Royal Air Force War Grave Photos for Reference.

These men were casualties of a Luftwaffe blitz on RAF Ta' Qali, Malta, on 21st March 1942. They were in the lobby of the Pointe du Vue Hotel which was in RAF use (I believe as the airfield's Officers Mess); a 1000kg bomb landed directly outside, killing 6. There is a fairly grim eye-witness account of the destruction from Buck McNair (a 249 Sqdn flight commander) quoted on the informative Malta War Diary website here.

The 6 men killed in this incident are all buried at Navali (Cappucini) Cemetery on Malta:

89400 F/Lt CH Baker RAFVR, aged 26. Pilot, 126 Sqdn.
403136 F/O JJ Guerin RAAF, aged 28. Pilot, 249 Sqdn. Flew a Spitfire off the deck of HMS Eagle as part of Operation Spotter to reinforce the island, March 7th 1942.
P/O W C Hollis Hallett RAFVR, aged 21. Pilot, 126 Sqdn.
80704 F/Lt AAV Waterfield RAFVR, aged 32. Intelligence Officer.
60093 F/O JCM Booth RAFVR. Pilot, 249 Sqdn.
67587 P/O EE Streets RAFVR (though from USA), aged 20. Pilot, 126 Sqdn.


Pointe de Vue Hotel showing bomb damage (Louis Cardona, Pinterest)

 

Remembered Brockley cemetery South London


FLYING OFFICER ERNEST GEORGE SEALL
Service Number: 131979
Regiment & Unit/Ship
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

106 Sqdn.

Date of Death
Died 15 June 1943

Age 29 years old

Buried or commemorated at
ARNHEM (MOSCOWA) GENERAL CEMETERY

Grave 15.

Netherlands

• Country of Service United Kingdom
• Additional Info Son of Samuel John and Emma Anne Seall, of Brockley, London.
• Personal Inscription HE IS NOT DEAD WHO LIVES IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE HE LOVED

 

Aircrew Remembered says Ernest Seall was killed in the crash of 106 Lancaster I R5551, squadron code ZN-V which was attacked an shot down at 01.44 on an operation to Oberhausen. The attacker seems to have been Gustl Geiger of 7/NJG 1, who was killed on 29/30 September 1943 when his 110 was shot down by a British night fighter; he and his crewman Dieter Koch baled out but were drowned in the Zuider Zee.

The 106 Sqdn Form 541 for June 1943 shows Seall as "ut" - under training. It looks like he was on his first op, shadowing an experienced Air Bomber as a prelude to operations with his own crew. The document records a number of other pilots, navigators, and air bombers as "ut", sprog airmen being given a taste of their operational role before flying their first crew op. Sadly, Ernest Seall never made it that far.
(from TNA)

 

R5551 was flown by the Brown crew; J/17621 P/O Douglas Brown was RCAF, as were two other crew members. Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum says this:

"Lancaster aircraft R 5551 was shot down by 0.Lt Geiger in a German ME-110 night fighter aircraft using upward firing guns. Pilot Officer Brown attempted to land his damaged aircraft in a field at Tenet, Holland but hit some trees and the aircraft was destroyed. Six RAF members of the crew were also killed. One Canadian, Pilot Officer R. Pegg bailed out and was taken Prisoner of War. 0.Lt Geiger was a German night fighter ace credited with destroying 53 four engine aircraft. He was killed on Sep 29/43. There were two 106 Sqdn. aircraft lost this night. Ex Pilot Officer Pegg of Oxbow, Saskatchewan had this to say about the trip, "We were hit by a night fighter so bad that Doug Brown ordered a bail out. I grabbed the escape hatch on the floor and jumped with two guys right behind me ready to go. No one else got out, and I don't know why, as Doug kept the aircraft fairly level when I got out. I landed O.K. and the Lanc. crashed a mile from me which was just over a mile north of Arnhem. We had an extra navigator on board for experience. This was not usual, as pilots usually went along for their first trip. All seven of my crew were buried in a small cemetery in Arnhem. Pilot Officer Brown's parents had his remains moved to the Groesbeek Canadian Cemetery."


There is much detail of this final operation for the crew here in a document on the Faces To Graves website, including confirmation that Ernest Seall "was in training to become a bomb aimer and followed the flight, sitting on a step of the stairs that led to the cockpit from behind Rob Pegg's position, as a practical exercise. It was Seall's first flight over enemy territory." Pegg wrongly said he was a navigator, when in fact he was - like Pegg - an air bomber; this discrepancy is presumably down to Seall's position in the aircraft as an observer rather than participant. The document also has basic details of the other crew members.

 

Reported to CWGC name not readable
AIRCRAFTMAN 2ND CLASS EDWARD CECIL DOCK
Service Number: 1533543
Regiment & Unit/Ship
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Date of Death
Died 22 July 1941

Age 36 years old

Buried or commemorated at
KINGS LANGLEY (ALL SAINTS) CHURCHYARD

New Part.

United Kingdom

Additional Info Son of Henry Edward and Emily Dock, of King's Langley; husband of Lily Dock, of King's Langley.

 

Aircraftman 2nd Class E C DOCK (1533543), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve) [Royal Air Force WW2 Casualty ]

 

SERGEANT IAN HAYWARD
Service Number: 1322145
Regiment & Unit/Ship
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Date of Death
Died 22 October 1943

Age 20 years old

Buried or commemorated at
KINGS LANGLEY (ALL SAINTS) CHURCHYARD

New Part.

United Kingdom

• Country of Service United Kingdom
• Additional Info Son of Stanley and Zila May Hayward, of Hunsdon.

 

Pilot of Wellington W5688 from No. 14 Operational Training Unit.

Aircraft took off from Husbands Bosworth at 1940 for bombing practice. Returning to base at 2005, coming in from a north-westerly direction at 1500 ft, the aircraft dived suddenly and crashed into Gumley Wood, bursting into flames. All crew killed.

 

There is a family tree on Ancestry which has Sgt Hayward as born in Watford. His mother had died in 1936, when he was 13.

 

Grave in Cappucini CWGC cemetery, Malta.

900960 Sgt Robert MacPherson RAFVR
Pilot, 260 Sqdn

14th June 1941 saw the launch of Operation TRACER, the flying of 47 Hurricanes to Malta from the carriers Victorious and Ark Royal. "The last formation to take off encountered navigational problems and as a result ran very short of fuel. One crashed in the sea before reaching the Island, with the loss of its pilot. The fuel shortage caused two others difficulties on landing. One managed to alight safely at Luqa, the second crashed in Wied ik Kbir, killing the pilot." (Malta War Diary) This pilot appears to have been Sgt MacPherson:

"Another was written off on arrival: Sergeant Robert MacPherson (260 Squadron) was trying to land when he had to avoid another low-flying aircraft. His Hurricane stalled, overshot the aerodrome and crashed at Wied il-Kbir, a deep valley just to the north. Sergeant MacPherson was killed." (Air Battle of Malta)


903615 Sgt JR Bolton RAFVR
Pilot, 15 OTU
Killed with the rest of the crew of Wellington Ic R3293 when it crashed into the sea off Kalafrana, Malta at 0215 hrs 16th June 1941. This was a ferry flight from RAF Harwell to Malta via Gibraltar.

978632 LAC R Dowds
221 Sqdn
Date of death 15 August 1943. Son of Hugh Harper Dowds and Elizabeth Dowds, of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Aged 22.

 

Graves in Cappucini CWGC cemetery, Malta.


570361 Sgt Roland Frederick Lea RAF
89 Sqdn
Admitted to hospital with polio 30/12/42, died 04/01/43. Aged 22. (RAFCommands)
His service number appears to be one of a block (560001 to 579999) allocated to aircraft apprentices.


1047847 Sgt Eric Stanley Moss RAFVR
Wop/Observer 23 Sqdn
Killed when his Mosquito II DZ327 crashed on takeoff on an op to Sfax-Gades, at 2050hrs (RAFCommands). Aged 21.

1236217 Sgt Peter Doyley Olley RAFVR
Pilot 23 Sqdn
Killed in the same crash as Sgt Moss (above). Aged 21.

23 Sqdn Operations Record Book shows the kind of intruder ops they were engaged in at that time:


This is what was recorded about the crash:


1134366 Cpl Paul Francis Webling RAFVR
Died in No90 General Hospital, Malta, of acute anterior poliomyelitis (RAFCommands). Aged 31.

 

LEADING AIRCRAFTMAN EDWARD BRYANT WILDE
Service Number: 543243
Regiment & Unit/Ship
Royal Air Force

Date of Death
Died 27 September 1940

Buried or commemorated at
KENSAL GREEN (ALL SOULS') CEMETERY

Square 123. Row 7. Grave 50891.

United Kingdom

 

SERGEANT JOHN HAROLD MCVEY

Service no. 1556369

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

626 Squadron

Trade: Air Bomber

Died 25 April 1944 age 21 years old

Buried at HAGUENAU FRENCH NATIONAL CEMETERY, FRANCE

Grave 1

Son of John J. McVey and Margaret E. McVey, of Cathcart, Glasgow.

Inscription:

FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS


(photo with kind permission of member DaveB)








(images from CWGC)

https://www.cwgc.org/visit-us/find-...ls/2031746/haguenau-french-national-cemetery/

From the International Bomber Command Centre:

Avro Lancaster III
Serial no. ED424
Markings: UM-E2

Shot down by a night-fighter and crashed at Haguenau (Bas-Rhin), a large town on the southern fringes of the Forêt de Haguenau, at about 14 km of its nearest point to the Rhine and the Franco-German border. All seven crew killed.

McVey J - International Bomber Command Centre

 

SERGEANT BERNARD MICHAEL KIMBER

Service no. 1592750

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

626 Squadron

Trade: Air Gunner

Died 25 April 1944 age 19 years old

Buried at HAGUENAU FRENCH NATIONAL CEMETERY, FRANCE

Coll. grave 2-7

Son of Fred and A. Kimber, of West Bowling, Bradford, Yorkshire.

Inscription:

ALWAYS CHEERFUL ALWAYS KIND TREASURED MEMORIES LEFT BEHIND


(photo with kind permission of member DaveB)

 

SERGEANT FREDERICK CHARLES KIMBER

Service no. 1835657

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

626 Squadron

Trade: Flight Engineer

Died 25 April 1944

Buried at HAGUENAU FRENCH NATIONAL CEMETERY, FRANCE

Coll. grave 2-7


(photo with kind permission of member DaveB)

 

SERGEANT FRANCIS ANDERSON “FRANK” SKELLY

Service no. 1629697

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

626 Squadron

Trade: Air Gunner

Died 25 April 1944 age 31 years old

Buried at HAGUENAU FRENCH NATIONAL CEMETERY, FRANCE

Coll. grave 2-7

Son of John and Mary Skelly; husband of Lilian Ada Skelly, of Luton, Bedfordshire.


(photo with kind permission of member DaveB)

 

FLIGHT SERGEANT FREDERICK BASIL BAKER

Service no. 656153

Royal Air Force

626 Squadron

Trade: Pilot

Died 25 April 1944 age 25 years old

Buried at HAGUENAU FRENCH NATIONAL CEMETERY, FRANCE

Coll. grave 2-7

Son of Edward Augustus and Olive Mary Baker, of Winton, Bournemouth, Hampshire.

Inscription:

HE GAVE HIS ALL FOR US AND HIS COUNTRY


(photo with kind permission of member DaveB)

 

FLIGHT SGT RONALD GERRARD CRADDOCK

Service no. 1575892

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

626 Squadron

Trade: Wireless Operator/Air Gunner

Died 25 April 1944 age 21 years old

Buried at HAGUENAU FRENCH NATIONAL CEMETERY, FRANCE

Coll. grave 2-7

Husband of Vera Craddock, of Fulwell, Sunderland, Co. Durham.

Inscription:

BRAVE DEEDS WERE DONE, A BATTLE FOUGHT, AND HE WAS THERE YES, HE WAS THERE


(photo with kind permission of member DaveB)

 

FLIGHT SERGEANT ERIC GORDON MORRICE EYRES

Service no. 1394192

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

626 Squadron

Trade: Navigator

Died 25 April 1944

Buried at HAGUENAU FRENCH NATIONAL CEMETERY, FRANCE

Coll. grave 2-7


(photo with kind permission of member DaveB)

 

From the International Bomber Command Centre:

Avro Lancaster III
Serial no. ED424
Markings: UM-E2

Shot down by a night-fighter and crashed at Haguenau (Bas-Rhin), a large town on the southern fringes of the Forêt de Haguenau, at about 14 km of its nearest point to the Rhine and the Franco-German border. All seven crew killed.

McVey J - International Bomber Command Centre[/QUOTE]

With reference to the loss of this 626 Sqdn crew, I asked over on the RAFCommands forum, and member GSinclair kindly provided the following information:

According to Nachtjagd War Diaries Volume Two by Theo Boiten and Roderick MacKenzie ED424 loss is matched to the first claim of Uffz. Bruno Neuhäuser from 7./NKG4, a Lancaster at Haguenau, S.W. Karlsruhe at 4,200 metres at 01.10 hours.

626 lost three a/c that night, their only losses for the month (weather conditions seriously restricted operations): the Baker crew and the Beryk crew were reported missing, while the McPherson crew were all killed when shot down by an intruder near Colchester, having completed the op to Karlsruhe.