Flt Lt Peter Edward RAW DFC 609 and 198 Squadrons Memorial

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Peter Raw was a well known pilot with 609 Squadron and regularly flew a Typhoon which he named after his wife Mavis, and appears in many photos with the squadron mascot W/C Billy de Goat. He was awarded the DFC for his gallantry in low flying operations in Europe credited with destroying 17 locomotives and a FW 190.
On the 21st March 1944 he led his flight on a Ranger mission (flying Typhoon MN247) in the Twente-Enschede area in Holland with Flt Lt JE Mitchell and F/O AE Napier, when they came across some barges on the Waal which they shot at. Further along they came across more barges which they also attacked. Peter’s aircraft then appeared to be hit by flak and crashed into a field near Boxmeer. A later police report told a different story. The barge captain, Petrus van den Hurksteam gave a statement which described the wing of the Typhoon hitting the loading boom, snapping it in two, and then seeing the Typhoon spinning out of control crashing in a field on the opposite bank, killing Peter Raw instantly. The Germans buried his body in the cemetery in Eindhoven, where he still lies today.
During 2016 a group of Dutch aviation historians (named The PlaneHunters) decided to try and locate the crash sites of the 27 aircraft known to have crashed in this area, and were lucky in locating the remains of Peter Raw’s Typhoon in a meadow between the Meuse and Schultkool.
The group then raised funds to install a small monument to Peter Raw.
At 1400 hrs on Saturday 7th October 2017 the memorial will be unveiled by Peter Raw’s daughter Maureen (who was only 6 months old at the time of his death) and will be attended by the local Mayor and school children who will sing hymns. The RAFA from Amsterdam will lay a wreath whilst a flypast takes place. Peter’s other three brothers were all decorated pilots with the RAF, two who were also killed during WW2.
The story of the four brothers was told in the book Raw Courage and a link to the recovery of Typhoon MN247 can be found on http://www.backtonormandy.org