Hi I am new to this so please be patient with me I am looking for information on my great uncle The information i have from my aunt is his name was william anderson he was part of a flight crew in a wellinton bomber and all i know of this is. They were i think short down and his was the only body found from the wreckage and he is buried in holland (i know my granfather was swedish born hence the name anderson) But i think the spelling may be different As i have said i am new to this and have no idea were to star many thanks gary
Hi Gary Do you have more information? CWGC gives 34 W Andersons, who died in WW2. Which country was he from? See - CWGC :: Casualty Results Family member names and address would help to find him in this list Next thing to find would be his service records. regards Robert
My girlfriends sister works for the national archives london I suppose i could start there With just a name to go on and no birth date or year i may find it difficult
Welcome Gary, once you've discovered which squadron/s your great uncle served in then you could view/copy the Operations Record Book for those squadrons at the National Archives. Lee
My best guess is for to look at CWGC :: Casualty Details Does the NoK details ring any bells? He was the rear gunner on No.75 Sqn Wellington X3794 lost over the North Sea 03/09/42. Your Kew contact will be able to provide more details on other operational trips if this is your man. I'm sure others will post the meagre loss details from Chorley now they have an aircraft serial but for copyright I will not. Regards Ross
From: Lost Bombers - World War II Lost Bombers Wellington X3794 Information Type Wellington Serial Number X3794 Squadron 75 X1D AA-? Operation Emden Date 12th September 1942 Date 23rd September 1942 Further Information "Serial Range X3784 - X3823. 40 Wellington Mk.111. Part of a batch of 500 Wellington Mk.1C/111. X3160-X3179; X3192-X1332 50 Mk.1C delivered by Vickers (Squires Gate) between Aug40 and Jun41. X3222-X3226; X3275-X3289; X3299-X3313; X3330-X3374; X3387-X3426; X3445-X3489; X3538-X3567; X3584-X3608; X3633-X3677; X3694-X3728; X3741-X3765; X3784-X3823; X3866-X3890; X3923-X3967; X3984-X4003 450 Mk.111 delivered by Vicjers (Squires Gate) between May41 and Mar42. X3193; X3935 converted to Mk.XV1. X3374 and X3595 Mk.X prototypes. X3794 was one of two No.75 Sqdn Wellingtons lost on this operation. See: X3396. Airborne from Mildenhall. Lost in the North Sea off the Dutch coast. Cause not established. The body of Sgt Anderson was eventually washed ashore and is buried in Bergen op Zoom War cemetery, Holland, his comrades have no known graves and are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. F/S E.R.Hunting KIA Sgt E.H.Beyer KIA Sgt H.E.Goldie KIA F/S G.McArter RCAF KIA Sgt W.Anderson KIA " Mark
bump Bloomin 'eck, Bumping a thread after 2 minutes is a bit off old chum, give people chance. I've also moved thread from 'airborne' section to 'war in the air'.
From: Lost Bombers - World War II Lost Bombers Mark Mark, Well found and should lead to a lot more information. Regards Tom
My uncle also flew a Wellington and I've been able to find out loads about him, the crew etc. I got his service records from RAF Cranwell, which showed lots. I also went to the National Archives at Kew, where I found out the details of all the missions he went on. A couple of people on the forum offer the service of taking photos of the unit diaries and other information which will really help you. Although they weren't able to help me specifically, the Air Historical Branch may have more info, once you've received his service records. If you find out what squadron he was with, you should be able to either contact the Squadron, or the Squadron Association for Vets who may be able to help you as well. I'm now lucky enough to be in contact with an association in Holland that are helping research the families of the other crew members. I myself, with various bits of help have already tracked down one family in Australia & one in New Zealand. It can be a bit of a frustrating slog at times to dig up any info, but keep going as any bit you do find, is like finding treasure trove.
Having reread the above info from Lost Bombers, I noticed that they crashed in the North Sea near Holland. You may get some help from the same Foundation as I am. It is the Stichting Missing Airmen Foundation (Luchtoorlog Friesland) and they research all the aircraft that crashed around the Dutch coastline, so they may even already have information about your uncle's plane. The contact's name is Douwe Drijver.
Now you are on your way with finding out info on your relative. If you look at the thread I've linked to, you can see the sort of info you can amass , I too had a relative who was lost whilst serving on Wellingtons. http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/war-air/6482-420-sqn-rcaf-wellington-ln431.html
Well if we're doing show & tell Owen lol: http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/war-air/26721-james-e-linehan-mia-1942-wellington-x3757.html
Found these potential contacts for 75 Squadron: No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron Association (UK Contact) S. Brooks Meadowsmede Probus Truro Cornwall TR2 2JL England No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron Association (NZ Contact) - validated Feb 2010 Glen Turner email: 75sqn.assnz@windowslive.com Research Addresses
If this is indeed the correct W Anderson, here is the photo of his Headstone from Bergen-op-Zoon War Cemetery.
These are the deaths at Runnymede for the rest of the crew except McArter. See post #24 for the CWGC details.
Hi all I have contacts with lots of people to do with 75 Sqn LOL. Will pm our enquirer and put him in contact with the people he needs to contact. Another Wellington guy for us great! Dee
Hi all I have contacts with lots of people to do with 75 Sqn LOL. Will pm our enquirer and put him in contact with the people he needs to contact. Another Wellington guy for us great! Dee Excellent, can stop looking for some. Mark
