 Liberators, and was posted to Palestine in July 1942. It bombed targets in North Africa, Italy and Greece, then flew to India on 30 September 1942. It commenced operations against the Japanese on 17 November 1942, and during the rest of the war, the squadron flew mine-laying, bombing, and reconnaissance missions over Burma, Siam, Malaya, Indo-China and the Dutch East Indies.
After the war, No.159 converted to transport and survey duties before disbanding on 1 June 1946.
One report of the raid on the 6 October 1944 put Kernohan on Liberator BZ978 but this appears to be an error, as the following sworn statement by a crew member and survivor makes clear:
I am Ex-F/L CAN.(Flight Lieutenant, Canada) J12276 David McDonald Bruce, permanently residing at 445-3rd St. Kenora, Ontario.…. I was born on October 25, 1912, at Old Meldrum, Aberdeen, Scotland. I enlisted in the R.C.A.F. on March 4, 1941, and was discharged at No. 5 Release Centre, Winnipeg, on January 8, 1946
On October 6, 1944, I was attached to No. 159 Squadron, RAF Group 231, operating from Digri, Bengal. We were flying Liberators.
At 0001 hours that date we took off to do a low-level attack on railways in Northern Siam. The crew as composed of myself as navigator and bomb aimer; Warrant Officer Barr as first pilot (RNZAF); Flying Officer Hocking, RAAF, as mid-upper gunner; Sergeant Derrick, RAF, as wireless operator; Sergeant Rutter, RAF, as flight engineer; Sergeant Kernohan, RAF, as rear gunner [listed as Ball Gunner in 159 records]; Sergeant Richards [error, should be Kenneth Prichard, per 159 Squadron records and CWGC database], RAF, second pilot and two other members of the crew whose names I cannot presently recall. [They were Sergeant John Ratcliffe and Sergeant Patrick Hogan.]
At approximately 0615 hours ground fire from the defence of Ban Dara Bridge ignited our aircraft and the skipper gained height to about 800 feet and five of us were able to bale out and landed safely. The other four members either died in the aircraft or in the resultant crash.
The five of us who landed safely were Barr, Hocking, Derrick, Rutter and myself. On landing I immediately hid …. However, within approximately 2 1/2 hours the villagers had tracked me down and I was taken prisoner by native Siamese. The others fared approximately the same way with the exception of Barr who was not captured until the following day. ….
This sworn statement about what happened was signed twice, first by D. M. Bruce at Kenora, Ontario on the 12th March, 1945. [1946?], and then by B. C. Andrew, Wing Commander, No. 2 Air Command Headquarters, RCAF, Winnipeg, Manitoba.
The full crew of BZ992 whose fate Bruce was describing were 417002 Warrant Officer (Pilot) Leo Arthur Barr, RNZAF; 1324322 Sergeant (Co-Pilot) Kenneth Gordon Prichard, RAF; J.12276 Flying Officer (Navigator) David McDonald Bruce, RCAF; 1318896 Flight Sergeant (Wireless Operator) Ronald W. Derrick, RAF; 1894746 Flight Sergeant (Nose Gunner) John Squire Ratcliffe, RAF; 407291 F/O (Mid Upper Gunner) Reginal Thomas Hocking, DFC, RAAF; 1796515 Sergeant (Ball Gunner) George Kernohan, RAF; 1522977 Sergeant (Tail Gunner) Patrick Hogan, RAF, ; and 1803261 Sergeant (Flight Engineer) T. W. Rutter, RAF.
On 5-6 October 1944 sixteen aircraft had left from Digri for a low-level daylight attack on the Bangkok Chieng Mai railway, the crews instructed to bomb locomotives and any other targets of opportunity there. They flew out shortly before midnight and expected to return late in the following afternoon.
The attack was intercepted by enemy fighters. Aircraft "E" captained by Warrant Officer L A Barr, was not to return. Barr and his crew members, Pilot Officer R.T. Hocking, Sergeant. K G Pritchard, Flight Lieutenant D.M. Bruce, Flight Sergeant R W Derrick, Sergeant. T W Rutter, Flight Sergeant J S Ratcliffe, Sergeant G. Kernohan, and Sergeant P. Hogan, were posted as missing. It was only thirty-eight days later, on 13 November, that the Squadron learned that some of the missing crew members were held as prisoners. Kernohan, Prichard, Ratcliffe and Hogan had been killed. These are, having no known grave, commemorated on the Singapore Memorial.