George Raynor Israel Dale - 9 Squadron RAF

Hello all

Looking for information about George Raynor Israel Dale, both 1908, KIA 4 April 1943.

All the information I have is here.

Casualty

I also have the photo that is on Ancestry.

Hugely grateful for any further information anyone could provide.

Thanks

James

 

James,

From Chorley's Bomber Command Losses, 1943 (pg 89)

No. 9 Squadron Lancaster III ED479 WS-Z

S/Ldr WJ Jarrett +
Sgt H Precious +
Sgt G Smith +
P/O AG Seymour +
Sgt I Francis +
F/O GR Dale +
Sgt J Miles +

T/O 1958 Waddington. Crashed at Duisburg-Meiderich. All rest in the Reichswald War Cemetery. S/Ldr Jarrett was a senior pilot whose service number indicates he joined service in the late 1920s. Sgt Miles came from New Hanover in Natal Province, South Africa.

From Chorley's crew matrix your subject was the mid upper gunner on this aircraft.

And although his CWGC entry has no next of kin information he had married Eva Lipman at Hendon in the March 1936 Qtr. Daughter Linda A Dale was born in the March 1938 Qtr at Hendon.

Regards,

Dave

 

Service records if you require more detail

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https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2013/187/56033654_137324375119.jpg

 

If you have the drawing of him that is on Ancestry, why not contact the 2 people who have created a family tree that include him?

George Raynor Israel Dale
1908–1943
BIRTH 27 MAR 1908 • London, England
DEATH 4 APR 1943 • Germany

George Raynor Israel
1908–1943
BIRTH 27 MAR 1908 • London, United Kingdom
DEATH 4 APR 1943 • Germany

As you will see one of them has an incorrect name, but is the one that has the drawing/sketch of him

TD

Having said they were incorrect - perhaps they aren't

England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837-1915
Name: George Rayner Israel
Registration Year: 1908
Registration Quarter: Apr-May-Jun
Registration district: West Ham
Parishes for this Registration District: View Ecclesiastical Parishes associated with this Registration District
Inferred County: Essex
Volume: 4a
Page: 263

If this birth record is his

 

General photos of the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery where he lays at rest.

 

Thank you all very much for your help. It’s really appreciated.

James

 

The CWGC record also has tabs for the headstone inscription but also a "Concentration" tab which shows he and his crew were initially buried at Dusseldorf North Cemetery.
On that same Concentration page is the crew of another Lancaster, ED524 of 487 Squadron, piloted by another Sqdn Leader, A M Paape, DFC and Bar. Chorley says of them that they "crashed in the target area and were buried on 6th or 7th April in the Nordfriedhof at Dusseldorf.
The top name on that page is Sgt J K Howarth, the pilot of a 76 Squadron Halifax DT738 and Chorley states that his crew were buried on 6th April. They had crashed at Hervest, 4 km north east of Dorsten
I'd guess that the crew from 9 Sqdn were buried at the same time, in consecutive graves. Whilst it's of no consolation, it seems each crew member could be identified, so perhaps they had dropped their bombs and thus avoided total destruction. It's a conjecture, but it's possible they collided in mid air, some pilots would circle the target to ensure the accuracy of their and other bombers.

Bomber Command War Diaries states that on 3/4th April 348 aircraft were sent to bomb Essen, the first time more than 200 Lancasters had taken part. 12 Halifaxes and 9 Lancasters were lost. The weather was not entirely favourable and the Pathfinders had prepared a plan for both sky marking and ground marking the target. In the event there was no cloud over Essen and the Main Force crews were somewhat confused with the two kinds of marking taking place. The resultant bombing was however accurate and a high proportion of aircraft returned good bombing photographs than on any previous attack on Essen.

It's been noted previously that crew with obvious "Jewish" sounding names would change, or add a surname, to prevent the Nazis knowing their religion. After the War, a Star of David would have been put on his headstone.

 

Hi, my great Uncle was S/L GWJ Jarrett. I have a photo of F/O Dale taken in Feb 1943. I will try to upload.

 

My research suggests that the aircraft ED479 was called Zola III, see attached. My I please ask what is your relationship with F/O Dale?

 

James if you check the burial records fully for F/O Dale you will find that the headstone was updated and (being Jewish) his wife asked for the cross (I think?) to be removed.

 

My online research suggests that ED479 was hit by heavy flak but not sure what evidence there is for that. If you check the IX squadron website and look at the ORB in "research" section it details when ED479 went missing.

 

CL1 (without hijacking this thread) do you know how I can get a photo of my great Uncle's headstone photo? GWJ Jarrett service number 27088? Many thanks, James
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https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2013/187/56033654_137324375119.jpg[/QUOTE]

 

Whilst not answering your question
FLIGHT JULY 19, 1928 p621 The following are granted short service commissions as Pilot Officers on probation ..... G. W. J. Jarrett,
FLIGHT, JULY 4, 1929 p557 Pilot Officer G. W. J. Jarrett, to No. 13 Sqdn., Andover, 15.6.29
FLIGHT, FEBRUARY 21, 1930 p242: ...... Flying Officer G. W. J. Jarrett, to No. 31 Sqdn., India, 21.1.30.
THE LONDON GAZETTE, 16 DECEMBER, 1941 p 7114 Flight Lieutenants to be Squadron Leaders (temp) .... G. W. J. JARRETT (27088).

An earlier thread here also has a photo of a replacement Zola and crew, from about August 1943 Ice cream tally marking - Bomber Command

It also has a photo of "your" Zola III with a greater complement of officers and men from the Squadron - ah! I see you've already participated on that thread... sorry! Explains the name Harry Irons on the top right of your photo, and therefore isn't ED479 (presumably each new "Z" replacing a lost "Z" became Zola II; III; IV etc?)

 

Thanks for that, my Dad says that my great Uncle worked his way up through the ranks, gaining his commission quite late really and (as your kind post suggests) spent time in India. I think he also trained pilots in South Africa.

I don't think there is a headstone photo for my great Uncle having checked "findagrave.com". Also seems odd that my great Uncle's grave is not adjacent to the rest of the crew, not sure why.

Yes all the WS/Z aircraft of IX sqn starting with Wellingtons in 1942 (maybe even before) were called Zola with similar nose art on the Wellington and the first 2 Lancs (W4133 and Zola III), there were quite a few Zolas. I cannot be 100% sure that ED479 is that Zola III but all the evidence (bomb tally, timing of photos, nose art, being a Lanc 3, following Zola W4133 with same nose art print) suggest it was. It was used for a lot of publicity photos. I bought the signed Harry Irons photo on Ebay- I was told that this photo is with all the IX sqn gunners (although I think I can see pilots in the photo too) and the other photo I added is apparently IX sqn groundcrew. Only Harry Irons could probably confirm identity of Zola III but sadly he died late last year. My great Uncle did his first dicky flight with Stubbs (who had Harry as rear gunner).
Without checking I am sure that F/O Dale joined IX sqn in late 1942 at same time as my great Uncle from a heavy conversion unit and was part of his regular crew.
Interesting what you have said above about a possible mid-air collision. I read somewhere that the aircraft was hit by heavy flak and damaged well beyond repair but might not be right. Seems they were very unlucky as relatively few aircraft were lost on that raid. I think my great Uncle managed around 17 raids in this first tour, including some to Berlin. The other S/L Fry and W/C Southwell in photo survived the war but really sad to note how many officers in that photo were killed in the weeks that followed.

 

James (if you get this) I should probably add that the officer photo with F/O Dale was obtained from a member on here but originally from a display at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre. You can purchase a proper copy of photo from their website if you put the reference number "YB-0781-95(b)" in the comments section (see Archive photo purchase - Archive search request - Archive enquiries - Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre). They don't have any further photos of my great Uncle or ED479 but might have some of F/O Dale.
The best resource is the ORBs- I think F/O Dale joined IX squadron in late 1942 from a heavy conversion unit (see books 2/3 @ http://www.9sqn.co.uk/research/ ).

 

I’ve only just seen all the responses on this thread. Sorry for taking so long to come back. Thank you so much for all the additional information. I will pass it on to George Dale’s relative

 

Hi Jimmy,

A quick internet search for George Dale brought up your post.

George is my half great uncle. I am in touch with Linda, his daughter.

I am still digesting the information in the posts but would love to hear from you and to discuss George.

What is the best way of communicating?

Regards

Antony Stafford

 

On the rare chance that you’re not aware of this book, I’d recommend it. Plenty of 9 squadron veteran interviews including Harry Irons, so may be of interest.

 

Hi Ant - I’ve sent you a message in ‘conversations’