Bruneval - Flight Sergeant Cox

Discussion in 'Airborne' started by Hman, Jun 23, 2015.

  1. Hman

    Hman Junior Member

    Hi, I have searched through all the threads on Bruneval but...

    Does anyone know what happened to Flight Sergeant Cox following the raid, what was his war time career for the rest of the war?
     
  2. Guy Hudson

    Guy Hudson Looker-upper

    F/Sgt Cox survived the war and died in Cambridgeshire in 1997.

    955754 F/SGT COX Charles William Hall MM, RAF
    Born : 3/9/1913 March, Cambridgeshire
    Died : 4Q 1997 Fenland Cambridgeshire

    Guy
     
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  3. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Hi Himan

    There is a 'private' family tree on Ancestry that has some details of him, but I would need to know why you need the information before I proceed in contacting them -

    Charles William Hall Cox

    Birth: 3 September 1913 (3 Sep 1913) - Cambridgeshire, England
    Death: November 1997 (Nov 1997) - Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England
    Marriage: September 1935 (Sep 1935) - Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England


    Charles William Hall Cox
    Born: 1913 in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England, United Kingdom
    You will also find attached to this person
    2 attached records
    4 sources
    8 attached photos

    TD
     
  4. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

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  5. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

  6. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Not a lot online, but he was awarded the Military Medal and a Mentioned in Dispatches.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  7. arnhem2280

    arnhem2280 Member

    His MM was in the old Airborne Forces Museum when it was at Aldershot. I presume its now at Duxford.

    Cheers

    Arnhem
     
  8. dparish

    dparish New Member

    • Hi Charlie was my grandfather. Following Bruneval he served in Africa and Italy working with radar units. Following the war as previously stated he started a small electrical shop in Little Church Street, Wisbech. He married twice being survived by his second wife. His MM was donated to the Airbourne Forces Museum and is at Duxford.
    Darrin
     
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  9. Tricky Dicky

    Tricky Dicky Don'tre member

    Hi Darrin

    Welcome to the forum, and for adding the info regarding your grandfather

    TD
     
  10. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Darrin,

    Hello and welcome to the forum.

    As mentioned by TD above, I would also like to extend my thanks for your post.

    I am sure that you must be very proud of your Grandfathers actions.

    Regards
    Tom
     
  11. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Welcome Darrin
    And thank you for the information

    Regards
    Clive
     
  12. dparish

    dparish New Member

    We are very proud of him and those he served with. I had the pleasure of attending a number of reunions with him and the respect held for each other was fantastic to see. I have much more information from his personal reports and will post some of this information shortly.
    I am currently trying to get a copy of his service record from the RAF so that I can get further information. Unfortunately like many of that time he did not talk much about his actions until much later in his life. Obviously as we all grow older I wish that the actions of these brave men are never forgotten.

    Regards
    Darrin
     
  13. amberdog45

    amberdog45 Senior Member

    Hi Darrin, welcome to the forum. Found this small newsclip for you.
     

    Attached Files:

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  14. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    I've always been a bit confused about the Bruneval raid and Operation Biting. Wasn't the site in La Poterie-Cap-d’Antifer north of La Harve? This is at least a hundred miles (by land) from Breneval and maybe 50 miles across the bay.

    Anything left of the site today?

    Thanks
     
  15. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  16. Harry Ree

    Harry Ree Very Senior Member

    Flight Sergeant Cox ,the radar specialist was the only RAF member on the raiding party.R V Jones attempted to protect him,should he be captured by allowing him to wear army uniform but as R V Jones records the army refused.I would have thought it possible to achieve this deception by transferring F/S Cox to the Army legally,then transferring him back after the operation should he survive.

    The other point contributing to the success of the operation was the excellent reconnaissance photographs taken by Tony Hill in a Benson Spitfire which after analysis confirmed that what was thought to be a radar dish was correct.Apparently there was some deliberation about the surroundings of the dish which was then realised that the grass was cut around the dish area but it was growing unchecked within what was recognised as a barbed wire sercurity fence surrounding the dish.

    It was important that reconnaissance sweeps over intended targets was as covert as possible for fear of giving the game away to the enemy and to this extent Hill achieved this for when the raid was mounted,the Germans had no forewarning of the operation.

    No 51 Squadron was responsible for dropping 119 paratroppers plus F/S Cox in 12 Whitley Mk Vs after extensive training from the New Year 1942,the squadron being led by Percy Picard out of Thruxton.Picard had had considerable experience on BC ops, his own tally being 65.achieved by August 1941.He had appeared in the Air Ministry information film "Target for Tonight" and was to lose his life leading the attack on Amiens gaol on 18 February 1944.
     
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  17. AndyBaldEagle

    AndyBaldEagle Very Senior Member

    A transcript of his MM-

    Cox/Charles William Hall Flight Sergeant 955754 Royal Air Force LG 15/05/1942

    This N.C.O volunteered to carry out a hazardous task in the parachute raid on Bruneval on the night of 27th/28th February 1942. The success of the operation on the technical side depended largely on the performance of the duty allotted to him. After being dropped by parachute, Flight Sergeant Cox had only a few minutes to complete a task which had previously been estimated to require half an hour, and during this time he continuously under enemy fire. He displayed great courage, skill and devotion to duty in completing his task in spite of these difficulties, thereby contributing greatly to the successful execution of the raid.

    (Flight Sergeant Cox was recommended for a Mention in Despatches by the Army but the Royal Air Force recommended him for a Military Medal (MM)).

    Regards

    Andy
     
  18. idler

    idler GeneralList

    A nice little anecdote here:

    [​IMG]
     

    Attached Files:

    • cox.jpg
      cox.jpg
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  19. Justina

    Justina Member

    Hi. My Granddad was an SSO and actually assigned to Cox on this raid, unknown to most. His job was to specifically protect Cox at all costs... the army was fully unwilling to allow his capture and well prepared to protect him.
    Cheers, Justina
     
  20. idler

    idler GeneralList

    IMG_20171119_111026103.jpg
    Couldn't see a blue plaque...
     
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