Flt. Lt. C M Maunder. Died 12/01/1972

Discussion in 'Postwar' started by Peter Bennett, May 16, 2011.

  1. Peter Bennett

    Peter Bennett Peter Bennett

    Is it possible to find out where this airman is buried

    HUMPHREY, CHRISTOPHER MAUNDER. Flight Lieutenant 608462 Royal Air Force RAF Wildenrath killed 12-Jan-1972 age28 . . Of Chingola, Northern Rhodesia
     
  2. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

  3. Peter Clare

    Peter Clare Very Senior Member

    Flt. Lt. C M Maunder. Died 12/01/1972

    Details of the above loss.......

    12 January 1972.

    3 Squadron
    Harrier XW918
    RAF Wildenrath

    The pilot took off to demonstrate the handling characteristics of the Harrier to a party of Swiss officials. Immediately after take-off he entered cloud and presumably having decided to execute a wing over, he emerged from the cloud in a very steep dive. Although he ejected, the seat was carried into the side of a building and the pilot did not survive.

    F/L. Christopher Maunder Humphrey 28. +

    Extract from 'Category Five' - Colin Cummings.
     
  4. Peter Bennett

    Peter Bennett Peter Bennett

    Thank you for these replies, I have contacted the church which is also known as the Oxford Oratory The Oxford Oratory - Catholic Church of St Aloysius Gonzaga

    There are no graves in the churchyard and neither is there a cemetery under this name. The clergy were kind enough to check the funeral records and there was no funeral service held there.

    Regards

    Peter
     
  5. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    could that be the wrong St Giles in Oxford listed on the AFM?
    Here's another one with a cemetery.
    St_Giles_enter
     
  6. Peter Bennett

    Peter Bennett Peter Bennett

    could that be the wrong St Giles in Oxford listed on the AFM?
    Here's another one with a cemetery.
    St_Giles_enter

    Thank you Owen

    I have e-mailed the church for confirmation. (no pun intended !)

    Peter
     
  7. Botha

    Botha New Member

    I am aware this thread is a couple of years old. But on this website (South Africa Africa War Graves Project) you will find the information that he was buried at Wolvercote Cemetery, Banbury Road in Oxford. I tried to find his grave at Wolvercote Cemetery on "Findagrave.com" but with no result, so either his name is simply not listed or his grave may no longer exist. The reason why he is mentioned on a South African site may be that Christopher Humphrey was born in Africa. I understand he was born in Chingola, a copperbelt town in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), he later attended the Jesuit St. George's College in Salisbury/Rhodesia before entering the RAF and completing his military training at Cranwell College.
    This may be of interest too: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/45730/page/8744/data.pdf

    The local German paper "Rheinische Post" today carries an article by senior local journalist Folkmar Pietsch on Humphrey's death 44 years ago at the small village of Tüschenbroich near RAF Wildenrath, under the title of "How a British pilot sacrificed his own life for Tüschenbroich". It appears Humphrey pulled up the plane one last time to avoid crashing into tenements but by doing so he lost the life saving angle for his ejection seat.

    There are also two readers' comment underneath. Unfortunately the article does not mention Humphrey's name, but the long comment does. He must have been a gallant man who saved the lives of many a villager. By the way: the huge photograph shows the journalist and not the pilot - as the first reader's comment rightly criticises. But maybe there are no photographs available - at least I could not find any on the internet. Somewhere on the internet though I read that Humphrey left behind a wife and two children; so if that is true, there must be descendants and his children should be in their late forties or very early fifties. I could well imagine the German journalist would love to hear from them.

    If you insert the article and the comments into "Google Translator" it will provide you with at least a somewhat usuable English translation.
    Erkelenz: Wie ein britischer Pilot sich für Tüschenbroich opferte
     
    Last edited: Oct 9, 2016

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