I just realized that David Burlingam was RCAF so was able to check his service file on ancestry.com and get some notes on his discovery and burial.
One sheet is an RCAF record copy/translation of a German Document, which reads:
Body washed ashore near Coxyde - Bad 9.9.42 at 11.00 hrs
D G Burlingham J8347 Fighter pilot
Been in water about 14 days
Buried on 10.9.42 in Local Cemetery at Coxyde
This transcription is dated November 1946, and it seems his family were notified by a letter dated 14 Nov 1946 by the RCAF that it appeared their sons body had been found.
And thats it, there is little else in that service record scan relating to how he died, when he was last seen etc
That page of 400 SQn ORB is terribly hard to read! Typical but seems to indicate Burlingam was flying a mission, the Squadrons last Sortie of the day, flying with an F/O Grant. I think it reads: "He was last seen over St Aubin" I cannot be certain.
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oo...3/1216?r=0&s=4