Lt I.A. MacLean and his crew members Tpr H. Thistle D-47054 and Tpr A.J. Steer M-104013 were reported missing on 7 June. They were the only personnel from C Sqn missing on 7 June.
None of them is recorded as killed, and Lt MacLean does not appear in the returns any more, so they must have been made prisoners.
A simple googling gave this:
http://www.thousandislandslife.com/B...iary-1944.aspx
Extract:
"Behind me and to the left I could see B Sqn. still banging away and at the same time advancing toward me, that gave me the necessary courage to keep going up to the crest on the far side of Buron. It seemed fairly safe since we were all in the open and so far no sign of the guns, but I learnt later I was wrong. I spotted a Mark IV trying to make (p.32) a get away from Buron and the gunner put his first round right through it and it started to brew up immediately.
This also gave me Scotch courage so off we went hell bent for the ridge. I could see an S.P. gun just sticking out from behind a barn, I warned Sgt. Reid but too late, I saw it fire just as I did and Sgt. Reid was hit, the S.P. was hit also. I started up to Sgt. Reid’s tank, I could see B Sqn. and part of C coming up fast now so I decided to go on up the ridge. We had been going pretty steadily in the last two hours using up a lot of ammo (p.33) and everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves although it was bloody hot and I was terribly thirsty.
We hadn’t gone more than 200 yards from where I saw the S.P. when I felt a terrific shock and twanging away in my ears. In a daze I realised we had been hit also. I could feel heat luring up through the turret so believe me we didn’t waste any time in bailing out. I don’t know how I got out of the turret but I found myself on the ground about 10 yds from my tank which was brewing up fast. Thistle and Steers joined me (p. 34) and I asked them about Readmond [William Redmond, the driver]. Steers said he was ok, had got out the front. Steers pants had been burning and so had mine. I looked unto see where Cpl Quinn was and unfortunately he was in the same spot as myself. Luckily we were in long grass so we could crawl fairly safely. I took a look at our position. We were about 1 1/2 miles from Buron and our troops. By this time my tank was blazing like a furnace and the ammo was starting to explode, so decided to move off towards (p.35) Buron crawling on our bellies. After crawling for about five minutes we stopped for a breather and to take stock of our position. Thistle and Steer were with me, Redmond had gone off in another direction. We had no weapons, my pistol had fallen out of my holster when I jumped. There was firing going on all around us and I figured it would be very unhealthy to try and look around so we started off crawling in the general direction of Buron. It was very uncomfortable since our own troops were shelling all around us and Gerry was shooting back.
We decided not to head directly towards the town but swing to the right a little and (p.36) lessen the chances of getting shot at by our own troops. After crawling for about an hour we stopped again for a breather. There seemed to be a lull in the shooting so I risked sticking my head up and believe me I got quite a shock. Coming towards us from behind were hundreds of Gerries sweeping through the fields to counter attack Buron.
I knew then the game was up. One of them spotted me as soon as I saw them and yelled. The three of us stood up and that was that.”
We now have the complete crew of CHASER on 6-7 Jun 44 as follows:
Sherman Vc 'CHASER' T212703 No.21 2Tp C Sqn 27 CAR
Lt Ian Aldous MacLean - Tp Ldr & Tk Comdr
Tpr? William Redmond - Dvr
Tpr A.J. Steer M-104013 - Gnr or L.O.
Tpr H. Thistle D-47054 - Gnr or L.O.
Here's another photo of Ian MacLean, although he is somewhat hard to recognize
:
http://mapleleafup.tumblr.com/post/3...ooke-fusiliers
Finally, Lt MacLean's picture (from the first link above):
Michel