Ivor was born in 1925 in Leicester to Lithuanian born Israel and Sunderland born Lillie nee Hurwitz. Israel qualified as a doctor in South Africa and when he moved to England he changed his surname from Platzky after his marriage in 1921. In 1939, the family were living at 12 Elms Road, Leicester where Israel was working as a doctor and an ARP Medical Officer, Lillie volunteered in the WRVS and Ivor and his sister Ann were at school.

Ivor was part of a crew tasked with ferrying Liberator KN768 to India. They took off from RCAF Dorval, near Montreal and the aircraft was found to be in a semi-stalled condition with the undercarriage raising prematurely. The aircraft crashed to earth striking the port outer propeller on the runway which became detached resulting in engine failure. The aircraft was seen to climb to about fifty feet and then crash onto the runway bursting into flames. Six of the eleven man crew were killed.

W/Op, Geoffrey Frank Buers, 1380980.
F/E, George Edward Chappell, 1589541.
A/G, Allan Thomas Furness, 1564511.
Pilot, Derrick William Southwell, 153243.
Pilot, John Albert Winkley, 167223.