hi guys im hoping that someone can help here. im trying to find out a little about the Air Gunner named above. He died Dec 1944, buried in Kleve, germany. All i can find so far is the CWGC record. I cant find any 514 sqn ops diaries or any record of the event that took this 19 year olds life. can anyone help please? regards paul
hello have you applied for his service records Ministry of Defence | About Defence | What we do | Personnel | Service Records | Making a Request for Information held on the Personnel Records of Deceased Service Personnel BALMAN, JOHN HENRY Rank: Sergeant Service No: 1852397 Date of Death: 11/12/1944 Age: 19 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 514 Sqdn. Grave Reference 31. B. 10. Cemetery REICHSWALD FOREST WAR CEMETERY Additional Information: Son of John James Balman, and of Gertrude Annie Balman, of Barnstaple, Devon. I am sure a forum member will be along shortly to add more info
514 squadron was first formed at RAF Foulsham, Norfolk on 1 September 1943,[2][3][8] equipped with Lancaster Mk.II bombers, as part of No. 3 Group RAF in Bomber Command. It transferred to RAF Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire on 23 November, where it re-equipped with Lancaster Mk.I and Mk.III bombers in June 1944. It was finally disbanded at Waterbeach on 22 August 1945,[2][3][8] by which time the squadron had completed 3,675 operational sorties with a loss of 66 aircraft.[9] Its members were awarded with 1 DSO, 84 DFCs, one Bar to the DFC and 26 DFMs.[2] Sgt JH Balmans Service record can be found on Forces war Records but you would have to pay to get them here is the link WW2, 1939-1945 - Forces War Records Hope this helps Regards Keith
hi. no not yet. this question has only arisen tonight as a result of a chat with a friend of mine. the airmen in question was a cousin of his and he has no details. ive had a quick route around online but can find nothing regrads this chap other than his CWGC record. Before i go down the route of service records im hoping to find out at least the names of the rest of his crew and what happened to them. i dont seem ably to find a 3grp ops diary online which i guess would detail events of 11 dec 1944. im scratching around in the dark a bit in the hope that someone may have some useful info at their finget tips. cheers paul
Hello Paul check your post tomorrow i am sure a forum member will post more info for you regards Clive
Heres all 7 men for you ATTER CE 1817884 514 SQDN 11/12/1944 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE BALMAN JH 1852397 514 SQDN 11/12/1944 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE BOWEN AG 1877102 514 SQDN 11/12/1944 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE COWLES RCA 156559 514 SQDN 11/12/1944 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE GUEST F 1684645 514 SQDN 11/12/1944 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE HILL E 185478 514 SQDN 11/12/1944 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE READMAN NA 2221251 514 SQDN 11/12/1944 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE regards keith
Here is a link to COWLES RCA 156559 he received the DFC the pilot Chingford War Memorial - WWII Book Of Honour - View Casualty details COWLES,_R,C,A
I typed in 514 and the date into Geoff's Search engine they then popped up and then I typed in Google 514 SQN 11/12/1944 ROYAL AIR FORCE VOLUNTEER RESERVE and the thing about Cowles popped up. if I find any more I will post it for you regards Keith
hello have you applied for his service records Ministry of Defence | About Defence | What we do | Personnel | Service Records | Making a Request for Information held on the Personnel Records of Deceased Service Personnel BALMAN, JOHN HENRY Rank: Sergeant Service No: 1852397 Date of Death: 11/12/1944 Age: 19 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 514 Sqdn. Grave Reference 31. B. 10. Cemetery REICHSWALD FOREST WAR CEMETERY Additional Information: Son of John James Balman, and of Gertrude Annie Balman, of Barnstaple, Devon. I am sure a forum member will be along shortly to add more info Details of the above loss....... 11 December 1944 514 Squadron Lancaster I NG350 JI-C Op. Osterfeld. Took off from Waterbeach at 0833 hrs. Hit by flak and fell into a built up area of Sterkrade destroying several houses. All are buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. The two air gunners were nineteen years of age. Crew. F/O. E. Hill + Sgt. N A. Readman + F/O. R C A. Cowles DFC + F/S. F. Guest + Sgt. C E. Atter + Sgt. J H. Balman + Sgt. A G. Bowen + Source - 'RAF Bomber Command Losses' Vol.5 - W R. Chorley
A forum member may have a photo of the Headstone but if not look here if you require a photo of the Headstone there is a small cost The War Graves Photographic Project
great info guys - thanks!! it seems there is no record of this crew prior to nov 1944 however ive been told that Balman had previously been wounded. any ideas? also, their a/c was NG350 JI-C but ive seen other web postings re this a/c number and it supposedly crashed approx a month before this 11 dec Op. off the top of my head i think it was Franklyns crew. would a replacement a/c be given the same numbers as its forerunner?
also, their a/c was NG350 JI-C but ive seen other web postings re this a/c number and it supposedly crashed approx a month before this 11 dec Op. off the top of my head i think it was Franklyns crew. would a replacement a/c be given the same numbers as its forerunner? The serial number NG350 would remain with that particular aircraft, even though it was lost, but the squadron / aircraft code JI-C, could be passed on to other aircraft.
The Osterfeld raid of 11 December 1944 150 Lancster's of 3 Group on G-H raids through cloud, 98 aircraft bombed the railway yards and 52 aircraft the benzol plant. One Lancaster was lost. Source - The Bomber Command War Diaries' - M. Middlebrook / C. Everitt A brief explanation of G-H bombing Gee-H (navigation) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
My mother was engaged to Flight Sergeant Engineer Norman Readman. They were both from Cardiff . I have his wings and am trying to find any if his famiky to be able to send them to him. Any ideas? Thanks