Basil was the son of Harry and Florence née Greenbaum of Haringey, London and had a brother Raymond and twin sisters Betty and Enid. Their grandfather Baruch was born in Warsaw and worked as a Master cabinet maker in Spitalfields. Their father Harry was the youngest of seven children who lived in Hackney and he worked as a drapery salesman.

By 1939, the family had moved to 329 Green Lanes, Tottenham where they ran an off licence.

Basil was the flight engineer of Lancaster NN723 which departed RAF Strubby at 16.31 on a night operation to attack the Dortmund-Ems and Mitteland canal system at Gravenhorst. The aircraft crashed in the North Sea killing all the crew.

Edward Stanley Bicknell, 1893452
James Arthur Harrison, 1582271
Robert John Hogg, 2211120
Leslie Kennedy, 1784070
Clifford Keith Morton, 1575470
John Layard Butler Webster, 188178