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Originally Posted by dave jones
I don't understand how the bodies on the beach were identified as Canadian but not by name or serial number. would it be usual for RAF and RCAF crew to fly without ID when on Special OPs. Could anybody enlighten me on this. It seems sad that a little more effort wasn't made after the war to solve these queries
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Things like a "Canada" flash on their tunics would certainly be one giveaway.
I would recommend Stuart Hadaway's book "Missing Believed Killed" to get some idea of what the post war searches for missing was like. Pre-CSI Miami days with men, many ex aircrew exhuming hastily buried, badly burned and decomposed bodies. They did the best they could given the circumstances.
Jeff, you really should look at the service files of the Canadians onboard at the Library & Archives Canada in Ottawa. It doesn't matter what language some original local documents were written in. The services files all have translations into English and sometimes a few pages answers 65 years of questions.
PF