ROBERTS, Dorothy Florence Monica

Hi everyone,
I am researching a lady who was left off our local WW2 War Memorial, but I cannot find out how she died and the Christian name of her husband, any help would be appreciated.

AIRCRAFTWOMAN 1ST CLASS
DOROTHY FLORENCE MONICA ROBERTS
Service Number: 2052724
Regiment & Unit/Ship - Women's Auxiliary Air Force
Date of Death
Died 27 April 1942
Age 42 years old

Buried or commemorated at COLERNE (ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST) CHURCHYARD
Grave 108.
United Kingdom
Country of Service - United Kingdom
Additional Info - Wife of T. Roberts, of Hawarden, Flintshire.

Personal Inscription - REST IN PEACE

This is what I have found out, but need information on her husband, as I need to find her family.

RAF Colerne - Wikipedia

RAF Colerne from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Royal Air Force Colerne or more simply RAF Colerne is a former Royal Air Force station located on the outskirts of the village of Colerne in Wiltshire, in use from 1939 to 1976.


Aircraftwoman 1st Class D F M ROBERTS (2052724), Women's Auxiliary Air Force) [Royal Air Force WW2 Casualty ]

This page commemorates Aircraftwoman 1st Class Dorothy Florence Monica ROBERTS (2052724) of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force


Circumstances of Death: Dorothy Florence Monica ROBERTS is one of the 6.23% of the airmen from the Second World War, whose cause of death is not known. Can you add details on how he died? Please contact us at admin ^ rafcommands.com to let us know.

That being said, 93.77% of the airmen killed during WW2 now have a cause of death established. Search our Database to find out more!
Death of Death 1942-04-27 Age : 42 years.

Served in

Burial/Commemoration Details : Grave 108. at Colerne (St. John The Baptist), United Kingdom (Map)

Many thank for reading this and for any information that you may be able to pass on.
Regards,
Mavis Williams

 

There is this man
John T Roberts
1893–
BIRTH ABT 1893 • Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales
DEATH Unknown

The 'T' could well be Tom

as this is followed by a possible marriage
Name: Tom Roberts
Registration Date: Jul 1929
[Aug 1929]
[Sep 1929]
Registration Quarter: Jul-Aug-Sep
Registration District: Epping
Inferred County: Essex
Spouse: Dorothy F M Dayly
Volume Number: 4a
Page Number: 1349

This is the only Roberts marriage to someone with the initials Dorothy F M

He may have changed his forenames around
1911 England Census
Name: Thomas John Roberts
Age in 1911: 18
Estimated Birth Year: abt 1893
Relation to Head: Visitor
Gender: Male
Birth Place: Festiniog
Civil Parish: Chester
Search Photos: Search for 'Chester' in the UK City, Town and Village Photos collection
County/Island: Cheshire
Country: England
Street Address: Ye Olde Hermitage Groves Chester
Marital status: Single
Occupation: Drapery Assistant Shop
Registration District: Chester
Registration District Number: 450
Sub-registration District: Chester Castle
ED, institution, or vessel: 10
Piece: 21860

You could apply for her service records, or for her marriage certificate to obtain some concrete details - the marriage cert would tell you her husbands name and date of birth plus probably his fathers name

TD

 

AIRCRAFT WOMAN 1ST CLASSDOROTHY FLORENCE MONICA ROBERTS
Service Number: 2052724
Regiment & Unit/Ship
Women's Auxiliary Air Force

Date of Death
Died 27 April 1942

Age 42 years old

Buried or commemorated at
COLERNE (ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST) CHURCHYARD

Grave 108.

United Kingdom

• Country of ServiceUnited Kingdom
• Additional InfoWife of T. Roberts, of Hawarden, Flintshire.
• Personal InscriptionREST IN PEACE

https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2017/337/99700846_6963545b-e607-450b-9104-2728c116ac95.jpeg

 

Thank you both so much and so quick! Is there nothing you don't know!! This forum is always rescuing me.
Kindest regards, Mavis

 

Lots

TD

 

Hi everyon,

 

have just received the Death Certificate for Dorothy Florence Monica ROBERTS, I am going to notify RAF Commands. Regards, Mavis

 

Many thanks - the record has been updated with the details and this link.

 

Thanks, I now have her marriage certificate, do you need that as well.

 

I believe that Dorothy Florence Monica Roberts was living at Holderness in 1939, at 8, Chechester Row.

1939 National Register – (Taken on the 29th September 1939)
Roberts household (1 person)
No 8 Chichester Row, Sproatley, Holderness R.D., Yorkshire (East Riding), England
Dorothy F M Roberts 23 Feb 1897 Female Unpaid Domestic Duties Married 12 1
Ref: RG101/3201F/002/37 Letter Code: JCIS
© Findmypast Ltd

Was there an R.A.F. Camp there at that time, could Tom, her husband have been stationed there?

This is their marriage:-
Register Office, Epping, Essex.

12th August 1929 Tom ROBERTS, 32, Bachelor, Sergeant Royal Air Force, Royal Air Force, North Weald, Bassett, William Thomas ROBERTS, Moulder & Dorothy Florence Monica DAYLY, 32, Spinster, York Cottage, North Weald, Bassett, John DAYLY (Deceased), Music Teacher. By Licence.

Witnesses:- R. RILEY & H.M. THORNICROFT

 

Hello,

A George Riley used to live opposite the Bluebell Inn in Sproatley. This link should afford a view of the terrace on the left, which I think was called Chichester Row, after the Chichester-Constables:

File:Sproatley - geograph.org.uk - 600270.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

George would have been of very similar age to Dorothy, so perhaps a sibling? I had thought he was a Great War veteran, but perhaps not, according to the War Memorial:

Sproatley First World War Memorial & Roll of Honour. - War Memorials Online
Roll of Honour - Yorkshire - Sproatley

which lists another Riley.

I can still picture George supping a pint of mild in the bar with his flat cap on.

Sproatley has no real RAF association, although Vulcan crews often seemed to use the lake at Burton Constable Hall as a waypoint when practising low level runs on the range at Cowden. Some of the ponds in local fields were attributed to stray Luftwaffe bombs from the blitz on Hull. Mrs Eveline Cardwell, a farmer’s wife, was awarded a BEM for taking Junker 88 pilot Hptn Karl Rohloff (KG 4) prisoner on 8 July 1940 at East Carlton Farm a couple of miles away near Aldbrough.

 

Thanks. For some reason I had associated the shop beside the Constable Arms with the Rileys, but an old photo would suggest the Smiths:


I didn’t go to the Endowed School, but have some annotated photos of the soccer team 56-57 etc, when May could have taught, but no Rileys.

I hadn’t twigged before that the village seemed to have been spared direct fatalities in WW2. I do recall once helping a chap called George C who had collapsed from a recurrence of malaria (ex Far East PW - rough time) near what was Garthwaite’s. Will keep an eye open for your history - a relative can get me it for a Christmas present, whenever. Best Lincolnshire sausages ever came from Nutts!

 

Hello James and Quarterfinal, Thanks for getting in touch, and for the information re the R.A.F. stations around Sproatley, that is good news, so Sgt.Tom Roberts could have been in one of the camps on the day that Dorothy Florence Monica Roberts answered the 1939 National Register questions. However the marriage was in the District of Epping in Essex in 1929, so unless they were all pals and moved with Tom & Dorothy to Sproatley, it may be that the names are just co-incidental. What are your thoughts? Thanks so much again, Regards, Mavis

 

Hello All,

My thoughts would be to focus for a while on the husband - Thomas - and see if you can follow his service, which may then give better insight on Dorothy. I note her death certificate says she was 41, whereas the CWGC headstone reflects 42. The National Register - if it’s the right - gives Dorothy a DOB in Feb 1897, which chimes better with the age given on marriage. The marriage certificate attributes Tom Roberts as RAF and the death certificate supports a husband with a RAF association; was he at RAF Sealand and Hawarden listed as a generic alternative? Tracking his career might explain why Sproatley. Presuming no children, she might have followed his postings. Taking a hiring in Sproatley would have been safer than Hull and if there was a local Riley link, that might make sense. The nearest RAF unit could have been the searchlight entity at Sutton on Hull, about 4 miles or 30 minutes bike ride away, when and if a serviceman could get a leave pass. Looking at Cowden again, it seems it had an Army range association at that time. He could have been at Catfoss, Leconfield or quite a few other stations in the Riding, even Bridlington with a marine branch and other options. Perhaps she had to be under 40 to join the WAAF, or to open up trades which could enable a scope for movement, if an intent was to try to be closer to the spouse? Unless you get a really lucky break, getting more granularity on the husband’s records might give greater sense to other events. Good luck, anyway.

 

Hello James, Thanks for your reply. Dorothy's Maiden name was DAYLY as on her marriage cert.:-
This is their marriage:-
Register Office, Epping, Essex.

12th August 1929 Tom ROBERTS, 32, Bachelor, Sergeant Royal Air Force, Royal Air Force, North Weald, Bassett, William Thomas ROBERTS, Moulder & Dorothy Florence Monica DAYLY, 32, Spinster, York Cottage, North Weald, Bassett, John DAYLY (Deceased), Music Teacher. By Licence.

Witnesses:- R. RILEY & H.M. THORNICROFT

Regards, Mavis

 

Thanks James, It is a very confusing, Dorothy was married in 1929 in Essex, to a husband Sgt. Tom ROBERTS of the R.A.F., from Hawarden, Flintshire, North Wales.then I think I found her in Sproatley, Holderness in 1939, eventually she was buried in Wiltshire. I need some proof of her husband as well as her family history. Very big brick wall, never mind I will keep on looking and if I find anything I will let you know.

 

Mavis


Do you have her service records I know its a long haul but might give you more info.
I would also add dont get dragged into where she/he lived at the time

When my dad was called up in 1940 he was living in London but signed up in South Wales


regards
Clive

 

Hi Clive, No that's the trouble, I can find nothing about her except when I purchased her death and marriage certificates, which told me that Tom ROBERTS was a Sergeant and his address was the R.A.F.camp. Regards, Mavis

 

£30 for the service records is the only way then otherwise its like being lost on the M25
My Dads service records have the details of the marriage to my mum on them with her name