No 59 Coastal Command Squadron former Commanding Officer. I see that Wg Cdr Geoffery Bartlett has died at Woodhall Spa on 5 March at the grand old age of 97 years. He served in Coastal Command during the Second World War in No 224 Squadron and on No 59 Squadron as Commanding Officer. I do not know the date he served at the top of No 59 Squadron.Others will, no doubt. Thank you very much for this post, do you have a link to the news article? May he rest in peace.
59 Sqn Bristol Blenheim - Lost 25/07/1940 Pilot - P/O Haswell Sgt RB Martin Sgt DB Simpson I've received the following from the niece of one of the crew members... I have only just found out that my uncle, Sgt Raymond B Martin 751104, who was shot down over the North Sea during WW2 was with that squadron, stationed at Thorney Island. He went missing on 25th July 1940 I would love to have more information about his service record. We know he was searching for life rafts when he was killed – we believe from a French refugee ship, to which the Germans had promised free passage, but had bombed anyway. We would be interested to know more about the ship, who it was carrying, whether there were any survivors, and why the Germans bombed it after offering safe passage. Was this a common occurrence? We also believe that he had previously been out on several bombing raids over the canals in Holland. any help appreciate as always from the great minds of this forum! cheers
Lorenzo, I came across this loss, not sure if its a help or not. MEKNES (July 25, 1940) French passenger liner of 6,127 tons left Southampton carrying 1,277 French naval personnel who were being repatriated to France to continue the fight. At 10.30 pm the ship was hit by a torpedo from the German motor torpedo boat S27 off the coast of Brittany. Some 383 Frenchmen were lost. (Fifty-nine French ships, which had sought refuge in the harbours of Plymouth and Portsmouth were seized by the British Royal Navy on July 3, 1940)
Lorenzo, 25 July 1940 59 Squadron Blenheim IV L9473 Failed to return from a sortie to Le Havre to search for survivors of the SS Weknes sunk by the Germans. F/O. H. Haswell, Sgt. R. Martin and Sgt. D. Simpson commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. 'The Bristol Blenheim' - Warner. Begining to think SS Weknes is a typo and the ship was really the SS Meknes as no details on Weknes can be found. French steamer MEKNES (6127grt), carrying 1277 French sailors being repatriated to Marseilles. was sunk by German motor torpedo boat S.27 in 50‑04N, 02‑14W. Three hundred and eighty three of the passengers died in the sinking, and of the 104 crew, thirty three were missing. Destroyers VISCOUNT, WOLVERINE, SABRE, and SHIKARI rescued the survivors.
Thank you very much for this post, do you have a link to the news article? May he rest in peace. The only information on the death of Wg Cdr Geoffery Bartlett is to be found in the Daily Telegraph on 10 March by a family announcement. (attached) I would think that the DT and Lincolnshire Echo will follow it up eventually with a obituary.
Peter: As always your help is greatly appreciated! Thank you and I have sent on that information and referenced your goodself as the provider. Harry: Thank you for the news paper clipping, I will add it onto the memorial page for W/C Bartlett. I often wondered what became of him and was happy to hear that he had lived so long. Let's hope he had a rewarding life with much happiness. Cheers.
59 Sqdn ORB PRO No. AIR 27 / 555 Jan 41 - Dec. 43 556 Jan - Dec 1944 557 Jan - Dec 1845 APPENDICES 560 Jan 1940 - May 1946 561 Aug 1942 - Sept 1943 Sadsac Could someone please tell me what the 'APPENDICES' were a record of and if they are worthwhile ordering? I am about to (finally) arrange payment of all the ORB records available for 59 Sqn and want to know whether the APPENDICES are worth getting also... Thanks in advance!
The only information on the death of Wg Cdr Geoffery Bartlett is to be found in the Daily Telegraph on 10 March by a family announcement. (attached) I would think that the DT and Lincolnshire Echo will follow it up eventually with a obituary. Thanks again Harry, I was able to get in contact with his family through the details provided in the obituary and W/C Bartletts grandson sent me some very useful information.
26/07/1940 WALLACE, D 628797 26/07/1940 ROWE, GP 751202 26/07/1940 TURNBULL, MR 42915 26/07/1940 Blenheim IV T1801 TR-T Base; Thorney Island. Take off time 0315 hrs. Op; Cherbourg. Missing. Both P/O. Turnbull and Sgt. Rowe are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial while Sgt. Wallace rests in Criel-sur-Mer Communal Cemetery, France. C/C. Losses - McNeill. this was my uncle...have never been over to criel sur mer , and was wondering whether anyone has photos of this graveyard
this was my uncle...have never been over to criel sur mer , and was wondering whether anyone has photos of this graveyard Hi there, good to hear from you. Unfortunately I do not have any photo's of the Cemetery but Sgt Wallace is listed as grave number nine on the CWGC There are seven war graves located there. This site lists RCAF airmen and thier graves around the world.. The cemetery that David is buried in on the list, perhaps you could get in contact with them and see if they have any images of his grave.. Sorry I cannot be of more help at this time re. photographs, but I would love to hear from you if you would like to submit some information about David for the 59 Sqn site I have put up.. Hope to hear from you, Thanks Lorenzo
Ive ordered the records, 1939-1945... Pretty excited to have finally put this through.. may well take a few monthes I guess.. but It will be very well worth it! I will let you know when they've been delivered, im suspecting it will take me a very long time to trawl through them.. Anyone know what are the limitations on reproduction of the files into webpage format? Thanks.
Blenheim IV R3635 lost ex Thorney Island 20 September 1940 August 2002 photograph of P/O K V Palmer's crew interred at le Vast churchyard (Situated on the D26 minor road from St Vaast on the east coast of The Manche to Cherbourg.)
Blenheim IV R3635 lost ex Thorney Island 20 September 1940 August 2002 photograph of P/O K V Palmer's crew interred at le Vast churchyard (Situated on the D26 minor road from St Vaast on the east coast of The Manche to Cherbourg.) Thanks for the picture harry, I'll put in on the crew page for P/O Palmer
Good afternoon all, would anyone have any information as to the identity of two aircraft from 131 OTU involved in the search for the Liberator above....Catalina or Sunderland? Also the Anson from 275 Sqn also involved. I realise that the OTU ORB's do not always list the aircraft serials. Many thanks to all. RAF1
Dear All. I am looking into the SS Meknes which was sunk off Portland on 24 July 1940. It is proving to be a very interesting story although it is very tragic on many levels. If you would like to see a web site on the MEKNES then plse go to ; Dieppe - Le site du naufrage du navire Meknès le 24 juillet 1940 (paquebot torpillé par une vedette allemande au large de Portland) faisant 420 morts - commémoration le samedi 24 juillet 2010 à Berneval Saint Martin The web site is in french but I think you can follow it... ish ! I am confused re the planes that were send to help the MEKNES. At first I thought it was just the one plane involved but it would appear from these postings that 2 were shot down whilst trying to help the MEKNES. Can anyone point me in a direction where I can get clarification on this matter ? Finally, I will be attending the rememberance service in Deippe on the 24 July 2011. I will be visiting Cruel sur Mer to place a poppy on the grave of Sgt Wallace. I will take a photo of his final resting place and post it on this site upon my return. Finally, finally... these were very brave men who, by their actions, saved many lives from the MEKNES. Regards to all Ray Taylor
Following up on the SS Meknes angle .... Here is a web site that shows the grave on Sgt David WALLACE (plus others) http://www.inmemories.com/Cemeteries/crielsurmer.htm Ray
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My father was AJ MASON,his Liberator was lost on 20th Aug.1943 flying out of Aldergrove airfield. I have letter from WC Gilchrist informing my mother of the loss of the aircraft. I also have details and a few pictures of other crew members also lost on that flight.
59 Squadron Blenheim 3613. Reconnaissance sortie, shot down near Dussen, Belgium. Crew. P/O. R Shaw + Sgt. G Schwind + AC2. A Brogan (18) + Warner Hello all, It's been a while since I updated this thread.. but I have a question about this loss... Firstly is there a Dussen in Belgium?? I've only been able to locate a Dussen in the Netherlands, which I'm prone to think this is the Dussen meant, as P/O Shaw is buried in the Netherlands, about 70km away from there... Schwind and Brogan are however buried 170 miles away in Belgium... which makes me wonder how this could be? My belief is that they were helped by the resistance to get to Belgium but were caught and killed... They rest side by side... which means however they met there fate, they were most likely together... but was the resistance operational in May of 1940? My last question is, where does Warner get his information from as I have looked through the 59 Sqn ORB and nothing is mentioned of this crew... I know there was a small contingent of 59 Sqn aircraft and crews left behind in France after they pulled out of France on the 22nd of May.. so I'm assuming the record of this flight, came from else where?? Any ideas my friends?? Thanks in advance.. Lorenzo..
Following up on the SS Meknes angle .... Here is a web site that shows the grave on Sgt David WALLACE (plus others) http://www.inmemories.com/Cemeteries/crielsurmer.htm Ray Thanks Ray, I'll update the site with these new additions... Lorenzo.