Hello Liz, That would be wonderful if you could visit your father's grave here in the Netherlands. And how kind of Pieter to post the pictures. Liz, looking forward to meeting you! Warm regards Marita
Thank you so much for posting these photographs Pieter. It was very kind of you and very much appreciated. Marita, It is so nice to be in touch with you, and I would very much like to meet you. Our trip in the autumn may have to be postponed for a few weeks as my husband (Ian) has 'gleed een disc'! and is under medical supervision!! although he will almost certainly have recovered by Sept/Oct, the problem is that we will not be able to book a flight till he is fully fit, and of course by then they may all have been taken - We are just going to come when we feel able to do so.
I would just like to add a postscript to this thread. I have recently returned from a trip to The Netherlands to visit my father's grave, and the crash site. It was, as you can imagine a very moving experience, but one I am so very glad to have accomplished. I felt after all these years that I had finally found him, and was able to tell him (does this sound bizarre?!) what had happened to my mother and to me and that we had been fine. I was also able to reassure myself that all was well with him and to know that he was at peace in a beautiful place, cared for by wonderful people. I cannot put into words the kindness and generosity of the people we met during our trip, at times it was almost overwhelming, and I would like to say a big thankyou to everyone we came into contact with.
The good news is that I have made contact with the G.Nephew of Harold Stokes, how fantastic is that?!! I now only have two more families to make contact with and we will have found the whole crew. The two men are Sgt John Sykes aged 30 from Bradford, and Sgt James Hill aged 30, husband of Norah, from Manchester. if anyone can give me any information concerning these two brave men, I would be very grateful.
Hi Liz After some tracking I have found John Sykes birth cert - he would have been 29 not 30 as his CWGC details state: England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915 about John Sykes Name: John Sykes Mother's Maiden Name: Shaw Registration Year: 1913 Registration Quarter: Jan-Feb-Mar Registration district: Bradford Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District Inferred County: Yorkshire West Riding Volume: 9b Page: 334 Also his parents were married in Bradford 1908. Unfortunately I cannot find him mentioned in a family tree on Ancestry. There are other Sykes born with Shaw as their mothers maiden name but not in Bradford, so its difficult to say if they are siblings. He may have been an only child . TD PS I will also look for James Hill
Regarding James Hill - phew, have now found some info on him: England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1916-2005 about James Hill Name: James Hill Spouse Surname: O'connell Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1937 Registration district: Manchester North Inferred County: Lancashire Volume Number: 8d Page Number: 1079 Find Spouse: Find Spouse England & Wales, Marriage Index, 1916-2005 about Norah O'Connell Name: Norah O'Connell Spouse Surname: Hill Date of Registration: Apr-May-Jun 1937 Registration district: Manchester North Inferred County: Lancashire Volume Number: 8d Page Number: 1079 Find Spouse: Find Spouse Unfortunately I cannot find any Hill children born between 1936 and 1943 with a mothers maiden name of O'Connell TD
Thank you so much for this information. John Sykes is the second airman whose age is incorrect! I can only suppose that after the war, records became a bit fractured!! My father's birthday is given as the 1st May on his Service Records, which then goes on to say that his age is unknown, and thus his headstone has no reference to how old he was. His B.C says that it is 30th April!! At least they both give the same year!!! I have been onto another site looking through newspaper snippets in J.S's area in case his parents or whoever might have put a notice about his death. I shall do the same for James Hill, and see if that brings any info. Again many thanks for your help and interest.
I'm sure that by now the following info is known to Liz and others, but just in case..... Target: Duisburg. Call Sign: WS-N. Takeoff time: 18:00 Name: FORD, HARRY GEORGE. Rank: Sergeant Trade: W.Op./Air Gnr. Service No: 1291154. Date of Death: 20/12/1942. Age: 20. Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. 9 Sqdn. Grave Reference: Grave 93. Cemetery: Oosterhout Protestant Cemetery. Additional Information: Son of Edward George and Edith Ford, of Little Common, Sussex Headstone: IN GOD'S SAFE KEEPING. MUM AND POP On the evening of 20th December 1942, Lancaster ED347 WS@"N" of 9 squadron, crashed at 20.21 hrs, at Den Hout, NW of Oosterhout in Holland. The Lancaster was shot down from 6,800 metres by Lt Erich Richter of 2/NJG1 flying a Bf 110F-4 night fighter coded G9+GK. It wasn’t until the introduction of the Bf 110 F-4 in the summer of 1942 that the Luftwaffe finally found an effective night fighter. This version was fitted with FuG 202 Liechtenstein air interception radar which had an effective maximum range of 3-4 kilometers, and it carried a third crewman to act as a radar operator. The Bf 110 F-4 was also provided with a ventral tray mounting two MK 108 short-barreled 30-millimeter cannon which were easily capable of destroying any British bomber. The crew had been posted to 9 Sqdn from 1661 HCU on 14th November '42. They had previously made one trip, to Cloppenburg on 17th December, before being lost on the Duisburg operation. Tyreman, John William Sergeant 1316919 20/12/1942 26 RAFVR Grave 90. Lynes, James William Flying Officer 118825 20/12/1942 RAFVR Grave 91. Sykes, John Sergeant 1014079 20/12/1942 30 RAFVR Grave 92. Ford, Harry George Sergeant 1291154 20/12/1942 20 RAFVR Grave 93. Stokes, Harold Burrows Sergeant 1377473 20/12/1942 34 RAFVR Grave 94. Hill, James Sergeant 1326399 20/12/1942 30 RAFVR Grave 95. Wing, George Clive Sergeant 1323417 20/12/1942 18 RAFVR Grave 96. EDIT: To Add: The Bomber Command Loss Cards indicate that the crash site was given as Proostensteeg, Den Hout 3 km nw of Oosterhout, Noord-Brabant (you may have the actual site details from the Memorial, I assume) Initially reports were that they were 7 "Unknowns" but with Syke's name on a piece of paper. Dates shown as 30 Dec 1942 Burial not reported..... then 4 identified - burial not reported. The pilot, Flight Engineer, the M/U G and R/G were identified initially. (So long after the event, I have no way of knowing, but for the pilot and F/E to be identified seems to indicate that the nose and rear sections were detached from the centre section where the damage was greater, as if the pilot was attempting a crash landing, sufficiently "soft" that the crew could be identified eventually. That may be the reason why 4 crew are in one row (identified initially) and the other 3 in a row in front, once they too had been identified after the War) This was put together from oddments from various internet sites when I produced a Roll of Honour for the Little Common RBL Branch some years ago