CWGC Cemeteries **updated 07/12/2020**

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AlexC
Posts: 6040
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 6:40 pm
Location: New Forest

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 02/08**

Post by AlexC »

The three head-stones virtually touching means that the individual bodies could not be identified and therefore they are buried in one grave. That's what happened to my second cousin and two of his crew. Incidentally I worked for the Louis de Soissons Partnership in the 70's, although Louis was no longer around by then.
Pte. Aubrey Gerald Harmer, R. Suss. R. (att. to the Sherwood Foresters) KIA 26/9/1917 Polygon Wood, aged 19, NKG. RIP

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 30/10**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

I recently headed down to London to watch Ipswich get a tonking at Millwall (the less said about the football, the better!),but I was able to visit some sites across the outer suburbs of North East London on route. I was a bit pressed for time so it was an early start to get to St. Andrew Churchyard in North Weald Bassett just after sunrise. The church is located just a stones throw away from the airfield with most of those buried here having served from RAF North Weald and it's satellite field RAF Stapleford Tawney.

The main plot is divided into WW2 and pre & post WW2 war graves

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Thomas Geoffrey Pike, GCB, CBE, DFC & Bar, DL was a senior officer in the Royal Air Force. He served in the Second World War as a night fighter squadron commander and then as a station commander. He was Chief of the Air Staff in the early 1960s and, in that role, deployed British air power as part of the British response to the Brunei Revolt. Also, in the face of escalating costs, he implemented the cancellation of the British Blue Streak ballistic missile system but then found the RAF was without any such capability when the Americans cancelled their own Skybolt ballistic missile system. He went on to be Deputy Supreme Commander Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in the mid-1960s.

Pike served in the Second World War, initially on the air staff within the Directorate of Organisation at the Air Ministry, and was promoted to the temporary rank of wing commander on 1 March 1940 (made permanent in April 1942). He was appointed Officer Commanding No. 219 Squadron flying Bristol Beaufighters from RAF Tangmere in February 1941 and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross on 13 May 1941 for showing great skill in intercepting enemy aircraft at night, destroying a raiding aircraft on his first night patrol. He was awarded a bar to the Distinguished Flying Cross on 30 May 1941 for engaging attackers at night when the aerodrome was illuminated by the glare from a large number of incendiary bombs.

Pike was given command of the Night Fighters of No. 11 Group in September 1941 and then went on to be Station Commander at RAF North Weald in February 1942. Promoted to the temporary rank of group captain on 27 March 1942, he became Officer Commanding No. 1 Mobile Operations Room Unit during the Allied Landings in Italy in May 1943 for which role he was mentioned in despatches in June 1943. He went on to be Senior Air Staff Officer at HQ Desert Air Force in February 1944. Appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1944 Birthday Honours, he became Commandant of the Officers' Advanced Training School in June 1945. He was also awarded the American Officer of the Legion of Merit on 16 October 1945.

Pike was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in the 1946 New Year Honours. After the war he stayed in the RAF and became Director of Operational Requirements at the Air Ministry in October 1946 being promoted to air commodore on 1 July 1947. Then, after attending the Imperial Defence College in 1949, he was made Air Officer Commanding No. 11 Group in January 1950. He was given the acting rank of air vice marshal on 9 January 1950. He became Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations) at HQ Allied Air Forces Central Europe in July 1951, Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Policy) in June 1953 and Deputy Chief of the Air Staff with the acting rank of air marshal on 9 November 1953. He was confirmed in the rank of air marshal on 1 January 1955. Advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in the 1955 Birthday Honours, he went on to be Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief at RAF Fighter Command in August 1956. He was promoted to air chief marshal on 1 November 1957.

Pike became Chief of the Air Staff on 1 January 1960. In that role he deployed British air power as part of the British response to the Brunei Revolt. Also, in the face of escalating costs, he implemented the cancellation of the British Blue Streak ballistic missile system but then found the RAF was without any such capability when the Americans cancelled their own Skybolt ballistic missile system. He was advanced to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath in the 1961 New Year Honours and promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force on 6 April 1962. Pike was then Deputy Supreme Commander Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe from January 1964 until his retirement in March 1967.

Following his retirement, Pike lived in Hastingwood in Essex and was made a Deputy Lieutenant of Essex in February 1973 he continued in the post until December 1981. He was President of the Royal Air Forces Association from 1969 to 1979 and his interests included local history and arranging engineering apprenticeships for local teenagers in Essex. He died at RAF Halton on 1 June 1983 and, due to his time spent at North Weald, he was buried in the military section of St. Andrew’s churchyard, North Weald Bassett.

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

In early June 1939, Hawker Hurricane I L1598, piloted by 23 year old Pilot Officer Peter Phillip Charlton was in formation with L1611 flown by Pilot Officer Montague Leslie Hulton-Harrap and another Hurricane flown by P/0 Derrick MacLoad Down.

During formation flying two aircraft collided, Charlton having accidentally approached Hulton-Harrap’s machine from the rear blind spot. Charlton and his aircraft spun into the
ground near the airfield, whilst that of the more senior pilot was able to return safely the land.
The site of the crash of L1598 was given as Epping Forest, close to the Essex Yeomanry Camp. This is believed to be Wintry Wood, where a Hurricane, otherwise unidentified, is known to have come to grief.

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Norman Douglas Edmond was born in Winnipeg, Canada and brought up in Calgary. He joined the RAF on a short service commission in November 1938. He was posted from RAF Grangemouth to 6 OTU, Sutton Bridge on 5th September 1940. After converting to Hurricanes he joined 615 Squadron at Prestwick on the 24th.

Edmond was shot down and wounded on 29th October. He did not return to 615 but joined 242 Squadron at Duxford on 22nd November. The squadron took off for a patrol over the Channel on 20th April 1941. Close to North Foreland the CO, S/Ldr. WPF Treacy, sighted some aircraft and began a steep turn towards them. In doing so he collided with two other Hurricanes, Edmond in Z2632 and F/O Hugh Ian Lang in Z2634. All three pilots were killed. Treacy was posted as Missing but the bodies of the other two were recovered.

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Peter Ethelbert Merrick Robinson was born in Harrow on 13th April 1914 and educated at Harrow County School. He went to work for Vesty's Blue Star Shipping Line, doing office work. He later began studying for the Chartered Institute of Secretaries examination. Robinson joined the RAFVR in May 1939 as an Airman u/t Pilot and was called up at the outbreak of war.

After completing his flying training he joined 56 Squadron at North Weald on 25th July 1940. He destroyed a Me110 on 18th August. It crashed and burned out at Pluckley. He also claimed four German bombers damaged during August and September.

Commissioned in June 1941, Robinson was still with 56 Squadron. On the 17th of the month the squadron escorted bombers over the Channel on a daylight raid (Circus 14). They were attacked from above by Me109's and Robinson was shot down in Hurricane IIA Z2812. He reported that he was alright and baled out. When his body was taken from the sea four days later by a Dover fishing trawler it was riddled with bullets and it would seem that Robinson was killed as he floated down.

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Richard Edward Ney Elias Wynn was born on 7th January 1917, the son of Group Captain AHWE Wynn OBE. He was at Wellington College from 1930 to 1934 but left early to spend a year at the Taft School, Connecticut USA under a scholarship scheme.

In early 1939 he joined the RAFVR as an Airman u/t Pilot and was called up on 1st September. He completed his training at 5FTS Sealand and was commissioned, going then to 6 OTU on 6th July 1940 to convert to Hurricanes. He joined 249 Squadron at Church Fenton on 4th August 1940. Wynn made a forced-landing near Whitchurch on the 31st, in Hurricane L2067, after engine failure during a routine patrol, he was unhurt. After a combat with enemy fighters over Rochester on 2nd September Wynn crash-landed near Chartham, in Hurricane V7352, wounded.

After three months in hospital he rejoined 249 at North Weald but was killed on 7th April 1941, crashing at Langford Bridge Farm, Ongar, Essex. His Hurricane IIa Z2663 is thought to have entered a spin when returning to North Weald after a convoy patrol.

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

William Blair Pattullo was born in the province of Antofagasta in Chile on 7th March 1919. His Scottish father, a mechanical engineer, was working for a nitrate mining company there. William did not arrive in the UK till he was eight, he was enrolled at a boarding school in Dundee and went on to Dundee High School, staying there till he was sixteen.

His further education was curtailed by a financial crisis in Chile which prevented his father transferring funds out of the country and Pattullo had to return there. He was then eligible for national service and chose to serve his time in the fire brigade. He was then employed by the British American Tobacco Company but on recognising the growing threat from Nazi Germany he travelled to the UK and volunteered for the RAF, he was granted a short service commission in April 1940.

After training at 2 FTS from 28th April until 23rd July and then converting to Hurricanes at an OTU, he was posted to 46 Squadron at Digby in late July 1940. 46 had lost nearly all its pilots when HMS 'Glorious' was sunk on 8th June 1940. 46 was due to relieve 151 Squadron at Stapleford Tawney at the end of August but 151 were so short of pilots that Pattullo and others were sent ahead on 26th August.

On the 30th he claimed a Do17 probably destroyed and destroyed another, this time confirmed, on the 31st. On 10th September Pattullo was posted to 249 Squadron at North Weald on a five-day loan and on the 11th he shared in destroying a He111. He moved back to 46 Squadron, then at Stapleford Tawney, on 15th September and on that day claimed a Do17 destroyed. On the 27th he claimed a Me110 destroyed, shared a Me109 and probably destroyed a Ju88. In the last action he was injured by return fire and rested till he recovered enough to rejoin 46 in early October.

On 25th October 1940 46 and 249 Squadrons mounted a joint patrol north of Biggin Hill and Pattullo damaged a Me109. A second patrol in the same area led to the three 'weavers' being bounced and Sgt. Bentley Beard, Adj. Bouquillard and Pattullo were all shot down, the first two baling out wounded. It is believed that Pattullo was attempting a forced landing at Maylands Golf Course near Romford but in the event his Hurricane V6804 crashed onto No. 1 Woodstock Avenue, Harold Park on the (A12) Colchester Road. He was rescued from the wreckage and admitted to Oldchurch Hospital, where he died from his injuries the next day, aged 21.

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer Montague Hulton-Harrop :

At 6:15 a.m. on 6 September 1939, a radar fault led to a false alarm that unidentified aircraft were approaching from the east at high altitude over West Mersea, on the Essex coast. No. 11 Group ordered six Hurricanes to be scrambled from 56 Squadron, based at North Weald Airfield in Essex. The sector controller, Group Captain David Frederick Lucking, sent up the entire unit of 14 aircraft. Unbeknown to the rest of the pilots, two Pilot Officers took up a pair of reserve aircraft and followed at a distance.

Hurricanes from 151 Squadron (also from North Weald), and Spitfires from 54, 65 and 74 Squadrons based at Hornchurch Airfield scrambled. None of the Royal Air Force pilots had been in action and few had seen a German aircraft. Communication between the pilots and command centres was poor and there was no procedure for pilots to distinguish between British and Luftwaffe aircraft. Identification friend or foe (IFF) sets were still being developed and had not been installed in many RAF aircraft.

With everyone in the air expecting to see enemy aircraft and no experience of having done so, 'A' Flight of 74 Squadron saw what they believed were German aeroplanes and their commander, Adolph "Sailor" Malan, allegedly gave a clear and definite order to engage. Two of the three, Flying Officer Vincent 'Paddy' Byrne and Pilot Officer John Freeborn, opened fire. Malan later claimed to have given a last minute call of "friendly aircraft – break away!" but if this was true, it was not heard by Byrne and Freeborn. Richard Hough and Denis Richards wrote that further losses were prevented by the 151 Squadron commanding officer, Squadron Leader Edward Donaldson, who alerted his pilots that the attacking aircraft were British and gave the order not to retaliate.

Frank Rose and Pilot Officer Montague Hulton-Harrop were shot down and Hulton-Harrop was killed. Fired upon by John Freeborn, he had been hit in the back of the head and was dead before his Hurricane crashed at Manor Farm, Hintlesham, Suffolk, about 5 miles west of Ipswich. Hulton-Harrop was the first British pilot killed in the war and his Hurricane was the first aircraft shot down by a Spitfire. A Spitfire was shot down by British anti-aircraft fire.

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer John Samuel Bryson, called "Butch", was a Canadian fighter pilot who flew with the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain.

Bryson, the son John T. Bryson and Marion Elphinstone Bryson, was born in Westmount an enclave of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Prior to the war he was a member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but bought his way out in order to serve in defense of Britain.

In January 1939 he joined the Royal Air Force on a short service commission. Upon completion of his flying training at No. 13 Flying Training school at RAF Drem, he was posted to No. 92 Squadron RAF. He joined the squadron at RAF Tangmere on 10 October 1939. He had one 'kill', an He 111 over Dunkirk on 2 June 1940, and shared a kill on 24 July 1940 of a Junkers Ju 88 over the Bristol Channel. Flying with the 92d out of Biggin Hill, joining two other squadrons in a Big Wing group, on 24 September 1940, in response to a ten Ju 88 medium bomber attack, defended by over one-hundred 109s, Bryson was "last seen making a solo attack on a large formation of Me 109s". He was shot down and killed, his Spitfire, X4037, crashing and burning out near North Weald. Butch Bryson was 27 years old.

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The first major raids on RAF North Weald took place on the afternoon of the 24th August 1940, when more than 200 bombs fell on the airfield. At around 4.30pm German bombers and fighters, harassed by the defending RAF Hurricanes, headed for the airfield at around 15,000 feet and proceeded to drop bombs "in a straight line through the western part of the village across the Epping to Ongar road" before hitting the airfield itself.

The Officers Mess, the Officers and Airman's Married Quarters, a powerhouse and other facilities were damaged. Nine young members of the Essex Regiment, who were attached to the airfield for ground defence, were among those killed that day. In North Weald High Road, the old Post Office, a cottage opposite the Kings Head and the Woolpack Pub were wrecked. Thise nine teenage members are buried together here.

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 23rd January 1945, a V2 rocket landed on RAF Stapleford Tawney, killing 17 personnel and injuring 50.

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC North Weald Bassett (St. Andrew) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr


Following on from North Weald was a short drive to another Battle of Britain location, Hornchurch. There are 105 graves there with one main plot located in the middle of the cemetery.

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CWGC Hornchurch (St. Andrews) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flying Officer Raimund Sanders Draper, known as "Smudge" was an American volunteer World War II Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot of No. 64 Squadron. He deliberately crashed his Spitfire aircraft, to avoid hitting a school, after losing control on take-off from RAF Hornchurch, and was killed.

The plane's engine cut out at an estimated altitude of 200 feet and the plane went into a spin. As the plane headed for Suttons School, just 530 yards from the airfield perimeter, Draper put the nose down and forced the aircraft into the ground short of the main building. The aircraft bounced and a wing stuck the building.

Only one student, 13-year-old Richard Barton was injured, with 5 other students treated for minor shock.

One of the students who witnessed the accident recalled :

"At 10.45 am an aircraft crashed on the playing field, the main parts being ricocheted onto the drive, fragments breaking a total of 9 windows in three classrooms. Splinters from the 'plane scored the wall and injured the playing field and shrubbery. Richard Burton received a cut on the leg from flying glass needing medical attention and five boys were treated from primary shock. The boy with the injured leg was conveyed to his home by ambulance, under Dr. Heath's orders. School was evacuated to shelter for 15 minutes owing to probability of danger from fire and exploding ammunition. By 11.15 am the school had resumed normal work."


In 1973, the school was renamed The Sanders Draper School and Specialist Science College in his honour and then changed in 2014 to Sanders School. A plaque on the building marks the point of impact and the school's badge incorporates a Spitfire.

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CWGC Hornchurch (St. Andrews) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Claude Waller Goldsmith, from Dersley in the Transvaal, South Africa was educated in England at Cheltenham College and Imperial College, London where he studied Mining at the School of Mines. He was a member of the London University Air Squadron in 1936 and commissioned in the RAFVR in March 1938. Called to full-time service on 10th October 1939, Goldsmith was serving with 603 Squadron at Dyce in early July 1940 before being posted to 54 Squadron at Hornchurch on 3rd September. He rejoined 603 there on the 28th.

Goldsmith was shot down by Me109's south of Maidstone on 27th October 1940. His Spitfire, P7439, crashed near Waltham, between Ashford and Canterbury. He died of his injuries next day, aged 23.

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CWGC Hornchurch (St. Andrews) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

John William Broadhurst was born in Plumstead, south east London on 31st March 1917. He joined the RAF on a short service commission and began his training on 6th February 1939. He did his initial training course at 11 E&RFTS Perth and in April he went to 2 FTS Brize Norton.

He was posted to 222 Squadron at its reformation at Duxford on 5th October 1939. Initially equipped with Blenheims, the squadron received Spitfires in March 1940. On 29th May, after a patrol over Dunkirk, Broadhurst failed to find Hornchurch in bad visibility, ran out of fuel and crash-landed.

On 31st August Broadhurst claimed a Me109 destroyed and another damaged, on 4th September a Me109 destroyed and another damaged, on the 7th a Me109 destroyed, on the 9th a Me109 damaged, on the 11th a Ju88 probably destroyed, on the 15th a Me110 damaged and on the 27th a Me109 destroyed.

He was shot down on 7th October 1940 during an attack on enemy bombers. He baled out but fell dead at Longhurst. His Spitfire, P9469, crashed and burned out at Baileys Reed Farm, Hurst Green, Salehurst.

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CWGC Hornchurch (St. Andrews) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Thomas Wilton Smiths was born in Rosario, Santa Fé, Argentina around 1919.

As a ten month-old infant he traveled from La Plata in Argentina to London on S.S. Highland Glen, arriving in the capital on 29th June 1920, He was accompanied by his parents and sister whose home was in Uruguay.

On 14th May 1921 Thomas, accompanied by his mother and two siblings, sailed from Liverpool to Montevideo in Uragauy on S.S. La Rosarina.

Aged 21, he returned to England from Buenos Aires on S.S. Highland Brigade, arriving in Liverpool on 24th September 1940. Thomas subequently joined the Royal Air Force and served a Warrant Officer (Pilot) 1379718 in 129 Squadron.

He died in the Chelmsford & Essex Hospital in Chelmsford on 22nd December 1943 as a result of injuries sustained in an aircraft accident, aged 24, flying from Hornchurch with 129 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

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CWGC Hornchurch (St. Andrews) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Robert Basil Dewey, from Portsmouth, was born in 1921 in Barnet, London and joined the RAF on a short service commission in August 1939. He completed his flying training and arrived at 5 OTU Aston Down on 18th May 1940. After converting to Spitfires, he was posted to 611 Squadron at Digby on 9th June 1940.

Dewey moved to 603 Squadron at Homchurch on 27th September. He claimed a Me109 destroyed on the 30th. This may be the one that crashed and burned out at Kentwyns, Nutfield. On 20th October he claimed another Me109 destroyed.

On 27th October 1940 Dewey was shot down in a surprise attack by Me109's south of Maidstone. His Spitfire, P7365, crashed into a tree at Apple Tree Comer, Chartham Hatch and he was killed.

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CWGC Hornchurch (St. Andrews) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

I found the note on this headstone very poignant

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CWGC Hornchurch (St. Andrews) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Hornchurch (St. Andrews) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

No. 313 Squadron was the last RAF squadron to be formed mostly of escaped Czechoslovak pilots. The squadron moved to RAF Hornchurch in December 1941 before moving to RAF Church Stanton in June the following year.

Sgt Josef Valenta died on the 11th January 1942 when his Spitfire lost speed in bad weather and crashed near RAF Hornchurch.

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CWGC Hornchurch (St. Andrews) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sgt Blazej Konvalina was killed on the 22nd January 1942 during a combat training accident.

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CWGC Hornchurch (St. Andrews) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sg Frantisek Bohnisch was killed when his aircraft came down in the Thames Estuary, near Southend, on an operational flight.

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CWGC Hornchurch (St. Andrews) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 24th April 1942, Prokop Brazda was flying Spitfire Vb BM357 on Circus 132, escorting Boston bombers on a raid on Vissingen, Holland. On the return journey, his aircraft was damaged during an attack by a group of Fw 190’s. With the aid of fellow 313 Sqn pilot Václav Jícha, he chased away the attackers.

About 35 miles from Ostend another group of 5 Fw190’s attcked his Spitfire and again, with Jicha’s assistance, they fought-off the attack. With Jícha as escort, Brázda’s Spitfire back across the Channel towards Martlesham Heath. About two miles from the English coast the engine on Brázda’s Spitfire began to smoke and cut out. Brázda attempted to make a forced landing near Alderton, Essex, but was killed in the crash.

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CWGC Hornchurch (St. Andrews) Churchyard - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr


The City of London Cemetery & Crematorium is the largest such municipal facility in the UK. There are at least 150,000 graves and just under a million interments. To say it's massive is a huge understatement. There are 728 commonwealth burials within the cemetery with most of these scattered across the site. The vast majority of these died at the Bethnal Green Military Hospital.

There is a small plot in the south east corner which is unlike any other site I have visited, with a mixture of civilian family & military graves together.

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CWGC City of London Cemetery & Crematorium - Manor Park, Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The small wall surrounding this area lists those who died in the first world war but are buried at other locations throughout the cemetery.

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CWGC City of London Cemetery & Crematorium - Manor Park, Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC City of London Cemetery & Crematorium - Manor Park, Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC City of London Cemetery & Crematorium - Manor Park, Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC City of London Cemetery & Crematorium - Manor Park, Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC City of London Cemetery & Crematorium - Manor Park, Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC City of London Cemetery & Crematorium - Manor Park, Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC City of London Cemetery & Crematorium - Manor Park, Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC City of London Cemetery & Crematorium - Manor Park, Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Nearby is a memorial to those who lost their lives in the second world war who are buried across the cemetery, with these names listed on the wall.

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CWGC City of London Cemetery & Crematorium - Manor Park, Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC City of London Cemetery & Crematorium - Manor Park, Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC City of London Cemetery & Crematorium - Manor Park, Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On a small side note, a short walk from this memorial is the grave of Mary Ann Nichols, who was the first victim of "Jack the Ripper". In 1996 the cemetery authorities marked her grave with this plaque. After a bit of hunting around online, the only reason i can find for the coins placed on her grave is that she lacked the fourpence to stay in a bed on the night of her murder, and hence was earning money on the streets when she was attacked. It's seen as a mark of respect that she now has the money to rest in peace.

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City of London Cemetery & Crematorium - Manor Park, Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The final location of the morning was the St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Cemetery at Leyton. Anyone who has been on the Central Line would have noticed how packed the cemetery is when passing by it, but the CWGC plot is well maintained as any other site I have been to.

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CWGC Leytonstone (St. Patricks) Roman Catholic Cemetery - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Leytonstone (St. Patricks) Roman Catholic Cemetery - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Leytonstone (St. Patricks) Roman Catholic Cemetery - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The night of 23rd/24th November turned into tragedy for No 4 Groups No.1658 Heavy Conversion Unit .

Six Handley Page Halifax's took off from Ricall on a cross country training exercise, the weather was poor to begin with ,and rapidly deteriorated and only two aircraft from this flight completed the task and returned to Ricall, one landed at another airfield and three crashed.

The crew of JB926 which crashed consisted of :

Pilot Sgt. R.E.C. Bacon
Flt Eng Sgt G.H. Manley
Flt Eng Sgt. J. Titterington
Nav F/O H. McCarthy
BA F/Sgt J.J. MacGillivray (RCAF)
WO Sgt B.F. Taylor
AG Sgt, A.J. Winton

All 8 were killed.

JB926 was reportedly heard to circle before going into a steep dive. Icing up of the flying surfaces is thought to be the cause. The crash was at high speed and the aircraft burned on impact.

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CWGC Leytonstone (St. Patricks) Roman Catholic Cemetery - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Leytonstone (St. Patricks) Roman Catholic Cemetery - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Leytonstone (St. Patricks) Roman Catholic Cemetery - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Leytonstone (St. Patricks) Roman Catholic Cemetery - Saturday 27th October 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 30/10**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

On the Saturday before Remembrance Day, I made my way down to Reading for yet another poor away day watching Ipswich try to play football! I made a small detour to visit the Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey, which is the largest CWGC cemetery in the United Kingdom.

Located just outside the military cemetery is a plot for ex-WW2 Czech servicemen.

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Ex-WW2 service Czechoslovakia Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The military cemetery is split into different country plots with French, Polish, Czechoslovakian & Belgian plots located to the south of it.

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Belgian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Belgian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Polish Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Czechoslovakia Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Free French Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Albert Berthaud of the French Resistance was killed when the Westland Lysander, V9674, that he was a passenger in, crashed in fog near RAF Ford, Sussex on the 18th December 1943. The pilot and another member of the Resistance were also killed in the crash.
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Free French Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On 30th April 1940 the Maille Brez was anchored in the upper Firth of Clyde when a torpedo tube malfunction launched a live torpedo onto her deck creating extensive damage. The crew abandoned ship except for those trapped in the galley. Although port firecrews controlled the blaze she sank before all hands could be rescued. Six were killed, 47 wounded and 21 unaccounted as missing.
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Free French Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

There is a large Royal Air Forces section in the South East corner of the cemetery which also contains the graves of overseas airmen who served with the Royal Air Force in the Second World War.

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Airmen Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 15th August 1940, Flying Officer Stanley Powell Swensen and his crew took off from RAF Dishforth at 2000 hrs to bomb an oil storage depot at Beg D'Ambes. Flying at 1,500 feet on the return flight the bomber flew into balloon barrage cables near Langley, Buckinghamshire and crashed. All 5 crew members were killed.
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Airmen Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Squadron Leader Stanley Thomas Meares commanded 71 (Eagle) Squadron, RAF. On the 15th November 1941 whilst flying Spitfire W3963, he collided with another Spitfire, W3527, flown by Pilot Officer Ross over Scarborough. Both aircraft and both pilots lost their lives.
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Airmen Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Wing Commander Josep Ocelka was killed on the 21st July 1942 at RAF Brize Norton. During a test flight on Bristol Beaufort II, DD938, the aircraft struck the hangar roof soon after take off. He and two civilian staff on board were killed.
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Airmen Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

In February 1945, several Dakota transport aircraft from RAF Broadwell, Oxfordshire were involved in moving men and equipment of 140 Wing RAF from Thorney Island, Hampshire to a new forward base in France. On the morning of 6th February it was cloudy and overcast, but the relocation from Thorney Island, Hampshire to Rosieres-en-Santerre Airfield in France, was already behind schedule due to bad weather.
At about 9.30am two Dakotas took off from Thorney Island loaded with RAF, RNZAF, RAAF and RCAF personnel and equipment. At 10.05am, Dakota KG630 crashed on the South Downs, about 5 miles north of Beachy Head in low cloud.

First Pilot was Warrant Officer Peter Matthew Oleinikoff RAAF.
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Airmen Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

And those who lost their lives in the crash are buried side by side
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Airmen Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Airmen Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Warrant Officer Douglas Hamilton Styles took part in 99 operational sorties. In May 1941, he was the navigator of an aircraft which, whilst operating off the West Coast of Ireland, attacked and damaged a Junkers 88. From September 1941, he participated in a large number of intruder operations over enemy occupied territories.

Styles, flying as a Radar Operator, was killed on the 12th June 1943 in a flying accident near to RAF Ford together with his Battle of Britain pilot Fl. Lt. James Hayward Little, DFC. Their Mosquito suffered an engine failure on take-off and, having failed to gain height, they hit a tree.
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Airmen Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The 1942 Ruislip Wellington accident occurred on 18 October 1942 when a Vickers Wellington IC medium bomber of No. 311 Squadron RAF crashed near South Ruislip station, Middlesex, on approach to RAF Northolt. The crash killed all 15 people aboard the aircraft, including Pilot Officr G Strauss-Leemans, and six civilians on the ground including four children.

311 Squadron was a Coastal Command unit based at RAF Talbenny in Pembrokeshire, Wales. Almost all of its personnel were Free Czechoslovaks serving in the RAF Volunteer Reserve. After successful operation by the squadron they were invited to London for a de-brief. On 18 October 1942 Wellington serial number T2564, code letters KX-T, was flown by P/O František Bulis with a crew of six and nine passengers. Everyone aboard was Czechoslovak, apart from one Belgian technician.

On approach to RAF Northolt at 16:08 the Wellington crashed near South Ruislip station and burst into flames. All the crew and passengers were killed, along with six people on the ground: two women each with two children.

The civilians were three local residents and three visiting relatives
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Airmen Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Airmen Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 25th September 1941, Vickers Wellington R1237 of 21 OTU hit trees on approach to RAF Moreton-in-Marsh. Sgt J G Fitzgerald was killed. Sgt R J Clarke RNZAF, Sgt Wishart and P/O Sweeney were injured.

His brother, Leslie Fitzgerald, lost his life 2 years later.
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Airmen Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

North of the RAF plot are First & Second World War graves from the Empire including Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, New Foundland as well as a Muslim plot.
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South African Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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South African Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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New Zealand Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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New Zealand Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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New Zealand Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Canadian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Muslim Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Muslim Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Muslim Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Canadian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Newfoundland Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On 11 May 1915, Roger Douglas enlisted in Brisbane as a private in the Australian Imperial Force, embarking late in June as a machine-gunner in the 25th Battalion. The 25th saw action on Gallipoli from 11th July 1915 until the evacuation; Douglas was promoted corporal, then sergeant in October.

In March 1916 the battalion was shipped to France and Douglas transferred to the 7th Machine-Gun Company. In an action at Pozières in early August, he rallied part of the infantry and guided them over the captured positions under heavy fire when they were without leaders and dis-organised. His bravery was rewarded with a second lieutenant's commission and a Distinguished Conduct Medal. On 25th November 1916 he was promoted lieutenant.

On 28 December 1917, Douglas was awarded the Military Cross in recognition of his gallantry at Polygon Wood. He had left the Machine-Gun Company to join the Australian Flying Corps. He began his training at Reading, England, in March 1918 and graduated as a pilot on 5 May. He never flew in combat but was appointed an instructor with the 5th Australian Training Squadron in England.

Douglas was still in England when the Australian government announced in March 1919 that it would award a £10,000 prize to the first Australian aviator to fly from Britain to Australia. He resolved to enter the contest. Lieutenant J. S. L. Ross from Moruya, New South Wales, was to be navigator and co-pilot of their 450 h.p. Alliance aircraft named 'Endeavour'. On 30th October, the day they hoped to set off, the plane suffered a minor crash which necessitated repairs to the chassis and body.

On the 13th November, they finally took off from Hounslow near London, at 11.30am after bad weather had delayed the departure. The plane had flown only six miles when it appeared to fall out of a cloud over Surbiton in a spin. The aircraft crashed into an orchard and exploded. Both men were killed.
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Australian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Australian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Australian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

There is also a small German plot for aircrew killed over the UK in the Second World War.

On the 16th May 1944, Junkers Ju 88A-4, 550581, of 9 Staffel./Kampfgeschwader 54 crewed by Pilot Unteroffizier Karl Hansen, Observer Unteroffizier Heinrich Meyer, Radio Operator Obergefreiter Heinrich Zimmer & Gunner Gefreiter Herbert Steinbrecher took off on a mine laying mission off Portsmouth.

Over the target area, their aircraft was held by searchlights at a height of around 10,000 feet and damaged by AA fire. They were then attacked and shot down by Flying Officer O D. W. Arnold and Flying Officer J. B. Stickley in de Havilland Mosquito NF XVII (HK297) of No.456 Squadron.

The aircraft entered a vertical dive and exploded on impact, scattering fragments of wreckage over a wide area.
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German Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 4th September 1940, 13 Bf-110 fighter/bombers of Erprobungsgruppe 210 attacked the Vickers aircraft factory at Brooklands. Soon after, Hurricanes of 253 Squadron were ordered to take off from RAF Kenley and patrol above the airfield and over nearby Croydon airfield.

Flight Lieutenant William Cambridge shot down Bf-110 flown by Feldwebel Karl Rohring over Ockham cricket ground. His rear gunner, Unteroffizier Joachim Jackel, baled out wounded and parachuted down. He was taken prisoner by members of the Home Guard who were gathering in the harvest. Karl Rohring, was killed in the crash where the aircraft burned and exploded.

Another Bf-110 was lost to 253 Squadron over West Horsley, on the North Downs. The pilot, Oberleutnant Michel Junge, and his gunner, Unteroffizier Karl Bremser, were both killed in the crash. The three dead German airmen were buried with military honours together at Brookwood Military Cemetery. Flight Lieutenant Cambridge was killed two days later when his parachute failed as he baled out over Kent.
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German Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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German Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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British Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The British First World war plot is small in area but contains numerous graves including Private W.E. Long, who died on Armistice Day.
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British Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

And 2nd Air Mechanic F.E Flanagan, who died 100 years to the day of my visit.
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British Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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British Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The Brookwood American Cemetery and Memorial contains the graves of 468 American servicemen. It is one of only 2 American military cemeteries in the UK.
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Brookwood American Cemetery - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The chapel located in the middle of the cemetery lists the names of 563 missing American servicemen who served in the UK or surrounding waters during World War One.
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Chapel Memorial - Brookwood American Cemetery, CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Osmond Kelly Ingram was a sailor in the United States Navy during World War I.

Ingram entered the Navy on the 24th November 1903. His ship, USS Cassin, was attacked by the German submarine U-61 off Ireland on the 15th October 1917. Gunner's Mate First Class Ingram spotted the approaching torpedo, realized it would strike close by the ship's depth charges and rushed to jettison the ammunition. He was blown overboard when the torpedo struck, thus becoming the United States' Navy's first enlisted man killed in action in World War I. He posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions on that day.
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Chapel Memorial - Brookwood American Cemetery, CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Chapel Memorial - Brookwood American Cemetery, CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Gustav Adolf Sundquist was an ordinary seaman serving in the United States Navy during the Spanish–American War.

He received the Medal of Honor for heroism in action on board the U.S.S. Nashville during the operation of cutting the cable leading from Cienfuegos, Cuba, 11th May 1898. He retired from the navy in 1900, but rejoined it in 1918 and participated in World War I. He drowned on August 25, 1918.
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Chapel Memorial - Brookwood American Cemetery, CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The USCGC Tampa was a Miami-Class cutter that initially served in the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, followed by service in the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Navy.

During the late afternoon of the 26th September 1918, Tampa parted company with convoy HG-107, which she had just escorted into the Irish Sea from Gibraltar. Ordered to put into Milford Haven, Wales, she proceeded independently toward her destination. At 1930 that evening, as she transited the Bristol Channel, the warship was spotted by UB-91.

According to the submarine war diary entry, the U-boat dived and maneuvered into an attack position, firing one torpedo out of the stern tube at 2015 from a range of about 550 meters. Minutes later, the torpedo hit Tampa and exploded portside amidships, throwing up a huge, luminous column of water.

The cutter sank with all hands; 111 Coast Guardsmen, 4 U.S. Navy personnel, and 16 passengers consisting of 11 British Navy personnel and 5 civilians. She sunk in the Bristol Channel.
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Chapel Memorial - Brookwood American Cemetery, CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Brookwood American Cemetery - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The Brookwood 1914-1918 Memorial was created in 2004. It currently commemorates around 300 Commonwealth casualties who died in the United Kingdom during the First World War but for whom no graves could be found.
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1914-1918 Brookwood Memorial - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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1914-1918 Brookwood Memorial - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The Brookwood Memorial commemorates nearly 3,500 men and women of the land forces of the Commonwealth who died during the Second World War and have no known grave, the circumstances of their death being such that they could not appropriately be commemorated on any of the campaign memorials in the various theatres of war.

They died in the campaign in Norway in 1940, or in the various raids on enemy occupied territory in Europe such as Dieppe and St Nazaire. Others were special agents who died as prisoners or while working with Allied underground movements. Some died at sea, in hospital ships and troop transports, in waters not associated with the major campaigns, and a few were killed in flying accidents or in aerial combat.

The Memorial was designed by Ralph Hobday and unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II on 25 October 1958.
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Brookwood Memorial - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Brookwood Memorial - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Brookwood Memorial - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Brookwood Memorial - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Brookwood Memorial - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The Chelsea Pensioners plot.
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The Royal Hospital Burial Ground - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

A plot in the west corner of the cemetery contains approximately 2,400 Canadian graves of the Second World War.
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Canadian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Canadian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Canadian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Canadian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

19 Canadians soldiers who lost their lives during the Dieppe Raid are buried alongside each other.
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Canadian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Canadian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Canadian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

A fairly large Italian plot is also maintained by the CWGC.
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Italian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Italian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Italian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Italian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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Italian Plot - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

When I was driving through the civilian cemetery I noticed a raised bank running through the middle of it. This is the embankment of what was the Brookwood Cemetery Railway.

Brookwood Cemetery was conceived by the London Necropolis Company in 1849 for London's deceased, at a time when the capital was finding it difficult to accommodate its increasing population and was designed to be large enough to accommodate all the deaths in London for centuries to come.

The London Necropolis Railway was a railway line opened in November 1854 by the London Necropolis Company to carry bodies and mourners between London and Brookwood. On reaching the cemetery, the trains reversed down a dedicated branch line to two stations in the cemetery, one for the burial of Anglicans and one for Nonconformists (non-Anglicans) or those who did not want a Church of England funeral.

The company failed to gain a monopoly of the burial industry, and the scheme was not as successful as its promoters had hoped. While they had planned to carry between 10,000 and 50,000 bodies per year, in 1941 after 87 years of operation, only slightly over 200,000 burials had been conducted in Brookwood Cemetery, equaling roughly 2,300 bodies per year.
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Trackbed of the old Cemetery Railway - CWGC Brookwood Military Cemetery, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 30/10**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

On the drive from Brookwood to Reading i stopped by St. Sebastian Churchyard in Wokingham. The weather had now turned to a torrential downpour so i didn't get much of a chance to hang around.

Most of those buried here are servicemen who died at the nearby London Open Air Sanatorium, which was used to treat victims of gas warfare during World War One.
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CWGC St. Sebastian Churchyard - Wokingham, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St. Sebastian Churchyard) - Wokingham, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Rev Vincent Boddongton was the Senior Chaplain to the 18th Division on the Western Front when he was temporarily transferred on the 25th September 1916 to the 55th Field Ambulance, Main Dressing Station, at Clairfay Farm.

When the Battle of Thiepval Ridge commenced the following day they took charge of arrangements for giving refreshments to the walking wounded, as well as giving spiritual and
physical support in whatever way they could. Not surprisingly, one of their duties was to take burials at the Varennes cemetery.

At some point in 1916, Vincent succumbed to tuberculosis, forcing him to relinquish his commission on grounds of ill health on the 1st December 1916 13. He died on the 13th March 1917.
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CWGC St. Sebastian Churchyard - Wokingham, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St. Sebastian Churchyard - Wokingham, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St. Sebastian Churchyard) - Wokingham, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St. Sebastian Churchyard) - Wokingham, Saturday 10th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 13/12**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

A few days after Remembrance Day, myself and the better half spent a couple of days in Brugge followed by another 2 days in Ypres. We visited a few sites around the Ypres Salient including the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 in Zonnebeke, which is a must visit if you're in the area.

The weather on the 1st day was very, very foggy which made the CWGC sites even more atmospheric then they usually are. I've covered Tyne Cot in a previous post, but here's a few more from the hugely thought provoking site.

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CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery - Passchendale, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

James Peter Robertson VC was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross. Robertson enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in June 1915. He became a private in the 27th (City of Winnipeg) Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force. In the Battle of Passchendaele, performed the following act for which he was awarded the VC.

"For most conspicuous bravery and outstanding devotion to duty in attack. When his platoon was held up by uncut wire and a machine gun causing many casualties, Pte. Robertson dashed to an opening on the flank, rushed the machine gun and, after a desperate struggle with the crew, killed four and then turned the gun on the remainder, who, overcome by the fierceness of his onslaught, were running towards their own lines. His gallant work enabled the platoon to advance. He inflicted many more casualties among the enemy, and then carrying the captured machine gun, he led his platoon to the final objective. He there selected an excellent position and got the gun into action, firing on the retreating enemy who by this time were quite demoralised by the fire brought to bear on them. During the consolidation Pte. Robertson’s most determined use of the machine gun kept down the fire of the enemy snipers; his courage and his coolness cheered his comrades and inspired them to the finest efforts. Later, when two of our snipers were badly wounded in front of our trench, he went out and carried one of them in under very severe fire."

He was killed just as he returned with the second man.

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CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery - Passchendale, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery - Passchendale, Friday 16th November 2018 by
Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery - Passchendale, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery - Passchendale, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Tyne Cot Cemetery - Passchendale, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The Battle of Polygon Wood took place from 26 September to 3 October 1917, during the second phase of the Third Battle of Ypres. Much of the woodland had been destroyed by the huge quantity of shellfire from both sides since the 16th July and the area had changed hands several times.

The British & Australians attacks were led by lines of skirmishers, followed by small infantry columns organised in depth with a vastly increased amount of artillery support, the infantry advancing behind five layers of creeping barrage on the Second Army front.

German methodical counter-attacks from the 27th September to 3rd October failed and German defensive arrangements were changed hastily after the battle to try to counter British offensive superiority.

On the German front line was the Butte de Polygone, a large mound in Polygon Wood which housed large numbers of dugouts and foxholes built in it.

The Butte is still prominent and mounted on top of it is the 5th Australian Divisional memorial.
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5th Australian Divisional Memorial - Polygon Wood, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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5th Australian Divisional Memorial - Polygon Wood, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The memorial overlooks CWGC Buttes New British Cemetery that contains 2,108 graves, of which 1,677 are unknown.
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CWGC Buttes New British Cemetery - Polygon Wood, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Buttes New British Cemetery - Polygon Wood, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Buttes New British Cemetery - Polygon Wood, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Buttes New British Cemetery - Polygon Wood, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Also on the edge of the wood is the much smaller CWGC Polygon Wood Cemetery. The area was originally a German cemetery with over 340 burials. The British established the Polygon Wood Cemetery in August 1917 as a frontline cemetery until it was lost to the Germans in April 1918. It received further interments in September 1918, once it was back in British hands.

The cemetery contains the remains of 57 New Zealand, 32 British, and 28 unidentified soldiers. A sole German is also buried in the cemetery, the rest having been relocated.
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CWGC Polygon Wood Cemetery - Polygon Wood, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Polygon Wood Cemetery - Polygon Wood, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Polygon Wood Cemetery - Polygon Wood, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

CWGC Strand Military Cemetery is located at Ploegsteert, about half way between Messines and Ypres. There are 1,143 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 354 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to six casualties known or believed to be buried among them, and to 13 whose graves in four of the concentrated cemeteries were destroyed by shell fire. The eight Second World War burials all date from May 1940 and the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary force to Dunkirk ahead of the German advance.
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CWGC Strand Military Cemetery - Ploegsteert, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Strand Military Cemetery - Ploegsteert, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

German and Commonwealth soldiers are buried side by side here
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CWGC Strand Military Cemetery - Ploegsteert, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Strand Military Cemetery - Ploegsteert, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Strand Military Cemetery - Ploegsteert, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Strand Military Cemetery - Ploegsteert, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Less then a mile up the road to towards Ypres is the small CWGC Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery. This cemetery was originally set up by 1st and 4th Royal Berkshire Regiment troops in April 1915. The cemetery later expanded across the road, where the Berks Cemetery Extension was built and which now also houses the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing.
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CWGC Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery - Ploegsteert, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing lists the 11,367 missing Commonwealth soldiers who fought outside the Ypres Salient in the area around Ploegsteert whose graves are unknown.
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CWGC Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing - Ploegsteert, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing - Ploegsteert, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

CWGC Berks Cemetery Extension was originally set up by Commonwealth troops in June 1916 as an extension to Hyde Park Corner (Royal Berks) Cemetery across the road and the cemetery extension was significantly enlarged in 1930.

880 casualties from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and 4 German are buried here.
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CWGC Berks Cemetery Extension - Ploegsteert, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Berks Cemetery Extension - Ploegsteert, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Berks Cemetery Extension - Ploegsteert, Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The Menin Gate was packed, as usual, for the last post and poppy reefs were still present from remembrance day a few days before.
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CWGC Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing - Ypres, Friday 16th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 13/12**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

Day 2 in Ypres and the fog lifted with wall to wall sunshine. We took a walk back up to the Menin Gate as it was a lot quieter to have a look around compared to the crowds the previous night.

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CWGC Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Menin Gate Memorial to the Missing - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Located on the northern suburbs of Ypres is CWGC Essex Farm Cemetery. The cemetery was established next to a dressing station established by the Canadian Field Artillery during the Second Battle of Ypres, on farmland which was unnamed on pre-war maps; the dressing station was operational from early 1915 until 1918. The name "Essex Farm" commemorates the Essex Regiment, perhaps because a soldier of the 2nd Battalion of the Essex Regiment was an early internment there in June 1915.

The 49th Infantry Division Memorial overlooks the cemetery
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CWGC Essex Farm Cemetery - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Essex Farm Cemetery - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Private Valentine Joe Strudwick of the 8th Rifle Brigade, joined up in January 1915 and at the time of his death on the 14th January 1916, he was 15 years old, having been born on St. Valentine’s Day, 1900.

Within a short time after arriving in France he lost two of his friends who were standing next to him by a shell. After being badly gassed he was sent home and was for three months was in hospital at Sheerness. On recovering he rejoined his regiment in France and was soon killed in action. His mother received the following letter from his commanding officer, dated Jan.15th:

‘I am very sorry indeed to have to inform you that your son was killed by a shell on Jan. 14th. His death was quite instantaneous and painless and his body was carried by his comrades to a little cemetery behind the lines, where it was reverently buried this morning. A cross is being made and will shortly be erected on his grave. Rifleman Strudwick had earned the goodwill and respect of his comrades and his officers, and we are very sorry indeed to lose so good a soldier. On their behalf as well as my own I offer you sincere sympathy.’
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CWGC Essex Farm Cemetery - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Thomas Barratt VC was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross.

He was 22 years old and a private in the 7th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment during the First World War when he performed the act for which he was awarded the VC and which led to his death on 27 July 1917 north of Ypres.

"For most conspicuous bravery when as Scout to a patrol he worked his way towards the enemy line with the greatest gallantry and determination, in spite of continuous fire from hostile snipers at close range. These snipers he stalked and killed. Later his patrol was similarly held up, and again he disposed of the snipers. When during the subsequent withdrawal of the patrol it was observed that a party of the enemy were endeavouring to outflank them, Pte. Barratt at once volunteered to cover the retirement, and this he succeeded in accomplishing. His accurate shooting caused many casualties to the enemy, and prevented their advance. Throughout the enterprise he was under heavy machine gun and rifle fire, and his splendid example of coolness and daring was beyond all praise. After safely regaining our lines, this very gallant soldier was killed by a shell."
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CWGC Essex Farm Cemetery - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Essex Farm Cemetery - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Essex Farm Cemetery - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The village of Brandhoek is located half way between Ypres and Poperinghe and contains 3 large CWGC cemeteries. Brandhoek New Military Cemetery has 558 burials which also includes 28 German.

The cemetery was begun by the British in July 1917 to replace the nearby Brandhoek Military Cemetery, which closed with the arrival of the 32nd, 3rd Australian and 44th Casualty Clearing Stations as part of the preparations for the Battle of Passchendaele. The cemetery closed a month later and Brandhoek New Military No 3 Cemetery opened to replace it.
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CWGC Brandhoek New Military Cemetery - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Brandhoek New Military Cemetery - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Captain Noel Godfrey Chavasse, VC & Bar, MC was a British medical doctor, Olympic athlete, and British Army officer from the Chavasse family. He is one of only three people to be awarded a Victoria Cross twice.

The Battle of Guillemont was to see acts of heroism by Captain Chavasse, the only man to be awarded the Victoria Cross twice during the First World War. In 1916, Chavasse was hit by shell splinters while rescuing men in no-man's land. It is said he got as close as 25 yards to the German line, where he found three men and continued throughout the night under a constant rain of sniper bullets and bombing. He performed similar heroics in the early stages of the offensive at Passchendaele in August 1917 to gain a second VC and become the most highly decorated British officer of the First World War. Although operated upon, he was to die of his wounds two days later.
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CWGC Brandhoek New Military Cemetery - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Brandhoek New Military Cemetery - Ypres, Saturday 17th 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 13/12**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

The church of St. Nicholas is located in Feltwell, Norfolk, and is believed to date from the foundation of the first church in 600 A.D. The Norman church was damaged by fire and the repair was granted in 1494. Traces of the pre-Norman church can be found in the base of the tower, which collapsed while being repaired in 1898. In 1973, the church was declared redundant.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

During the early months of World War Two, the Parochial Church Council set aside ground for the burial of airmen from nearby RAF Feltwell and this is now the War Graves Plot. There are the graves of 39 servicemen who died during the the conflict buried within this plot. The total is made up of 6 soldiers and 19 airmen belonging to the forces of the United Kingdom, 11 airmen of the Royal Canadian Air Force 2 airmen of the Royal Australian Air Force and 10 belonging to the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 10th January 1941, Vickers Welington T2550 crashed into a hilltop at Heath Farm near Stapleford, 4 miles south of Cambridge in bad weather during a flight from RAF Feltwell to RAF Bassingbourn to pick up a pilot. The crew are buried together here.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sergeant W.J.H Hoskins was 2nd Pilot of 57 Sq in Vickers Wellington R1589 when it crashed at Larmans Fen shortly after taking off from RAF Feltwell for an operation to Essen on the 4th July 1941.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 15 July 1941 Wellington N2784 DX N took off from RAF Feltwell Norfolk as part of an operation to disrupt the German transportation system. The railway marshalling guards at Duisburg was the nominated target and a full bomb load of 4.500 pounds of explosives and incendiaries were carried in the bomb bay.

After dropping the bomb load the aircraft attempted the return journey to Feltwell but was caught in the German searchlights and suffered extensive damage by anti-aircraft fire. The port engine was out of action making the return flight extremely hazardous.

As they were on final approach to RAF Feltwell the remaining good engine started to fail causing sudden loss of height. At this stage the plane was out of control and was unable to reach the airfield and crashed into the tree line and burst into flames.

Sergeant S.R Rishworth and his crew were all killed in crash.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The plot also contains the grave of the wife of an airman who was serving at the airfield.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Vickers Wellington IC took off from RAF Feltwell at 05:20 hrs on the 6th January 1942 to bomb Brest. It crashed at Holmebrink Farm near Methwold. The aircraft was totally destroyed after a fire broke out on impact. The farmer Mr Thorpe, despite the danger, dragged Plt Off S G Cater from the flames and wreckage with the help of others. The rest of the crew were killed

Flt Lt Douglas Roy Richardson RCAF - Feltwell (St Nicholas) Churchyard
Sgt Robert Louis Nathaniel Simmons - Feltwell (St Nicholas) Churchyard
Sgt Eric Ewings - Feltwell (St Nicholas) Churchyard .
Sgt Victor Haig Mountstephens - Twickenham Cemetery
Sgt Lawrence Joseph Row - Coalville (Whitwick) Cemetery
Plt Off S G Carter - Injured
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sergeant D.A. Watson was the pilot of 57 squadron (RCAF) Vickers Wellington T2959 when it crashed at Roudham, Norfolk on an operation to Le Harve.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On Sunday, 26 October 1941, Pilot Officer J A Watson RCAF and his crew took of in Vickers Wellington R1722 for a raid on Hamburg. Upon returning to RAF Feltwell, their aircraft came down due to fuel starvation.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

When attacking Maupertuis airfield near Cherbourg on 22nd January 1943, Lockheed Ventura AE899 of 489 Swaudron was hit by heavy German flak. On the return journey to RAF Feltwell, Flying Officer Perryman ditched in the Channel. He escaped but two of his crew were lost in the aircraft and are still listed as missing to this day. Flying Officer K.W. Johns, the aircraft’s observer, was picked up alive from the sea but died of his injuries later that day. Of the six aircraft from No.487 Squadron that attacked this target, only one managed to return to the station.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

In late February / early March 1943 the Ventura Squadrons at RAF Feltwell were taken off bombing operations to take part in "Operation Spartan", a major training exercise for the invasion of Europe. The Feltwell Units were to make mock attacks on "enemy" positions within the UK. It was during this exercise that one of 487 Squadrons aircraft crashed at RAF Lakenheath.

Sgt Bernard O’Donnell, 22, a young Canadian pilot flying Ventura AE 680 was on the downward leg of the Lakenheath circuit on the evening of 2nd March when the aircraft caught the top of some trees at the edge of the village and crashed alongside "The Row", near Sharps Corner, Lakenheath. Unfortunately no one survived the crash.

The cause of the accident was never really ascertained. It was assumed that the O’Donnell may have allowed his attention to wander from both the runway lighting and his blind flying panel whilst making his approach.

Sgt O’Donnell (Pilot), F/Sgt McCormick (Navigator) and F/Sgt Billing (Wireless Op. Air Gunner) were the last wartime airmen to be buried at Feltwell.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot II R.E.D. Kelly was flying Harvard KF984 of No.3 SFTS when it dived into the ground during aerobatics at RAF Feltwell in September 1948.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

January 1943 found the Lockheed Ventura units at RAF Feltwell carrying out low-level training exercises. Exercises planned for the 20th January were to be a mock attack on the Steelworks at Corby. Flying Officer Frederick Drake, a 25 year old Canadian, approached the Kings Forest Lodge, near West Stow, Suffolk, in Ventura AJ171. The aircraft caught the top of some trees on slightly rising ground and crashed near the gateway of the Lodge. Drake and his crew were all killed.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the morning of Thursday 10th December Ventura AE759 (Coded YH-H) of 21 Sq. arrived at Feltwell from Methwold for servicing. The aircraft’s pilot was F/Sgt Garnet H. Turcotte, a young American who had crossed over the Canadian border in 1940 and enlisted in the RCAF. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Turcotte was a quiet-spoken, exceptional pilot. He had taken part in the Phillips raid, in Ventura YH-H and as a result had just been promoted to Warrant Officer. In the late morning, it was expected that he would take his aircraft back to Methwold and a number of ground crew were offered a lift back to the station.

Two men who declined the offer were Corporal Ralph Ram and LAC "Paddy" Woods. They did not accept a lift because it was uncertain what time the aircraft would be leaving, and the bike ride back to the camp, along the Old Methwold Road, was not a difficult journey.

Just before noon, Turcotte, his crew and LAC. Rutterford and Sgt O.W. Woodhead, both fitter/mechanics from "A" Flight 21 Sq., took off from Feltwell. What happened next has never been satisfactorily explained. Corporal Ram, who by this time had arrived at the Watch Office at Methwold, was standing with F/Sgt Lucas when he heard the Ventura approaching. Turning to look they saw it suddenly start diving towards the ground. Ralph asked, "What is he doing?" Suddenly, the aircraft disappeared behind some rising ground and there was the sound of an explosion and a ball of fire rose into the air. Chiefy Lucas said, "Its lucky that there’s only one person on board," but Ralph replied, "No! Its full". Just then the phone rang in the Watch Office and flying control at Feltwell confirmed that the aircraft contained 6 people.

The following day, Corporal Ram went over to the crash site at Methwold Hythe with the Station M.O. They had the unenviable task of retrieving the remains of the crew. When they arrived they found that the aircraft and the men inside had been smashed to pieces. LAC "Jock" Rutterford, who had been given a lift on the Ventura, had only gone over to Feltwell on that fateful day to draw some new boots from the stores. The boots were found intact in the wreckage.

To this day the cause of the accident remains a mystery. A number of people who lived at Methwold Hythe reported seeing the aircraft on fire in the air just before it crashed. The official report said;

"Aircraft flew into the ground after a shallow dive. The cause is unknown and must be classed as either an error by the pilot, or left unclassified. Reports that the aircraft was on fire in the air are not proven. Possibly the Pilot closed the throttles suddenly; in which case a considerable amount of flame would have issued from the exhaust. Only theory is that the aircraft was trimmed slightly nose heavy and as the Pilot gained speed, in a shallow dive, he was unable to pull out".
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The 4th November 1942 brought 464 Squadron its first fatal loss. The weather, which had been too bad for flying during the morning, cleared about noon, enabling the unit to carry out a low level flying exercise. At 14:45 hours. Ventura AE 737 piloted by F/LT Maurice Dore of "A" Flight, was returning to Feltwell. Suddenly the aircraft dived into the ground near First Drove, Lakenheath Fen. The machine exploded on impact and burnt out, killing the crew of five. Alva Rolph, who was in the Lakenheath Home Guard, was in charge of a POW work detail on First Drove, said, "The aircraft had been past us once at low level and then came back around again. It was flying very low and suddenly it just rolled over in the air and crashed into a dyke. There was the sound of an explosion and then a ball of flame". The cause of this crash, as with the loss of Williams’s aircraft in October, largely remain undetermined.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Office C.W. Eames was an Air Gunner on 57 Sq. Wellington when he sustained mortal injuries on a raid to Saarbruken.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

SergeantR.J. Grenfell of Eltham, Taranaki, New Zealandwas killed when his 75 (NZ) Squadron Royal Air Force Vickers Wellington III, Z1616, crashed soon after taking off from RAF Feltwell near Red House Farm, Methwold and burst into flames. Eyewitnesses stated that the aircraft was seen circling and on fire before diving into the ground.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sergeant A.N. Yeaman of Dalkeith, Western Australia, was killed when his Airspeed Oxford, AT724 of 1519 BAT Flight dived into the ground on approach to RAF Mildenhall in June 1942.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The crew of Vickers Wellington III X3487, No. 75 (NZ) Squadron were returning back to RAF Feltwell when they were attacked by a night fighter.

The rear gunner, Sergeant, R.J Harris was killed and the navigator, wireless operator and 2nd pilot were wounded. The pilot and front gunner escaped injury and a successful crash landing was accomplished back at base. However the 2nd pilot died later that morning.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sergeant A.S. Cassells was an Air Gunner on a 57 Sq Vickers Wellington when he was hit by a cannon shell on a raid to Hanover and subsequently died on the return trip.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The crew of Vickers Wellington R1589,57 squadron, took off on the July 4th 1941 to attack the airfield at Gilze Rijen in Holland. Less than five miles away from RAF Feltwell, the plane came crashing down and exploded in Larmans Fen, Southery – killing all crew members except for the rear gunner.

It was believed that the pilot may have had trouble with the air speed indicator coupled with bad weather and radio failure.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Outside the War Graves Plot but still in the churchyard are various burials for servicemen killed in accidents before and after the Second World War.

Pilot Officer J.R. Green & Pilot Officer R.V. Brooks were killed on the 17th October 1952 when their North American Harvard IIb, KF138, of No. 3 FTS, crashed into The Wash 12 miles north of Kings Lynn.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flight Lieutenant E. Martin DFC lost his life on the 15th August 1952 when his North American Harvard IIb, FT336, of No. 3 FTS, crashed while performing aerobatics over RAF Feltwell.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer R.T. Gipson was killed on the 5th July 1954 when his Percival Prentice T1, VS258 of No. 3FTS stalled and crashed at Hilgay Fen.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 29th April 1937, Handley Page Harrow I K6945 of 214 Squadron, RAF Feltwell, collided with Harrow K6950 during aformation turn & crashed near Methwold, Suffolk. Three aircraft were flying in formation when one of the rear planes sliced the tail of the leading plane with the prop.

K6945 was recovered from the River Wissey and in this plane were the bodies of Thomas Garside and one other. A dredger from the Great Ouse Catchment was used to recover the wreck from the river.

A total of five people were killed - three on board Harrow K6945, and two on board Harrow K6950.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flying Officer John McCarthy was piloting K6945.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer A.G. Gillespie & Aircraftman 1 C.C.M. Suthers were killed on the 7th August 1938 when their Handley Page Harrow I of 37 Squadron crashed at Vicarage Farm, Great Barton, Suffolk, whilst returning to RAF Feltwell from a night flying exercise.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Squadron Leader W.I. Collett of 75 Squadron was killed on the 4th August 1940 when his Vickers Wellington IC force landed at Barton Mills, Suffolk, suffering with engine failure after being diverted to RAF Mildenhall due to bad weather.
ImageCWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer W.L. Colmer & Flying Officer R.A. Russell-Forbes were killed on the 13th December in Vickers Wellington, R269, when it crashed between Methwold Hythe & Feltwell.
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CWGC St. Nicholas Churchyard - Feltwell, Norfolk, Sunday 25th November 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

User avatar
SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 14/12**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

I was able to visit a few sites in the heart of Norfolk last month when heading up to visit the City of Norwich Aviation Museum. The first destination was St Mary's Churchyard in Watton. Most of those buried here are RAF personnel from the former RAF Watton, which is now slowly being turned into a housing estate and it's satellite airfield, RAF Bodney.

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CWGC St. Mary Churchyard - Watton, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Squadron Leader Arthur Henry Allen was killed along with his crew when their Bristol Blenheim R3636 crashed near Thetford, 25 minutes after taking off from RAF Watton to raid Wilhelmshaven.
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CWGC St. Mary Churchyard - Watton, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer Ian Stapledon, Leading Aircraftman John Brayfield Ball & Sergeant Walter Jonathan Wetton of 21 Squadron were killed on the the 6th April 1940 when their Bristol Blenhiem IV L8740 crashed soon after taking off from RAF Watton at 04.00hrs to take part on an anti-submarine patrol.

Walter Jonathan Wetton is buried in his home town of Heckington, Lincolnshire.
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CWGC St. Mary Churchyard - Watton, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer Peter Harry Moller, Sergeant Arthur John Norman & Sergeant Frederick Herbert Harry Taylor were killed on the22nd January 1941 when their Bristol Blenheim IV N3553 crashed amongst trees and then hit a brick wall almost immediately after taking off from RAF Bodney, 4 miles west of Watton.

Pilot Officer Peter Harry Moller is buried at Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey.
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CWGC St. Mary Churchyard - Watton, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 10th October 1942, Short Stirling BF348 took off from RAF Lakenheath to lay mines off the mouth of the Gironde. Shortly after becoming airborne, a serious technical problem developed and the pilot tried to land at RAF Watton. In the attempt the Stirling hit some trees and crashed at Great Cressingham, 5 miles South East of Swaffham. The RNZAF members of the crew are buried here at Watton and the RAF members were buried in there own home towns.

One crew member, Sgt H.R.Batrick, survived.
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CWGC St. Mary Churchyard - Watton, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St. Mary Churchyard - Watton, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sgt. F.B.G. Heron, Flt. Sgt. G.D. Maluish & Sgt. G.E. Step crew were killed in a flying accident in Bristol Blenheim V5851 of 21 Squadron on the 7th July 1942.

Having been decimated in Malta, 21 Squadron was officially disbanded in North Africa on 14 March 1942, and reformed at RAF Bodney, that same day. 21 Squadron reformed with Blenheim Mk I’s and IV’s, left behind by 82 Squadron which had departed. At the time of this crash only about three war weary Blenheims were on charge and these were used as ‘squadron hacks’ to move between Watton, Bodney and other airfields.

Eye witnesses stated that the Blenheim was flying at very low level about 2-3 miles south of the RAF Watton, over the village of Stow Bedon. The land there forms a deep valley and as the aircraft flew up the side of the hill towards the airfield it's said that the aircraft’s tail hit a tree and was ripped off.

The aircraft then pitched up before diving into the ground behind a house in Stow Bedon.
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CWGC St. Mary Churchyard - Watton, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer Bottrill was one of three airmen who lost their lives whilst on a training flight in Bristol Blenheim 1V V6454 UX-2 of No. 82 RAF Squadron when their aircraft struck the ground and burst into flames near Swaffham.
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CWGC St. Mary Churchyard - Watton, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 26th January 1942, Bristol Blenheim IV V5769 took off for a training flight from RAF Bodney. Whilst gaining height it flew into trees on the edge of the airfield.

Sergeant Joseph Alban Eckersley & Sergeant Alfred Ronald Cheadle were killed in the crash with the Wireless Operator/Air Gunner suffering minor injuries.
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CWGC St. Mary Churchyard - Watton, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The crew of Bristol Blenheim IV V6426 took off from RAF Bodney at 10:15 on the 4th July 1941, along with another Blenheim of 82 squadron, to ferry a crew to St Eval to pick up a faulty Blenheim and return it to RAF Bodney for repair.

At 10:45 they collided in mid air. Only the pilot survived and Pilot Officer Nicholas Aitken Cooper and Sergeant Owen Hall are buried here.
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CWGC St. Mary Churchyard - Watton, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

During the afternoon of the 23rd April 1944 the crew of Handley Page Halifax LV916 of 78 Squadron took off from RAF Breighton in Yorkshire to undertake an air test. The aircraft had not been in the air long when it entered a shallow dive and crashed just south of the village of Sutton upon Derwent.

All but the rear gunner were killed in the crash, including Air Bomber F/O Horace Raymond Goddard.
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CWGC St. Mary Churchyard - Watton, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St. Mary Churchyard - Watton, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

It was then a short drive to All Saints Churchyard at Swanton Morley. RAF Swanton Morley was a new station planned under the RAF expansion scheme but not completed to the same standard before the start of the Second World War.

On 4 July 1942, American and British airmen took off from this station as part of the first combined bombing raid of World War II. No 226 Squadron had been tutoring the US 15 Bombardment Squadron. Both Winston Churchill and General Eisenhower were at RAF Swanton Morley for this mission, which saw six crews from 15th Bombardment Squadron fly a raid with six crews from the RAF, using Boston's belonging to No. 226 Squadron. The raid was made at low level against German airfields in the Netherlands. During World War II the station was home to the Bomber Support Development Unit (BSDU) of No. 100 Group RAF.

From June 1953 the station was also used by 611 Volunteer Gliding School until it closed on the 6th September 1995. It was transferred to the British Army and the station was renamed Robertson Barracks.

The churchyard is located on the edge of the Wensum Valley, giving great views across the Norfolk countryside. It was a bitterly cold day so sadly i didn't spend as long here as i would have liked.

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CWGC All Saints Churchyard - Swanton Morley, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC All Saints Churchyard - Swanton Morley, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC All Saints Churchyard - Swanton Morley, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 24th of November 1949, a Percival Proctor from RAF Swanton Morley and Gloster Meteor from RAF Horsham St. Faith collided over the village of Kimberley, central Norfolk. Both aircraft were on training flights.

The pilot of the Proctor Pilot Officer A.B.Davies and his passenger Signaller (4) A.H.Chew were both killed in the crash, along with the pilot of the Meteor, Flight-Lieutenant Colin Murfitt.

Eye witness reports stated the Proctor was coming slowly from the south and the Meteor – coming at a moderate pace for a jet fighter – from the east. They were about 400 or 500 feet up.

Sqdn-Ldr.H.C. Randall, O.C. of the Meteor squadron to which Murfitt was attached said the pilot had been detailed to carry out single engine practice. He expressed the view that neither pilot could have seen the other. Strictly, according to the rules of the air, the Meteor should have given way to the Proctor on the starboard side, but in such a case, where planes are approaching one another almost head-on, both pilots would normally give way. Assuming that it would be possible for each pilot to see the other plane two miles away, Sqdn-Ldr. Randall said it would only take about 25 seconds for them to meet. It was possible that the pilots were simultaneously engaged in map-reading or were otherwise occupied at the moment.
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CWGC All Saints Churchyard - Swanton Morley, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC All Saints Churchyard - Swanton Morley, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC All Saints Churchyard - Swanton Morley, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sergeant Pilot Everard Howard Hawken of the 1515 Blind Approach Training Flight, RAF Swanton Morley was killed on the 24th March 1942 at Foxley Wood, Bawdeswell when his Airspeed Oxford V4063 collided with another Oxford, V4137, on a beam approach training flight. All four aircrew were killed.

Sergeant Pilot Stephen Harry Robinson was in V4137 at the time of the collision.
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CWGC All Saints Churchyard - Swanton Morley, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

These three crew members of Bristol Blenheim IV, L9020, No 88 Sqn, were killed on the 20th October 1941 when their aircraft crashed at Weston Longville, near RAF Attlebridge, Norfolk, during a training sortie.
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CWGC All Saints Churchyard - Swanton Morley, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flying Officer J Rogers and 2 of his 3 man crew were killed on the 6th June 1943 when their 21 Squadron North American Mitchell III FV907 collided with a Lockheed Ventura AE856 on takeoff at RAF Oulton.
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CWGC All Saints Churchyard - Swanton Morley, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flying Officer Douglas Bernhardt Mollgaard of 226 Squadron (RNZAF) died age 21 on the 9th June 1943.

He took off from RAF Swanton Morley for a training flight in North American Mitchell II FL203 but 65 minutes later an engine failed and caught fire. The fire quickly spread and control was lost while attempting an emergency landing. The plane crashed at Kimberley, 8 miles SSE of Swanton Morley. At the time of his death Mollgaard had completed 479 flying hours (11 of these solo on board a Mitchell) and 5 or 6 operations.
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CWGC All Saints Churchyard - Swanton Morley, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC All Saints Churchyard - Swanton Morley, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The last location was Scottow Cemetery, located directly under the flightpath of runway 22 of the former RAF Coltishall site. Despite it's proximity to the disused airfield, it's quite a remote location. It was used only in the war years until September 1943, when growing shortage of space and the great expansion of the R.A.F. Station made it necessary for the new cemetery at North Walsham to be used. Post war graves though are located here.

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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Vaclav Brejcha was born in Zivotice, Czechoslovakia on 13th April 1915. He was in the Czech Air Force before the war and escaped to Poland after the Germans took over the country in March 1939. After Poland fell, he escaped to France, joining the Armee de l’Air and flying MB152 aircraft with GC III/10 and Curtiss Hawk 75’s with GC I/4.

After the fall of France he made his way to England, arriving at 6 OTU Sutton Bridge from RAF Cosford on 1st September to convert to Hurricanes. On 2nd October he made a forced-landing in Hurricane L1581 following engine failure. On 5th October Brejcha joined 43 Squadron at Usworth. He went to 257 Squadron at Coltishall on 27th November 1940.

On 4th February 1941, in Hurricane P3705, he shot down Do17 U5+LM (1132) of 4/KG2. It had been damaged by anti-aircraft fire and also by P/O Barnes of 257. It crashed offshore near Corton, Lowestoft. Fw H Ablonski and Gefr. F Muller both baled too low and were killed. Fw. W Blaschyk was captured along with Lt. F Heilman but the latter died of wounds the same day.

Brejcha was killed on 19th June 1941 whilst flying in Tiger Moth II N6835 of RAF Coltishall Station Flight, which spun into the sea off Southwold in Suffolk. He is buried in Scottow Cemetery, Norfolk.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Otto Walter Kanturek was born in Czechoslovakia in 1897 and was one of the most renowned film makers at the time of his death in 1941. A Czech citizen, he made feature films in Germany and Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s.

He was at RAF Coltishall making a film with another filmmaker, Jack Parr, called a "Yank in the RAF." David Wade. Aeroplane archaeologist. It was planned to have two Hawker Hurricanes fly pass his cameraship, Avro Anson N9732. Jack Parry and Otto would take it in turns to film the Hurricanes.

Just before midday on the 26th June, 1941, Jack Parry, Otto Kanturek and their pilot clambered into the aircraft and took off. During the flight one of the Hurricanes collided with the camera plane. The Hurricane pilot bailed out and survived by everyone on board the Anson were killed.

Credits as a cinematographer include:

Night Train to Munich (1940)
Shipyard Sally (1939)
Girl in the News (1940)
Pagliacci (1936)
Blossom Time (1934)

Camera operator on A Yank in the RAF (1941).

Directorial work:

The Student's Romance - a musical (1935)
In the Little House Below Emausy (1933)
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the night of the 13th March 1941, aircraft of th Stab./Kampfgeschwader 2 were on route to attack Hull. Do 17Z-2, Werknummer—factory number 4248 code 'U5+DA', was shot down by fighter Ace John Randall Daniel "Bob" Braham, DSO & Two Bars, DFC & Two Bars, AFC, CD in his Bristol Beaufighter and crashed six miles off Wells-next-the-Sea. Oberleutnant H von Keiser, Leutnant B Meyer, and Feldwebel's Heinz Genahr and Rucker were all killed—the latter's body washed ashore in June 1941.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

He 111H-5, Werknummer 4019, code 1G+MK, belonging to 2./ Kampfgeschwader 27 was shot down near Richmond, Wimbledon Common on the night of the 9th May 1941. Leutnant D Stähle, Obergefreiter F. Senft, H. Berner, and A. Weitz were all killed. John Randall Daniel "Bob" Braham, DSO & Two Bars, DFC & Two Bars, AFC, CD had the confirmed kill.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Ju88A-4 1384 4D+DA Crashed in the sea off Mundesley, Norfolk on the 4th March 1942.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Vickers Wellington X3220 was one of two 40 Sqdn Wellingtons lost on the 16th July 1941. Taking off from RAF Alconbury, it crashed at 23:30 near West Caister, 3 miles from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. It is believed the crash was caused by the pilot being dazzled by searchlights. At the time of the accident, the Wellington was flying at 500 feet.

S/L R.G.Weighill KIA

Sgt R.D.Hesketh KIA

Sgt W.E.Gibb RCAF KIA

Sgt D.A.Price KIA

Sgt V.H.Leng KIA

P/O A.W.Wilkinson KIA
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Peter Alan Dale was born on 29th April 1917 in Scarborough and joined the RAF as an Aircrafthand about July 1935. He later applied for pilot training and was selected. With his training completed, he arrived at 11 Group Pool, St. Athan in October 1939.

After converting to Hurricanes, he was posted to 111 Squadron at Acklington on 17th November 1939. He was next posted to 141 Squadron in early 1940 and on 14th March he crashed through a barbed wire fence at Grangemouth, slightly damaging his Blenheim.

Dale flew 18 operational sorties with 141, including 13 in the Battle of Britain period, these mostly with Sgt. JSA Hodge as his gunner. On 15th December 1940 Dale was posted to 255 Squadron at Kirton-in-Lindsey.

Commissioned in April 1941, Dale, in Hurricane V7222, shot down a He111 in the early hours of 9th May during a freelance patrol over Hull. The Heinkel A1+FM (4006) of 4/KG53 came down at Sunk Island Road, Patrington. Uffz. F Magie baled out and was captured. Uffz. G Reinelt, Uffz. J Kalle and Obergefr. R Lorenz were killed. Gefr. H Wulf was Missing.

On 13th December 1941 Dale was killed when his Beaufighter, R2309, hit some trees coming in to land at Coltishall. His radar operator, P/O H Friend was severely injured.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 22nd September 1941, Pilot Randle Feilden, Observer Fred Harvey Brown and Gunner / Wireless Operator Samuel Stephen John Collier of 114 Squadron were flying Bristol Blenheim IV V5490 on a practice bombing run off the coast at Cromer. They struck the mast of the target ship and crashed, killing all 3 crew. Samuel Stephen John Collieris is buried at Manor Park Cemetery, London.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer Charles Wilbert De-Shane of 137 Squadron, RAF Matlaske, Norfolk, was killed on the 9th March 1942 when his Westland Whirlwind P7036 entered an uncontrollable spin and crashed at White Horse Common, North Walsham.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Squadron Leader Geoffrey James Ian Clennell of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Unit Text: 255 Squadron was killed when his Bristol Beaufighter crashed due to engine failure five miles short of RAF Coltishall after a night flight reconnaissance mission over the North Sea on the 21st February 1942. A forced landing was attempted but the aircraft struck tree a tree in impact.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

JU88d-1 1342 8H-KL crashed into the sea 20 miles north of Cromer, Norfolk on the 19th October 1942. The body of Lt. Wolfgang Lauth was found on the 17th November 1942 and buried here.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Fw Hans Trökes of KG30 was in Ju88A-4 1384 4D+DA when it crashed in sea off Mundesley, Norfolk. He was born on Sunday December 20th 1914 in Duisburg-Hamborn.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flying Officer František Glauder 120078 aged 32 was killed when the Beaufighter IF X7703 he was flying hit the perimeter fence at Coltishall - his navigator, Sgt. Vašata was also killed

Both crew members were serving with 68 Squadron.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Karel Richter & Observer Jaroslav Kovanda were killed on the 5th September 1942 when a fire broke out in one of the wings of their 68 Squadron Bristol Beaufighter IF X7842, believed to be due to trapped fuel vapors, soon after taking off on a night training exercise from RAF Coltishall. They crashed into in the grounds of Poultry Farm, Spixwith Road, Norwich.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Petr Haas was a Sergeant/Navigator under training on the 23rd October 1942 when he and 3 crew members were killed when Avro Anson I DG787 of the Air Navigation & Bombing School crashed on Corserine in the Rhinns of Kells, at the time in Kirkcudbrightshire but now in Dumfries & Galloway. The aircraft was on a night navigation exercise from Jurby on the Isle of Man and was reported missing. It wasn't until two days later that a member of the Home Guard reported the wreckage to the RAF Mountain Rescue Team at Wigtown. The bodies were recovered on 26th October.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 26th January 1943, the No. 23 Operational Training Unit crew of Vickers Wellington III Z1695 took off from RAF Pershore in Worcestershire at 17:55 for a navigational training exercise known as "Bullseye". This exercise was to train inexperienced navigators to locate dummy targets, usually cites in the British Isles.

At 21:30 the aircraft was plotted by the Royal Observer Corps at 10,000 feet over Great Yarmouth. It was then seen to drop to 500 feet when it was picked up by a searchlight and shortly after the aircraft was noted as being fire. Several explosions followed and the aircraft broke up in mid air. At the time there was no AA gun fire of hostile & friendly aircraft noted in the vicinity.

The RAF investigation concluded that the pilot must have been temporarily blinded by the smoke and losing control of the aircraft. As he tried to pull up the tail failed and broke away. The origin of the fire was not determined.

4 of the 6 man crew are buried here.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Josef Mensik & Navigator Rudolf Sliva of 86 Squadron took off from RAF Coltishall 20.30hrs in Bristol Beaufighter VIF V8567 on the 22nd April 1943 for a training flight.

Several witnesses saw pieces of the aircraft fall away before it crashed near Swanton Morley, around 20 miles from Coltishall.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 5th April 1943 Flying Officer Donald Lloyd Kennedy of 426 Squadron and his crew in Vickers Wellington III X3699 took off from RAF Disforth to raid Kiel.

They were hit by flak just before the target, the rear turret was damaged. They then turned for home and found that a light was on that could not be turned off. This attracted a JU-88 which attacked the Wellington. The hydraulics were damaged and the bomb doors opened. About five minutes from the coast, both engines quit and they ditched hard into the North Sea and the aircraft broke up. P/O D Laskey RCAF, the wireless operator and Segeant L Anderson (RCAF), the bomb aimer, were able to get to the dinghy but were not able to turn it over. They tried to paddle it over to where P\O K Walley, the navigator and Sergeant Beaton RCAF, the rear gunner, were calling. After about four and a half hours, a destroyer was able to pick them up. Sadly the pilot, navigator and rear gunner perished.

Sgt Anderson was awarded a DFM in conjunction with the DFC for P/O D.Aaskey.
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

There was a fatal crash on 2nd January 1956 when a Venom NF3 WX879 crashed killing Flying Officers Jarvis and Parsons. The aircraft dived into the ground three miles NE of North Walsham, Norfolk
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CWGC Scottow Cemetery - Coltishall, Norfolk, Saturday 15th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

User avatar
SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 08/01**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

I endured another away trip to watch Ipswich lose over the Christmas holidays....this time to Middlesborough. I planned to visit a number of sites across North Yorkshire and Teeside on route, so after a very early start, I arrived at my first destination (of 7 on the day) just after sunrise.

Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery is located on the edge of the Yorkshire town. As we know many airfields were established in Yorkshire during the Second World War, among them R.A.F. station at Harrogate, Linton-on-Ouse, Tockwith, Rufforth and Marston Moor. No. 6 (R.C.A.F.) Bomber Group, had their headquarters at Allerton Park near Knaresborough and all the stations controlled by this group were in the area north of Harrogate, the largest base having its headquarters at Linton-on-Ouse. Nearly all of the 988 Second World War burials in this cemetery are of airmen, two-thirds of them Canadian. Many of these men died in the military wing of Harrogate General Hospital. During the early months of the war, a piece of land was set aside for service war burials in Sections 20E and 21E and in July 1943, the Air Forces Section was opened at the north-eastern corner of the cemetery for burials from airfields in Yorkshire and the north-eastern counties.

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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Halifax LW210 at Nunthorpe Grove, York

On the late afternoon of 5th March 1945 squadrons of No.6 Group Bomber Command aircraft took off from their airfields in North Yorkshire undertake operational flights to bomb Chemnitz, Germany. During the time the aircraft took off and the half and hour it took to get all the squadron aircraft off the ground an unforecast layer of freezing cloud severely effected the flying of many aircraft and, having iced up and lost control, some would crash in Yorkshire around 17.00hrs as they set out for their operational sorties.

The crew of this 426 Squadron Halifax LW210 took off from Linton on Ouse airfield at 16.39hrs, climbed away and almost certainly circled the Linton on Ouse area while gaining the height, allowing all other 426 Squadron aircraft to get in the air and for them then to all be wrong over Linton on Ouse at the designated time to begin the sortie. This crew set course from Linton on Ouse and began to fly roughly south on the first part of the route to the target area, as they crossed the city of York while flying through cloud at around 10,000 feet the aircraft began to go out of control. The unforecast freezing cloud had caused the aircraft's surfaces to ice up which would prove very hazardous for aircraft, the ice build-up could effectively change the shape of the wings and propellers, and ultimately the pilot would lose control over the moveable flying surfaces which could get blocked by ice. What appears to have then happened in this case was that the aircraft entered a very fast and uncontrolled dive, the icing effects may then have begun to melt as the aircraft dropped below the freezing layer and the pilot was able to begin to pull the aircraft out of the dive. Because of the speed and the stresses involved in trying to pull out of high speed dives it was reasonably common for some form of structural failure to occur. The aircraft was seen by witnesses on the ground to level out at around 2,000 feet just below the cloud layer but for part of the starboard wing to break off. The aircraft then yawed and rolled violently causing further structural failures of parts of both wings and the rudder and fins of the aircraft. The starboard outer engine also broke away in the air. An order to abandon the aircraft was given by the pilot and the wireless operator with one other were able to jump from the aircraft before it spun into the ground and crashed into a double semi-detached; No.26 and No.28 Nunthorpe Grove, York.

The crash destroyed the aircraft and the houses. The five remaining in the aircraft were killed, as were two elderly ladies inside No.28 Nunthorpe Grove and also one of those who baled out as he was too low for his parahute to deploy and he was found in the grounds of Nunthorpe Secondary School for Boys (just behind the main crash site). The starboard outer engine that broke away was found on the ground just outside the school kitchen at Nunthorpe school and further detached wreckage and bombs were located over a wide area. As this aircraft was seen to crash in a built-up area of York during the day there were many witnesses to it. People were on the scene within minutes of it crashing and they began searching the houses around No.26 and No.28 for survivors. Unfortunately fifteen minutes after the crash one of the 500lb bombs exploded in the post-crash fire, this further damaged the houses surrounding it and also killed three and injured many more of the rescuers. A short time later at least one futher bomb exploded and caused more damage. A large party of RAF Police were one group of people engaged in resue work at that time and they were later to received gallantry awards for their actions. An Army boxing tournament was being held in York around this time and a number of the Army personnel who were competing turned out to help the rescue effort with one being killed.

Other houses were damaged including two when a bomb fell through the roof of No.42 Millfield Road and came to rest under the floor of No.44 Millfield Road but appears not to have exploded. In total some thirty houses were damaged, two being totally destroyed but many just sustaining more superficial damage than others. The investigation found that although control was lost and that structural failure occurred it was not understood why more of the crew did not bale out immediately after the wireless operator left the aircraft as there was time while the aircraft was still in reasonably level flight. In some respects the wireless operator was very lucky; his parachute had also not had time to properly open but his luck was in, the blast from one of the bombs exploding on impact caused an updraft that aided his parachute to open. As he descended again the parachute then caught up in trees and a garden shed which broke his fall but he struck a wall which seriously injured his back. He was found dangling (given as being in the garden of No.29 Nunthorpe Grove, opposite the crash site) by a local plumber, Mr Richard Hardcastle, who went to get help. Further bombs that began to explode before he was freed, one of the exploding bombs caused a man-hole cover to fly through the air and strike Mr Hardcastle in the leg resulting in it later being amputated. The wireless operator was then freed by someone else, he was found to have a broken back and he spent many months in a body cast. While being treated in hospital he met his future wife.

Eric Garrett was born on 29th November 1920 at Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and was the son of Charles Edward Cecil and Gladys (nee Derham) Garrett. His father was born in Jamaica but had married in Liverpool, England in 1917 before the couple emigrated to Canada. As a young man Eric attended University in Michigan, USA studying aero engineering. He enlisted into the RCAF on 22bd July 1941 at Ottawa and after training was awarded his pilots' flying badge and also a commission on 27th March 1942. He may have then served as a staff pilot at No.1 SFTS in Canada until late-1943. On arrival in the UK in early 1944 he trained at 14 (P)AFU, 22 OTU and 1664 HCU. He was posted to 426 Squadron on 17th September 1944.
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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Ivor Emerson was born on 3rd April 1915 at Cambusland, Lanarkshire, Scotland and was the son of Harold and Clara (nee Adamson) Emerson. Both his parents were born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England and his father was an electrical engineer. The couple were living in Cambuslang when Ivor was born and later the family moved to Airdrie, Scotland in 1924 before crossing the Atlantic to New Jersey, USA in 1927. His father became a US citizen in 1936 and they later moved to Arlington, New Jersey. As a young man Ivor studied Electrical Engineering then worked in Newark, New Jersey until crossing the Canadian border and enlisting for RCAF service in Ottawa on 2nd July 1940. After training he was awarded his pilots' flying badge on 10th February 1941. He then remained in Canada serving as a flying instructor at the CFS and 8 SFTS until late-1943, receiving a commission on 15th April 1942. During this period as a flying instructor he received excellent reports from his commanding officers. He married Ruth Knox Lamb in Toronto in February 1941, they later had a baby daughter born in March 1942. He arrived in the UK in early 1944 and would train at 3 (P)AFU, 22 OTU and 1666 HCU before posting to 426 Squadron on 5th November 1944
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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Shortly after takeoff from RAF Linton on Ouse, while in initial climb, the crew of Handley Page Halifax Mk VII PP349,1665 HCCU Royal Air Force, informed ground that a fire erupted on board and elected to return for an emergency landing. During a last turn to the left, the aircraft went out of control, lost height and crashed in a huge explosion in a field on the Tancred Estate, between Whixley & Linton on Ouse, located 2 1/2 miles southwest of the airfield. All seven crew members were killed.
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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 17th March 1945, the crew of Avro Lancaster I, NG132 of 550 Squadron took off from RAF North Killingholme near Scunthorpe at 17:04 on a night-fighter affiliation exercise. 10 minutes into the flight the crew were informed that it had been cancelled and that they were to proceed to the bombing rage at Alkborough by the River Humber.

They dropped their bombs on the range and they started their short flight back to base. The crew were soon advised of hostile aircraft in the vicinity and soon noticed a twin engined night fighter behind them. The pilot corkscrewed the aircraft 3 times to evade attacks but the 4th hit the Lancaster and the aircraft caught fire.

The order to bail out was made but only 1 crew member made it out of the aircraft and suffered a sprained ankle on landing. Another crew member also left the aircraft but was lost in the Humber Estuary. The other 5 crew members were killed.
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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Handley Page Halifax Mk II 1652 HCU, Royal Air Force (1652 HCU, RAF)
On 14th November 1943 this aircraft took off from Marston Moor to be given an air test but soon after taking off the aircraft's two starboard engines failed, only three minutes after taking off and out of control the aircraft crashed into a brick lined pond behind the Vale of York Hotel by the side of the A59 road at Kirk Hammerton, 10 miles west of York, North Yorkshire.

Of the five people on the aircraft one was fortunate to have sustained only minor injuries while his four crew mates were sadly killed in the crash. The bodies of the four fatalities were taken into the pub as was the survivor prior to being taken to hospital.

Much of the aircraft was left in the pond after the crash and remained in there for many years with the pond also having scrap cars and rubble being deposited in it. It was excavated in the mid-2000's and made into a wildlife area, during these works some pieces of the Halifax were dug out and left on the site.
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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

After taking off for night training flight, Handley Page Halifax LK761 had climbed too steeply and a stall had occured. The aircraft dived into the ground at 19.43 hrs to the north of Huby, North Yorkshire and caught fire. All on board were killed. Crew : W.W.Strachan DFC, J.Gilliard, M.A.Martin, N.J.Baron, H.M.Stewart, A.L.Rorke, R.C.Stuart
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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

John McNeill was born in Calgary in 1919 and was a former member of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals before enlisting into the RCAF in Kingston, Ontario on 10th June 1940. He received his commission in 1941 and was awarded the DFC for service with 426 Squadron, Gazetted 13th August 1943. His DFC was presented to him at Buckingham Palace on 11th August 1944. The citation for his DFC reads.."The fine fighting spirit displayed by this officer has been an inspiration to the rest of the squadron. He has taken part in may recent heavy raids on the Ruhr and on one occasion in April 1943 completed his mission successfully although one engine failed while his aircraft was hotly engaged by the defences. As deputy flight commander he has rendered valuable assistance in the operational training of new crews and has contributed much to the high morale maintained in the squadron." He completed a Tour with 426 Squadron and was posted to instruct with 1679 HCU becoming their Chief Flying Instructor. He was later posted to 415 Squadron as Commanding Officer.

W/Co John McNeill DFC was killed in a flying accident on 21st August 1944 whilst serving with 415 Squadron when Halifax NA609 collided with Halifax MZ633 and both aircraft crashed near West Haddlesey, Selby, Yorkshire.
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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Kevin Hennessy was born on 12th November 1922 at Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and was the son of William Henry and Mary Agnes Hennessy. He enlisted for RAAF service in Melbourne.

On the night of 7th / 8th June 1944 the crew of this 1667 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft were to undertake a night cross country exercise and took off from Sandtoft airfield at 21.40hrs. By 02.10hrs the crew nearing the general area of their base, they may also have entered their landing circuit and were making a wide circuit of Sandtoft airfield but I have yet to obtain any lengthy accident documentation to discover exactly what happened. At 02.10hrs the aircraft stalled and then hit the ground between Howden and Goole, just north of the village of Hook and close to the River Ouse, it initially struck the ground and then hit a flood bank which caused the aircraft to break up. Sadly all on board were killed in the crash.

There is a suggestion that the aircraft had suffered from an engine failure and fire just prior to the crash which resulted in control being lost just prior to the crash. A memorial to crew who were killed in this accident was dedicated in St.Mary the Virgin Church, Hook in 1984. Air historians Ken Reast, Albert Pritchard and Eric Barton located small surface remains at the crash site in 1997 with permission from the landowner, thus confirming the location.
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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery - Harrogate, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

I then made the short journey to Ripon. In 1940 the School of Military Engineering was transferred to Ripon, where it remained for the duration of the war, the Yorkshire dales becoming an important military training centre. However, the majority of the Second World War burials in the cemetery are those of airmen from airfields in the locality, the R.A.F. Station at Dishforth being only a few miles away.

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CWGC Ripon Cemetery - Ripon, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Fred Dingwall was the son of Fred John and Charlotte Dingwall and was born on 26th December 1914 in Asquith, Saskatchewan, Canada. His parents were originally from Ontario but had moved to Saskatchewan. As a young man he worked as a butcher in Asquith and enlisted into the RCAF in Saskatoon on 27th June 1941. His parents had two other sons; Stewart Dingwall served as a wireless operator in the RCAF and Donald in the Navy in WW2. After basic training in Canada he was posted to the UK and arrived here in mid-May 1942. He further trained at 11 (P)AFU and 14 OTU prior to postings to 466 Squadron and later to 426 Squadron before the end of 1942. On April 1943 he was posted to 420 Squadron and then finally to 432 Squadron on 1st May 1943. He had married a Ripon girl, Violet Hill, on 15th May 1943 in Ripon and they are recorded as having lived at No.9 Palace Road, Ripon

On 29th May 1943 the crew of Vickers Wellington HE553 of 432 Squadron took off from RAF Skipton on Swale near Thirsk at 22.40hrs tasked with bombing Wuppertal. On their return to Yorkshire they became lost when flying in cloud and over-flew their base. While letting down through cloud to try and work out their position the aircraft crashed onto high ground on the side of Swaledale at Fremington Edge, near Reeth, at 04.40hrs on 30th May 1943. Sadly two of the crew were killed in the crash and the other four on board were injured, some seriously. The navigator is recorded in the squadron records as being able to telephone base to inform them of what had happened.
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CWGC Ripon Cemetery - Ripon, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Many German and Italian POW's were not returned home until 1948 / 49. Because they died after the war, their graves are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on a reciprocal agreement with the German Federal Government. Had they died in combat i.e. during the war, their graves would be looked after by the German equivalent of the CWGC.
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CWGC Ripon Cemetery - Ripon, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ripon Cemetery - Ripon, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 9th November 1942, Handley Page Halifax DG238 stalled while engaged in a fighter affiliation exercise, and P/O Ronald George Bell DFM and four of his crew died in the ensuing crash.

The crew of this aircraft were undertaking a Fighter Affiliation exercise, during this undertaking the aircraft stalled and crashed at 15.30hrs near Low Birkby Farm, near the village of Birkby, North Allerton. It was thought that the aircraft had been put into an excessively sharp turn during the exercise and the stall had occurred. At the time of this accident 408 Squadron were in the process of converting from flying Hampden’s to flying the Halifax type, the accident saw the squadron’s first Halifax fatalities and this was the first Halifax MkV written off by Bomber Command.
Crew:-

Pilot – P/O Ronald George Bell DFM RCAF (J/17824), aged 27, of Victoria, British Columbia.

Flight Engineer – Sgt Arthur Ernest Fuce Giles RAFVR (1333184), aged 20, of Medstead, Hampshire.

Navigator – Sgt Douglas Dean Gardner RAFVR (1391822), aged 20, of Bishopric, Horsham.

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner – Sgt Ian Fowler Stewart McColl RAAF (406544), aged 29, of Nedlands, Western Australia.

Air Gunner – P/O Philip Malcolm Matthews RCAF (J/11847), aged 22, of Langruth, Manitoba, Canada.
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CWGC Ripon Cemetery - Ripon, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Roy Greengrass was born on 14th May 1923 at Transcona, Manitoba, Canada. He was still a student when he enlisted for RCAF service on 26th May 1941 having arrived at the recruiting centre with all his documents on his eighteenth birthday. After training in Canada he was awarded his wireless operator / air gunner's flying badge. Arriving in the UK in Summer 1942 he then trained at 1 (O)AFU and 22 OTU before posting to 1659 HCU on 20th February 1943.

On 10th March 1943 the crew of Handley Page Halifax W1241 of the 1659 Heavy Conversion Unit were undertaking a local flying training flight when the aircraft stalled in a circuit of RAF Leeming airfield while making a turn, it dived into ground within the airfield boundary on the south eastern side of airfield at 14.10hrs and was destroyed. Sadly all eight airmen in the aircraft were killed. The reason was for the accident was never fully established but engine failure was a likely cause and the pilot may well have turned into the failed engine which generally resulted in the lower wing with a dead engine pulling the aircraft towards the ground.
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CWGC Ripon Cemetery - Ripon, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 4th August 1945, de Havilland Mosquito FB Mk VI HX907 of the 13 Operational Training Unit from RAF Middleton St.George flew into ground during a night navigation exercise.

The pilot F/O Ernest William Coleman & his navigator Thomas Brinn Locke were killed.
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CWGC Ripon Cemetery - Ripon, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ripon Cemetery - Ripon, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

During the First World War, Ripon Military Hospital contained 670 beds, and served the military camps at Ripon. Ripon Cemetery contains 122 scattered burials from this period.

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CWGC Ripon Cemetery - Ripon, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ripon Cemetery - Ripon, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ripon Cemetery - Ripon, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The next couple of locations were just a short 2 minute drive away, first of which was Dishforth Cemetery. The cemetery is just north of the village and not far from the former R.A.F. Station at Dishforth (since 1988 an Army Air Corps base). It contains 78 burials of the 1939-1945 War, of whom all were airmen and the majority belonged to the Royal Canadian Air Force. All the war graves are grouped together, 62 constituting a War Graves Plot.

Connected to this group are 11 Post War service burials in the care of C.W.G.C.

On the 13th September 1955, the crew of Handley Page Hastings C1 TG584 attempted an overshoot at RAF Dishforth when control was lost. The airplane entered a spin and crashed, killing all on board.
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CWGC Dishforth Cemetery - Disforth, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On 25th July 1943, Handley Page Halifax R9420 of 1659 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft took off from RAF Topcliffe at 09.45hrs to begin a training flight. The first part of the training exercise lasted for thirty minutes and involved the instructor supervising the trainee pilot in making a series three engine landings. With this part of the exercise complete the instructor left the aircraft after the final three engined landing . The crew then took off again to carry out an air to sea firing exercise over the North Sea, in an area off Whitby, between mid-day and 13.00hrs. With this final part of the exercise complete the aircraft began to return to base with a route involving using York as a turning point. The aircraft was seen by people on the ground at Linton on Ouse to be flying at around 2,000 feet with all engines running and flying normally, it was then seen to go into a spin, which became a steep dive and there was not enough height to recover from the dive before it struck the ground around a mile from the airfield, near Linton Woods, at 13.45hrs. All on board were sadly killed.
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CWGC Dishforth Cemetery - Disforth, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

During the morning of 18th April 1943, Handley Page Halifax R9448 of 1659 Heavy Conversion Unit aircraft took off from RAF Topcliffe with eight airmen on board, it was not a regular crew but a mixture of four pilots, two flight engineers and a wireless operator and air gunner filling the remaining seats. The exact circumstances of the flight is not yet fully known but during the flight engines were being deliberately shut down as part of the training exercise. The pupil pilots would then practice flying on less than four engines and also then practice restarting the stopped engines. Whilst doing so and while flying on two engines control of the aircraft was lost, the starboard elevator was seen to break off, the aircraft rolled at 1500 feet and then dived towards the ground. It crashed not far from Crockey Hill, to the south of York at 10.08hrs sadly killing all eight airmen on board. Research after the crash believed that a Halifax design fault, rudder over-balance, was probably to blame for the crash. Halifax R9448 had seen service with 35 Squadron and took part in a raid on the massive German ship the Tirpitz before being passed to 1659 HCU.
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CWGC Dishforth Cemetery - Disforth, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Howard Hill was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on 21st March 1921. Both his parents were born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England but emigrated and received Canadian nationality in 1912. After leaving school Howard worked as a cashier and clerk in Montreal and he enlisted for RCAF service there on 9th October 1940.

His brother Wireless Operator / Air Gunner WO2 Raymond Hepton Hill RCAF was serving with 419 Squadron in early 1943 when Halifax DT630 was shot down on Ops to Hamburg on 3rd February 1943. He was 23 years old and is buried in Sleen General Cemetery, Holland.
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CWGC Dishforth Cemetery - Disforth, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Dishforth Cemetery - Disforth, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 22nd September 1942 those on board Vickers Wellington BJ695 were undertaking a gunnery exercise with a Spitfire over North Yorkshire, while in the Pickering area the Spitfire was making dummy attacks on the Wellington.

This was a common occurance just south of Pickering and had been successful at all previous times here. On this day the Spitfire attacked the Wellington but did not break away in time and struck the rear of the Wellington. Witnesses noticed the Spitfire attack and that it was closer to the Wellington than usual at about a thousand feet up. The Spitfire tried to pull up but struck the Wellington and the tail of the Spitfire broke off and it damaged the Wellington badly enough to make it uncontrollable and crash.

An Army despatch rider was first on the scene and had tried to rescue the airmen but due to the resulting fire from the crash there was nothing he could do for those who had survived the crash itself. The crew of five were all killed. The main part of the Spitfire crashed around half a mile away and it's pilot was also killed.

Pilot - F/Sgt Eugene Kuzyk RCAF (R/76994), aged 24, of Innisfree, Alberta, Canada.

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Edward Wilfred St.Cyr RCAF (R/55593), aged 25, of Richmond, Quebec, Canada.

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - P/O Raoul Joseph Rioux RCAF (J/15938), aged 23, of Grand Falls, New Brunswick, Canada.

Air Observer - F/Sgt Donald Alfred Girouard RCAF (R/101641), aged 24, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Air Gunner - F/Sgt Joseph Raoul Alphonse Boudreault RCAF (R/62814), aged 25, of Sept Iles, Quebec, Canada.
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CWGC Dishforth Cemetery - Disforth, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the night of 22nd / 23rd October 1941 a number of aircraft from 51 Squadron were tasked with bombing Mannheim and they left RAF Dishforth around 18.00hrs.

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Z9145 took off at 18.21hrs but did not bomb the primary target area and returned to Yorkshire. On their return to the Dishforth area the aircraft overshot on landing but remained in the air, it did not climb away and struck a cable stretched across the River Ure just east of Ripon at Givendale at 23.55hrs. The aircraft crashed into a field next to the river and all five of the crew sustained injuries but sadly two died at the scene and another died in hospital. One of the crew was later awarded a DFM and the citation makes reference to an incident in October 1941, it could refer to the same flight as this.

Pilot - Sgt John Lyon Perrin RAFVR (961016) & Second Pilot - P/O Anthony Baerlein RAFVR (68803).
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CWGC Dishforth Cemetery - Disforth, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the outbreak of World War II, 35 Sqn RAF was designated a training unit, supplementing its Battles with Avro Ansons and Bristol Blenheims late in 1939. The squadron disbanded after being absorbed into 17 OTU along with 90 Sqn at RAF Upwood, on 8 April 1940. 35 Sqn reformed on 5 November 1940 at RAF Linton-on-Ouse in Yorkshire as the first Handley Page Halifax squadron.

On 13 January 1941 one of the brand-new aircraft of this squadron, the Halifax I L9487, took off from a fuel consumption test from Linton-on-Ouse airfield at 1120 hrs. It carried a mixed crew but all were operationally experienced and qualified to carry out the test. They were to carry out the test at 12,000ft at which they were to cruise at that height for an hour and measure the fuel consumption.

About half an hour after taking off the aircraft was seen near Dishforth at around 3,000 ft with the port undercarriage down and a trail of vapour behind the port side of the aircraft. One of the port engines was also seen not to be working. The vapour then ignited (probably as a result of being ignited by an engine exhaust flame) and a large fire was seen on the port side of the aircraft after which the aircraft entered a steep dive before crashing from 2,500 ft at Howefield House, near Baldersby St. James, between Thirsk and Dishforth at 1153 hrs. All the airmen on board were sadly killed instantly. The fire was thought to have burnt away the aircrafts tail control surfaces making the aircraft become uncontrollable. The crew were found to have all been wearing their parachutes and all were probably preparing to bale out when the aircraft entered the spiralling dive and as a result they were unable to get out.

Crew (all killed):
Flt Lt Michael Thomas Gibson Henry DFC (pilot, aged 28, of Compton Chamberlayne, Wiltshire)
Plt Off Leslie Joseph McDonald (2nd pilot, aged 23, of Karori, Wellington, New Zealand)
Sgt John Naoier Hall (observer)
Sgt Anthony Charles Henry Reid Russell (wireless operator/air gunner, aged 22)
Sgt William Charles Browne "Laddie" Jesse RAF DFM (wireless operator/air gunner, aged 22, of Dublin, Irish Republic)
Sgt Francis Leslie Plowman (flight engineer, aged 21)

This incident was the first Halifax accident in Yorkshire and there would be well over 1000 Halifaxes to crash in the County with all too many fatalities. This loss was almost certainly the first of many thousand fatal Halifax flying accidents. An AIB investigation was carried out following the accident, although rare this is understandable.

The cause of the fire was blamed on the failure of groundcrew at Linton on Ouse to put the fuel-filler cap back on one of the port fuel tanks after it had been refuelled. The vapour seen behind the port wing would also certainly have been fuel, which, by the time it ignited had soaked into the tail section of the aircraft. Also of note is that the port outer engine had been suffering trouble since its delivery. It suffered a coolant leak on 3 December 1940 which resulted in a new radiator being fitted and then the same engine showed low oil pressure, it was run-up on 24 December 1940 and a new oil relief valve had to be fitted. Following the crash all the engines were removed and taken away for inspection and this engine was found to have suffered an oil shortage in the air prior to the crash, part of the crankshaft had broken causing the failure of the engine. Further investigation of other early Halifaxes found that this was a design problem. When full of fuel and in a tail-down position the oil pumps on the outer engines were above the oil level. This oil system was later changed to stop the problem re-occuring. Why the undercarriage had droppped or been lowered is not known.
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CWGC Dishforth Cemetery - Disforth, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Dishforth Cemetery - Disforth, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 31st January 1943, Avro Lancaster ED481 crashed close to the village of Hawnby in North Yorkshire while returning from a bombing raid on Hamburg. Diverted to another airfield, it is thought the crash was due to the Lancaster running out of fuel and / or losing power to its engines. All on board were killed.

The pilot was American but served with the RCAF. The Flight Engineer was Canadian, the Navigator was Welsh and the Rear Gunner was from South Africa. The rest were all English.

CREW
W/O Frank Nelson RCAF Pilot
Sgt. McKeen Allen RCAF Flight Engineer
Sgt. George Done RAFVR Navigator
Sgt Alan Williams RAFVR Bomb Aimer
Sgt. Henry Jones RAFVR Wireless Operator / Air Gunner
Sgt. Arthur Butcher RAFVR Air Gunner
Sgt. Walter Murton RAFVR Rear Gunner
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CWGC Dishforth Cemetery - Disforth, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On 29th November 1942, 405 Squadron were in the process of moving from RAF Topcliffe airfield to undertake a detachment at Beaulieu airfield in Hampshire.

Handley Page Halifax DT576 was loaded with equipment needed for their stay at Bealieu and another eight airmen along with the regular crew of seven were being carried.

A number of bicycles are believed to have been also loaded on board. The aircraft took off from RAF Topcliffe at 10.05hrs and headed initially in a north-easterly direction before making a turn over Melmerby and then to fly a course which would have been in a southerly passing the westerly side of Dishforth airfield before heading towards Hampshire. Before it got back over the general area of the airfield and while flying at 300 feet the aircraft turned onto it's back and crashed near Melmerby. Sadly all fifteen airmen on board were killed in the crash. It was the worst non-operational loss in Yorkshire in the whole of the war.

A house was damaged prior to the crash and it was thought to have been struck by a wire aerial hanging from the aircraft. While there was some suggestion locally that the aircraft was overloaded the crash investigation thought otherwise and the reason for the crash was obscure other than it probably stalled at a low height. All but two of the crew were buried at Dishforth Cemetery.
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CWGC Dishforth Cemetery - Disforth, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Dishforth Cemetery - Disforth, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Topcliffe Church Cemetery is located just the other side of the A168 from Dishforth. RAF Topcliffe was the station used as the headquarters of the Canadian training base of No 6 (R.C.A.F.) Bomber Group. The church cemetery contains the graves of ten Second World War airmen. There is also one burial of the First World War and a number of post war graves.

It's fair of me to say that the location isn't one of the best CWGC sites, but it is cared for and maintained in the same manner as all of the others across the country.

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CWGC Topcliffe Church Cemetery - Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Joseph Reardon was born in Charlottetown, Canada in 1915 and studied at Prince of Wales College and the College of the Redemptorist Order at Scarborough Heights, Ontario before enlisting into the RAF in Augist 1939. He was granted a short service commission into the RAF on 23rd March 1940 to the rank of Acting P/O on probation. On 13th July 1940 he completed the probationary period and was made Acting P/O and on 23rd September 1940 he was confirmed as a P/O. He arrived at 51 Squadron on 2nd December 1940 and flew with them until joining 102 Squadron on 6th July 1941. He rose to F/O (War Subs) on 13th July 1941. As Acting S/Ldr he was awarded the DFC (Gazetted on 23rd September 1941) and a press article found on the internet about the award of his DFC that he was "a steady and dependable captain of aircraft who has shown great courage and devotion to duty. Most of his sorties were completed in winter months under adverse weather conditions."

On the 11th September 1941, 102 Squadron Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Z6870 crashed at 22.50hrs within the RAF Topcliffe airfield boundary while the crew were practicing overshooting during a dual-instruction part of a night flying exercise. Three of the crew were killed and two others injured.
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CWGC Topcliffe Church Cemetery - Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The crew of No. 36 Swadron Lockheed Neptune M.R. Mk.1 , WX545, took off from RAF Ballykelly, County Londonderry on the 10th October 1956 on an anti submarine exercise. The squadrons home airfield was RAF Topcliffe in North Yorkshire but it had been detached to Ballykelly for the exercise. They were flying south along the Kintyre coast in thick fog when it struck the ground and broke up over a large area killing all of the crew.
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CWGC Topcliffe Church Cemetery - Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Topcliffe Church Cemetery - Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Topcliffe Church Cemetery - Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Topcliffe Church Cemetery - Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Topcliffe Church Cemetery - Topcliffe, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

User avatar
SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 05/02/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

I then made a small detour up the A1 to visit St John the Baptist Churchyard in Leeming.

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CWGC St. John The Baptist Churchyard - Leeming, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

At 19.00hrs on the 24th March 1954 the crew of Gloster Meteor WD778 took off from RAF Leeming to undertake a training flight over northern England, flying first to RAF Acklington, then to RAF Scampton and then returning to Leeming and land. It is believed that low cloud was covering northern England, while only five miles from Leeming they were instructed by ground control to switch on the Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) frequency used to direct them into land. This request was acknowledged by the crew but then nothing further was heard. It was likely that the aircraft had then suffered complete radio failure, the crew then aborted the landing and climbed away to try and sort the problem but then became lost which explains why they found themselves over towards the west of the country. Some time later their fuel probably began to run low and instead of then baling out the pilot descended, probably thinking he was closer to Leeming (and the low ground of the Vale of York) than he actually was, they were thought to have descended to try and locate their position. The aircraft struck the brow of the high ground to the north of Appleby, Cumbria, whilst flying at a shallow angle and broke up killing the two airmen instantly at 20.45hrs. The wreckage was located five days later by a gamekeeper who contacted the authorities. The direction the aircraft was heading can be seen today by a imprint of the Meteor in the hillside to the west of where the main wreckage is to be seen today. Ironically had the aircraft continued in that direction but higher they may well have flown over the Pennines and back towards base.

Pilot - P/O John David Briggs RAF (4085444), aged 21, of Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk & Navigator/Radar Operator - F/O Derrick Walker RAF (4081946), aged 21, of Carlisle, Cumberland.
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CWGC St. John The Baptist Churchyard - Leeming, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flight Lieutenant John Alan Quinton, GC, DFC was a British navigator and pilot who was posthumously awarded the George Cross for an act of outstanding bravery where he unselfishly saved a young air cadet whilst losing his own life after the aircraft he was in was involved in a mid-air collision over Yorkshire.

On the 13th August 1951, Flight Lieutenant Quinton was a navigator with 228 Operational Conversion Unit, RAF Leeming, under instruction in a Vickers Wellington. An Air Training Corps cadet, 16-year-old Derek Coates, was with him in the rear compartment of the aircraft when the force of the impact caused the Wellington to break up and plunge to the ground out of control.

Flight Lieutenant Quinton picked up the only parachute he could see, clipped it on to the cadet's harness, showed him how to pull the rip-cord and ordered him to jump. The cadet landed safely and was the only survivor of the disaster; all eight other occupants of the two aircraft perished.

For his selfless action he was awarded the George Cross.

Date of Gazette: 23 October 1951 :

The KING has been graciously pleased to approve the posthumous award of the GEORGE CROSS to Flight-Lieutenant John Alan Quinton, D.F.C. (11571), Royal Air Force, No. 228 Operational Conversion Unit.

On August the 13th, 1951, Flight-Lieutenant Quinton was a Navigator under instruction in a Vickers Wellington aircraft which was involved in a mid-air collision. The sole survivor from the crash was an Air Training Corps Cadet who was a passenger in the aircraft, and he has established the fact that his life was saved by a supreme act of gallantry displayed by Flight-Lieutenant Quinton, who in consequence sacrificed his own life. Both Flight-Lieutenant Quinton and the Cadet were in the rear compartment of the aircraft when the collision occurred. The force of the impact caused the aircraft to break up and, as it was plunging towards the earth out of control, Flight-Lieutenant Quinton picked up the only parachute within reach and clipped it on to the Cadet's harness. He pointed to the rip-cord and a gaping hole in the aircraft, thereby indicating that the Cadet should jump. At that moment a further portion of the aircraft was torn away and the Cadet was flung through the side of the aircraft clutching his rip-cord, which he subsequently pulled and landed safely. Flight-Lieutenant Quinton acted with superhuman speed displaying the most commendable courage and self-sacrifice, as he well knew that in giving up the only parachute within reach he was forfeiting any chance of saving his own life. Such an act of heroism and humanity ranks with the very highest traditions of the Royal Air Force, besides establishing him as a very gallant and courageous officer, who, by his action, displayed the most conspicuous heroism.

The George Cross was presented to his widow, Margaret Quinton, by HM The Queen at an investiture held on 27th February 1952, the first of her reign.
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CWGC St. John The Baptist Churchyard - Leeming, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 15th January 1942, 10 squadron Handley Page Halifax had taken off from RAF Leeming at 18.12hrs for an operational flight to bomb Hamburg. The aircraft suffered engine trouble outbound and after jettisoning the bombs over the North Sea the crew made for home. The weather in Yorkshire was poor during the month with deep snow having laid over the county. Flying in poor visibility the aircraft crashed at 23.30hrs a mile north of Northallerton, only a few miles from base, and burst into flames. The crew had all sustained very serious injuries. The RAF's Form AM1180 is left blank so no proper details of the loss are yet known but it's believed it was left blank as they were going to include the evidence from a Court of Inquiry which was delayed because the pilot's evidence would have been needed. As it probably turned out the pilot's memory of the crash did not recover enough for the Court of Inquiry to be held but the AM1180 was never updated.
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CWGC St. John The Baptist Churchyard - Leeming, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On 22nd August 1941 the crew of Armstrong Whitworth Whitley V T4234 were one of two 10 Squadron aircraft tasked with bombing the docks at Le Havre and they took off from Leeming at 22.02hrs, on board Whitley were at least three airmen flying their first operational flights and their pilot flying his first as captain. The wireless operator was the only experienced airman having already flown some twenty operational flights. Before take off the crews were informed that the weather conditions were expected to change by the time they would return to base. This crew bombed the target and made for home, soon after crossing the English coast the second pilot was given control of the aircraft for experience and the aircraft headed north aiming for base at Leeming with everything apparently normal. As they headed north it was thought that they drifted off course slightly too far west of their intended course, it is also very likely that the aircraft had indeed encountered a change in weather as they flew north. The captain believed that the aircraft was on course and nearing base had just re-taken control of the aircraft when the aircraft struck the ground in the Pennines at 01.41hrs. One of the survivors later wrote a detailed account of this incident and he believed that the altimeter was not reading correctly by the time the aircraft crashed as the air pressure had changed with the change of weather. He also believed that the aircraft was not in level flight as the two pilots switched positions just before the crash and because of this the aircraft had lost height which had initially gone un-noticed, with the aircraft having drifted off course to the west of the Vale of York and over high ground it struck the ground soon afterwards even though the pilot had levelled the aircraft out by the time the crash occurred. One of the survivors believed that the pilot had infact seen the ground he was flying towards and had managed to pull the nose of the aircraft up just before impact.

The two pilots had been killed instantly in the crash, the observer was thrown out of the aircraft, the wireless operator was trapped in the wreckage and as the rear turret had broken away from the crashing aircraft it took with it it's occupant who escaped serious injury. The rear gunner was able to free himself from the turret and found the trapped wireless operator and had freed him. It was some time before the observer was found some distance away from where the aircraft came to a halt. The three survivors located each other but waited at the crash site until first light when they set off down hill, they saw a railway line and made for that and eventually ended up at Dent Station where they were met by the station master and his wife. The local policeman later took all three survivors to hospital in Kendal where two were soon released. The observer was the more seriously injured although remarkably less injured that could be expected and was then transported to Catterick hopsital where he made a good recovery.

Kenneth Liebeck was born on 5th January 1918 in Chesley, Ontario, he was the youngest of three sons born to William and Katherine (nee Meyers) Liebeck. He had been an apprentice at the Ontario Apprenticeship Training Programme and working as an auto-mechanic from 1939 to 1940. He left this job to enlist into the RCAF on 22nd June 1940 in Toronoto. He gained his pilot's Wings on 20th February 1941 after training in Canada and received his commission to the rank of P/O two days later, he was posted to the UK soon after. Having trained at 10 OTU he was posted to 10 Squadron on 1st August 1941. The Liebeck family would loose another son just over a year after Kenneth's death when F/O Millard Meyer Liebeck RCAF was lost off Malta.
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CWGC St. John The Baptist Churchyard - Leeming, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St. John The Baptist Churchyard - Leeming, North Yorkshire, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr
Before heading to the Riverside Stadium I had enough time to visit a couple of sites in the town. Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery contains war graves of both World Wars, the First World War burials being scattered throughout the cemetery. The former RAF Thornaby-on-Tees is located close to the cemetery and most of the servicemen buried in the war graves plot, in Plot O on the southern boundary of the cemetery, were airmen. The small number of graves not in the plot are scattered elsewhere. There 38 Commonwealth burials of the First World War and 86 from the Second. The war graves plot also contains 30 German war graves.

On 11th June 1940 Hudson P5127 of 220 Squadron aircraft took off from Thornaby airfield at 03.20hrs. It left the ground normally and climbed away to around two hundred feet after which a turn to the right was made which increased in steepness until it stalled and flew into the ground. The crash site is believed to have been near to Quarry Farm, Ingleby Barwick. The crash caused the bomb load to explode which resulted in the deaths of all four airmen. The investigation into the incident and the Court of Inquiry returned verdicts of "cause obscure".

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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The winter of 1939-40 was a severe one. On the night of Sunday, 11th February 1940, three Hudson's belonging to 220 Squadron took off from Thornaby to undertake an operational flight to Heligoland area, an area of sea off the German coastline. This was a cold night and snow was already covering the hills in the area south and east of Middlesbrough. The lead Hudson N7294 failed to gain enough height on take off, probably due to the effects of icing conditions on the aircraft's wings and it flew very low over Great Ayton. It then crashed into the first piece of high ground it came to on the North Yorkshire Moors, having flown into the moor just below a stone wall it travelled up through the wall and then onto the hill top near to Captain Cook's Monument. It was thought the pilot pulled the nose of the aircraft up just before impact which avoided a complete nose-on impact with the side of the hill. The crash ripped the underside of the aircraft off and it ploughed it's way across the snow covered moor for a short before coming to rest in a small wood on its side. One witness contacted in 2002 recalled one wing being broken off and the remaining wing being attached to the main fuselage, this wing was left sticking up in the air. Of the four crew on board, sadly three were killed but the gunner survived and was not seriously injured. After being knocked out for a while and despite both legs being injured he struggled down the hillside to get help at a nearby farm close to Easby, taking a rest in old mine buildings on the way down. A pigeon called "Polly" trained by a Mr Hartas of Grove Hill, Middlesbrough, though injured, survived the crash and returned home and later received an award in recognition of pidgeon bravery; the Dicken Medal.
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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

During the evening of 1st August 1940 Hudson N7314 of 220 Squadron aircraft took off from Thornaby at 18.02 hrs to patrol Convoy SA3 off the East Coast. On the return to base the crew encountered foggy conditions, the crew had been had diverted to Catterick due to the conditions but when they arrived there they were re-diverted back to Thornaby. The pilot was apparently trying to force-land the aircraft when they hit high tension cables near Maltby, not far from Thornaby and it crash-landed at 23.48hrs nearby (the location given is Thornton Grange Farm, Stainton). The bomb load then exploded on impact. The electricity supply to Maltby was cut off for at least a day following this crash. The air gunner is believed to have escaped the aircraft before the aircraft's bomb load exploded but his three crew mates were killed.
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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On 6th November 1941 Hudson N7228 stalled on approach to land at Thornaby airfield and crashed near Stainsby Hall Farm / West Acklam killing the two pilots in the aircraft. The aircraft was probably being used for a training flight but no details of the flight are known.
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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On 12th February 1943 the crew of Wellington BJ778, "A for Apple", took off from Croft airfield at 17.26hrs for what is believed to have been a mine laying operational flight. Aircraft from various squardrons were mine laying the waters around The Frisians and Heligoland on this night. Other modern accounts quote Le Havre as being a land target for bombs but this is believed to not be correct. The accident record card for this incident; the Form Am1180, makes no mention of what the target was hence the confusion. The crew dropped their cargo and headed for home but were hit by flak. Before they could land at base the aircraft flew across the North Yorkshire Moors, the Moors were covered in a thick band of cloud at the time and the crew became uncertain of their position on their return to Yorkshire; they had probably flown off course by a few degrees. They descended to try and work out their location but struck high ground east of Chop Gate on Black Intake Moor at 23.00hrs and all on the aircraft lost their lives in the crash which completely destroyed the aircraft.

A lot of the aircraft appears to have been left on the site following the crash and this included both engines and fairly complete outer-wing sections. It is known that the now defunct Thornaby aircraft museum had one of the engines (the same engine is now at the small museum on the former Catfoss airfield), the whereabouts of the other engine is unknown. Various smaller pieces of aircraft I learn were used to patch holes in old dry stone wall near the site in the years after the War, whether any of the aircraft is still in these walls is yet to be discovered. This crash site was one of the most widely known about and visited sites in the 1960s and 70s, because of this people seem to have been helping themselves to bits over the years. Lots more must have been taken away and removed from the area and probably scrapped.

Pilot - Sgt Oscar Philip Edwin Ronald J Adlam RAF of Bristol.
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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the night of 17th April 1942 Hudsons were undertaking night circuit training around Thornaby airfield as part of the training course at No.6 Operational Training Unit. The crew of Hudson T9378 approached for landing at too low a height and struck a tree at the north-eastern boundary of the airfield near Manfield Farm at 00.45hrs. In the resulting crash three of the crew lost their lives whilst the pilot survived albeit seriously injured. The crash site today has been built over, believed to have been about two hundred yards south-west of the present Roundel public house.

Observer - Sgt Clifford McCormick Carkner RCAF (R/74488), aged 25, of Ormond, Ontario, Canada.
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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On 1st November 1940 Junkers Ju88 took off from base at Gilze Rijen in Holland and was on route to attack either Linton on Ouse or Church Fenton aerodrome in the early evening. The aircraft flew in from the sea somewhere to the north of Whitby and flew into high ground at the head of Glaisdale with the ground shrouded in mist. The aircraft carried four crew, they were all killed in the crash. There is still some debate as to why the aircraft came to crash, it is known that a lone aircraft attacked Skinningrove Iron Works on the same night and was engaged by machine guns at the Works. Others also report an aircraft being damaged by ground fire shortly after crossing the coast near Whitby. The full reasons for the crash will probably never be known. As Bill Norman details in his "Broken Eagles" book, one airman had baled out just before impact with the ground and his parachute appeared to foul the aircraft's tail plane, he was dragged to his death. Two other airmen had been thrown out of the aircraft when it crashed. Strangely, all the crew were found barefooted, suggesting they thought they were over the sea and they knew they were not going to make it home.

Observer - Obfw Hans Schulte-Mater

Air Gunner - Uffz Gerhard Pohling
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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the night of 17th / 18th December 1942 some fifteen Dornier Do217 aircraft set out from their bases to bomb York, while en-route to York this aircraft is believed to have been damaged by anti-aircraft fire while over the Yorkshire coast and thought to have been in the Scarborough / Whitby area, as a result it failed to gain enough height to clear the North Yorkshire Moors. The aircraft struck Wheeldale Moor above Goathland at 22.15hrs at speed and at a fairly shallow angle and disintergrated. The wreckage was spread over a large area and the German crew didn't stand a chance and all four died instantly. The wreckage was not found until 12.00hrs on the 20th December 1942 by a young shepherd Norman Winspear and a wide search was initially made for the missing crew but their bodies were later found in the wreckage.

Dornier Do217 U5+AK

Wireless Operator - Obgfr Gerhard Wicht, aged 22.

Observer - Obgfr Hans Roeschner, aged 20
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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the night of 9th / 10th July 1941 at least three Junkers Ju88's set out from Schipol in Holland to carry out anti-shipping patrols over the North Sea, they had possibly set out at different times. All three aircraft flew into mist as they neared the English coastline and were seperated. This Bernberg manufactured aircraft headed north and hit the cliff top at Brackenbury Wyke, Staithes at 00.06hrs. The tail of the aircraft fell back down the cliff and the rest of it broke up and was spread over the fields at the top of the cliff on land near Cliff Farm. Two other Junkers Ju88;s crashed near the village of Speeton, further down the east coast.

Pilot - Oblt Edgar Peisert.

Observer - Lt Rudolf Belloff

Wireless Operator - Gefr Gerhard Vogel

Air Gunner - Fw Karl Kinder
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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On 15th January 1942 a Dornier Do217 was attacking shipping and ports along the North East coast. It is thought that it had attacked various targets at Skinningrove and Eston before bombing a ship off Hartlepool. The ship later sank but not before damaging the aircraft's engine. The Dornier then headed inland towards Middlesbrough and it's wing struck a barrage balloon cable and it then crashed onto the railway sidings near what is now the South Bank railway station at 18.20hrs. Three bodies were found in the wreckage and were buried at Thornaby cemetery. Catterick's O.R.B. has the brief entry for this incident stating "Do17 crashed into balloon, South Bank, Middlesbrough".
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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The crash of this Bernberg built Junkers Ju88 aircraft occurred near Whitby on Hutton Mulgrave Moor on 4th June 1941 at 00.30hrs when it flew into the moor whilst intending to intercept British bombers returning from operations, it was believed that bad visibility was the cause of the crash with the aircraft simply not flying high enough at the time. All three of the crew died when their aircraft disintergrated on impact with the ground on Hutton Mulgrave Moor but the wreckage did not catch fire. Bill Normans "Broken Eagles" book gives the full story and I do not wish to copy his work. Police records state that two airmen died in the impact and the other was was badly injured, the latter died soon after at 07.00hrs. A bomb from this aircraft was released seconds before impact with the moor and it caused damage to nearby Kitter Green farm. The crater is still said to be partly visible today.
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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Uffz Karl Roos (Do217K-1; U5+DP;w/nr 4584 6./KG2) was shot down on 16 May 1943. He was shot down by F/O B.R. Keele(with F/O G. Cowles) in Beaufighter V8617 of No. 604 Sqdn, Scorton. KG2's target was the port installations at Sunderland. U5+DP crashed into the sea c. 35 miles East of Sunderland. Roos' body was washed ashore at Blackhall Rocks (South of Sunderalnd) on 30 June 1943 and he was buried under that date
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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Thornaby-on-Tees Cemetery - Teeside, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The Middlesborough (Acklam) Cemetery contains 93 burials of the 1939-1945 War, of which 19 are in a war grave plot near the main avenue in the centre of the cemetery, the remainder being scattered in other sections of it.

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CWGC Acklam Cemetery - Middlesbrough, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

In the early afternoon of the 13th January 1942, four Junkers JU88's of Kampfgruppe 506 attacked Teeside.

Shortly before 3pm, Ju88 S4+AH sank the SS Lerwick four miles off Robin Hood's Bay, while other aircraft damaged the SS Empire Masefield, killing Able Seamen Shanks. The Dorman Long's Redcar Ironworks at Warrenby were also attacked.
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CWGC Acklam Cemetery - Middlesbrough, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Acklam Cemetery - Middlesbrough, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Acklam Cemetery - Middlesbrough, Saturday 29th December 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

User avatar
SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 05/02/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

Also over the Christmas period I was able to pay a visit to Norwich and various sites across the Great Yarmouth & Lowestoft area.

Norwich cemetery was laid out in 1856 and casualties of the South African War were buried in the oldest part. Nearly half of the 1914-1918 burials are to be found in two military plots; one in the North-Eastern part and the other in the Western part of the burial ground. In total there are 532 CWGC graves in the cemetery

Western plot
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CWGC Norwich Cemetery - Norwich, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Canadian Gunner F Edwards is buried here with his headstones also commemorating his two brothers killed in France. All 3 brothers died within 6 months of each other.
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CWGC Norwich Cemetery - Norwich, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by
Chris Day, on Flickr

Henry Edward Holtum was a 19 year old Grocer’s Assistant from Main Street, Zeehan, Tasmania when he enlisted at Pontville, Tasmania on 21st August, 1914 with the Australian Imperial Force.

He embarked from Alexandria on 2nd March, 1915 to join M.E.F. (Mediterranean Expeditionary Force) and was wounded at Gallipoli between 25th & 28th April, 1915. He was admitted to Hospital Ship Clan McGilway on 4th May, 1915 with injuries to left hip & taken to Malta the same day.

Promoted to Sergeant, he proceeded to join B.E.F. (British Expeditionary Force) from Alexandria on 29th March, 1916 & disembarked at Marseilles, France on 5th April, 1916.

Sergeant Henry Edward Holtum was recommended for the Military Medal "In the attack on POLYGON WOOD, east of HOOGE on 20/21st September, 1917, Sgt. HOLTUM commanded the H.Q Signal Section, the Signalling Officer having been killed. He displayed great initiative and conspicuous bravery under fire, continually moving about the line arranging for the establishment of communications, which were most satisfactory during the whole engagement. Sgt. HOLTUM has been in almost every engagement in which the Battalion has taken part and has commanded his section in 3 of the last 4".

He was admitted to 332nd Field Ambulance at Wrexham on 10th September, 1918 while on leave and after being transferred to Norfolk War Hospital, he died from tubercular meningitis on the 22nd September 1918.
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CWGC Norwich Cemetery - Norwich, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer C R Digges of Neutral Bay, New South Wales, Australia enlisted in the Citizen Air Force on the 24th June 1940 and was posted to No 2 initial Air Training School, Lindfield. After the conclusion of an elementary flight training course at No.8 Elementary Flying Training School, this officer embarked on 31st October 1940 for Canada where he completed his service flying training course. Subsequently he embarked for the United Kingdom.

On the 18th December 1941, Pilot Officer Digges was killed as a result of an aircraft accident at Oulton, Norfolk.
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CWGC Norwich Cemetery - Norwich, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by
Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Flying Officer O W Thompson & Navigator Flying Officer W J Horne DFC of 105 Squadron left RAF Marham in de Havilland Mosquito DK338 on the 1st May 1943 when their aircraft came down soon after. Both crew members were killed.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/2b8p73Q]Image
[/url]CWGC Norwich Cemetery - Norwich, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Norwich Cemetery - Norwich, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 9th May 1942, Oberleutnant Werner Böllert, Oberfeldwebel Rudolf Bucksch, Unteroffizier Albert Otterbach and Unteroffizier Matthias Speuser were killed when their aircraft, a Dornier 217E-4, was shot down by light anti aircraft fire defending the radar station at Stoke Holy Cross, just south of Norwich. Their aircraft came down and crashed in a crop field near Green Farm in West Poringland.
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CWGC Norwich Cemetery - Norwich, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Norwich Cemetery - Norwich, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Norwich Cemetery - Norwich, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

North-Eastern plot
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CWGC Norwich Cemetery - Norwich, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Norwich Cemetery - Norwich, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Norwich Cemetery - Norwich, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Norwich Cemetery - Norwich, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

For many years Great Yarmouth was a naval base containing a Royal Naval Hospital and there are three naval plots in the burial ground at Caister-on-Sea which contains war graves of both World Wars, as well as other Naval graves dating from 1906 onwards. Some of the 1914-1918 graves are in groups while others are scattered. After the 1914-1918 War, a Cross of Sacrifice was erected near the mortuary chapel. During the early months of the 1939-1945 War, ground was set aside for service war graves, and this is now the War Graves Plot. It was used for Army, Air Force, Merchant Navy and Allied casualties, and the Naval plot A was used for Royal Naval casualties and for some of the Merchant Navy men; but there are a number of scattered war graves in the cemetery. There are now 168 Commonwealth burials of the 1914-1918 war and 115 of the 1939-1945 war commemorated in this site. Of these, 13 from the 1939-1945 War are unidentified.

One of the small 1914-1918 plots
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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The pre 1914-1918 graves are the most numerous in the cemetery, however they have become very worn and tired with many names now unreadable.
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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 2nd May 1917, Flight Sub–Lieutenant John Eric Northrop flew to Burgh Castle, Norfolk, delivering another RNAS airman for duty.

On landing Northrop asked his friend Flight Lieutenant Edward Laston Pulling DSO if he would “loop him”. Pulling agreed without a second thought and they took off in BE2c 8626. At 2000 ft Pulling put the aircraft into a dive to achieve sufficient speed for the loop. He pulled back on the stick and as the aircraft reached the top of the manoeuvre the internal drift wire in the starboard lower wing broke. The wing gave way causing the plane to fall in a spin and crash in the middle of Denes aerodrome. Both Pulling and Northrop were killed.
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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The British steamer SS Blue Galleon was built for the Galleon Shipping Co of Newcastle upon Tyne, being delivered in 1924.
On the 17th November 1940, she was in convoy FN.34 and was attacked by German aircraft. She sunk and three crew were lost on the steamer.
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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

James Young was the Skipper of HMS Robert Hastie, an auxiliary patrol trawler, when he was killed on the 16th December 1939. His body was not recovered until the 6th June 1940
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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Stoker A Emerton was killed on the 1st November 1940 along with 8 other crew members when HMS Pintail was bombed by German aircraft in the North Sea.
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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

E E Regan was one of the eight Wrens killed on Thursday the 18th of March 1943. In bad weather at 6.28 a.m a lone Luftwaffe Dornier Do217 flew over the south part of Great Yarmouth and dropped six bombs. One scored a direct hit on a house at the corner of Queens Rd and Nelson Rd South which was used as a WRNS hostel. The house was destroyed and fire broke out. The girls were asleep. The rescuers tunnelled into the rubble and found a group of 5 unhurt. Thirteen were rescued from the ruins, another27 were badly injured, eight died.
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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the night of the 24th September 1947, Avro Lincoln II RE373 of 97 Squadron left RAF Hemswell, Lincolnshire, on a Night Navigational Exercise.

RE373 is believed to have crashed as the result of a lightning strike, followed by loss of control. The aircraft came down near Mautby, one mile west of Caistor, Norfolk.

All nine crew were killed including Pilot IV J A Guest.
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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 11th May 1943, Great Yarmouth was bombed at about 8.40am. The Auxiliary Territorial Service hostel was destroyed with a direct hit from a FW190 fighter-bomber and 26 ATS personnel were killed. 8 of those were buried side by side.
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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Walter George Nobbs was killed when Great Yarmouth was attacked on the 11th April 1941.
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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Victoria Ellen Elizabeth Smith was a Wren at the local Royal Naval Hospital HMS Watchful. The Hospital was used by the Royal Navy as an information centre and administrative quarters and became a target for German air attacks.

She was killed when it was bombed on the 7th July 1941. Her husband Stanley, an Air Raid Warden, died in the same attack.
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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The grave of an unknown civilian killed during an attack on Great Yarmouth in April 1941
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CWGC Caister Old Cemetery - Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 05/02/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

It was then a short drive back across the (good side) of the border to Suffolk and into Lowestoft to visit the Lowestoft Naval Memorial. The memorial is in a prominent position within a local authority gardens, known as Bellevue Park. The park is on the top of the cliffs and the memorial itself is on the edge of the cliff so providing an unobscured view of the foreshore and sea.

The Depot for the Royal Naval Patrol Service, developed from the pre-war Royal Naval Reserve Trawler Section was at Lowestoft during the 1939-1945 War. At the outset of the war the men of this service were mainly the fishermen of the requisitioned trawlers and drifters used on patrol work, but later it included men from all walks of life and various types of small craft. In the spring of 1944 the Royal Naval Patrol Service reached its maximum strength of some 57,000. Between 1942 and 1946 new construction ships and craft manned by the Service totalled 1,637, among them minesweepers of various kinds, corvettes, fuel carriers, motor launches and naval seaplane tenders. Their objective was to maintain wartime patrols and safeguard the coasts of Britain. Lowestoft was chosen as the site for the Memorial to those 2,400 men of the Royal Naval Patrol Service who have no other grave than the sea.

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CWGC Lowestoft Naval Memorial - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Lowestoft Naval Memorial - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

HMS Viva II was bombed and sunk by a German aircraft 13 nautical miles west of Trevose Head, Cornwall, on the 8th May 1941. Cdr. (retired) Myles Aldington Blomfield, OBE, was posted as missing.
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CWGC Lowestoft Naval Memorial - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Lowestoft Naval Memorial - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Lowestoft Naval Memorial - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Skipper Thomas Crisp VC, DSC, RNR was an English posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross.

Thomas Crisp was born into a family of shipwrights and fishermen in Lowestoft. In 1907 his family moved to Lowestoft while Crisp continued his work at sea, proving one of the most popular fishing captains in Lowestoft. When the First World War began in July 1914, Crisp was at sea. Unaware of the outbreak of war, he remained in the North Sea for several days, and was surprised on his return to learn that enemy submarines were expected off the port at any moment. When this threat failed to materialise, Thomas Crisp returned to fishing, considered too old for military service and in an occupation vital to Britain's food supplies.

Crisp became first a Seaman and by the summer of 1916 a Skipper in the Royal Naval Reserve, arranging for his son to join the crew of his boat, the HM Armed Smack I'll Try. On 1 February 1917 in the North Sea, I'll Try had its first confrontation with the enemy when two submarines surfaced close to the smack and her companion the larger Boy Alfred.

In July, I'll Try was renamed Nelson and Boy Alfred became Ethel & Millie, in an effort to maintain their cover. The boats continued to operate together and Crisp's crew was augmented with two regular seamen and a Royal Marine rifleman, providing the Nelson with a crew of ten, including Crisp and his son. The smacks set out as usual on 15 August and pulled in a catch during the morning before making a sweep near the Jim Howe Bank in search of cruising enemies. At 2.30 pm, Crisp spotted a German U-boat on the surface 6,000 yards away. The U-boat also sighted the smack and both vessels began firing at once, the U-boat's weapon scoring several hits before Nelson's could be brought to bear. By this stage in the war, German submarine captains were aware of the decoy ship tactics and no longer stopped British merchant shipping, preferring to sink them from a distance with gunfire.

With such a heavy disparity in armament between the smack's 3 pounder and the submarine's 88 mm deck gun the engagement was short lived, the submarine firing eight shots before the Nelson could get within range of her opponent. The fourth shot fired by the U-boat holed the smack, and the seventh tore off both of Crisp's legs from underneath him. Calling for the confidential papers to be thrown overboard, Crisp dictated a message to be sent by the boat's four carrier pigeons: like many small ships of the era, the Nelson did not possess a radio set.

The sinking smack was abandoned by the nine unwounded crew, who attempted to remove their captain, who ordered that he should be thrown overboard rather than slow them down. The crew refused to do so, but found they were unable to move him and left him where he lay. He died in his son's arms a few minutes later. It is said that he was smiling as he died and remained so as the ship sank underneath him. The Ethel & Millie had just arrived on the scene as the Nelson sank, and her captain Skipper Charles Manning called for Nelson's lifeboat to come alongside. Realising that this would greatly overcrowd the second boat, the survivors refused and Manning sailed onwards towards the submarine, coming under lethal fire as he did so. His vessel was soon badly damaged and began to sink.

The crew of the Ethel & Millie then abandoned their battered boat and were hauled aboard the German submarine, where the Nelson survivors last saw them standing in line being addressed by a German officer. The seven British sailors of the Ethel & Millie were never seen again, and much controversy exists surrounding their disappearance. Prevailing opinion at the time was that they were murdered and dumped overboard by the German crew or abandoned at sea without supplies, but these scenarios cannot be substantiated. Another theory is that they were taken prisoner aboard the boat and killed when the submarine was itself sunk.

The survivors of the Nelson drifted for nearly two days until they arrived at the Jim Howe Buoy, where they were rescued by the fishery protection vessel Dryad. A pigeon named "Red Cock" had reached the authorities in Lowestoft with news of the fate of the boats and caused the Dryad to be despatched to search for survivors.

A court of enquiry praised the surviving crew and their dead captain and authorised the award of the Victoria Cross posthumously to Thomas Crisp and Distinguished Service Medals to his son and another member of the crew. On 29 October 1917, David Lloyd George made an emotional speech in the House of Commons citing Crisp's sacrifice as representative of the Royal Navy's commitment "from the icy waters of the Arctic Ocean to the stormy floods of Magellan", which promoted Crisp into an overnight celebrity whose story ran in all the major London papers for nearly a week, containing as it did a story of personal sacrifice, filial devotion and perceived German barbarity.
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CWGC Lowestoft Naval Memorial - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Lowestoft Naval Memorial - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery contains 220 burials of the both World Wars in 2 separate plots.

The first plot contains graves from both wars
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The memorial headstone for both father and son killed in the 1914-1918 War
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

HMS Exmoor was a Hunt-class destroyer of the Royal Navy.

In January 1941, Exmoor was part of the escort for the battleship Queen Elizabeth as she sailed from Portsmouth to Rosyth. Exmoor then sailed to Harwich to begin escorting coastal convoys through the North Sea with the 16th Destroyer Flotilla.

She carried out these duties into February, and on 23rd February was deployed with Shearwater to escort a convoy from the Thames estuary to Methil. The convoy was attacked by E-boats as it passed off Lowestoft on 25th February. Exmoor suffered an explosion aft, suffering major structural damage and rupturing a fuel supply line. A fire soon broke out which spread rapidly. Exmoor capsized and sank in ten minutes. The survivors were picked up by Shearwater and the trawler Commander Evans, and were taken to Yarmouth. Exmoor had either been hit by a torpedo fired by the E-Boat S30 commanded by Klaus Feldt, as the Germans claimed, or had struck a mine as the Admiralty claimed. The wreck is designated as a protected place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Ordinary Seaman G H Hammond was killed on the 10th April 1940 when the Central Depot for the Royal Naval Patrol Service located in Lowestoft was bombed by German aircraft.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 3rd March 1941, HM Trawler "Cobbers" was sunk by German bombers off Lowestoft.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

HMS Curacoa was a C-class light cruiser built for the Royal Navy during the First World War.

In 1933, she became a training ship and in July 1939, two months before the commencement of the Second World War, Curacoa was converted into an anti-aircraft cruiser. She returned to service in January 1940 and, while providing escort in the Norwegian Campaign that April, was damaged by German aircraft. After repairs were completed that year, she escorted convoys in and around the British Isles for two years.

On the morning of the 2nd October 1942, Curacoa rendezvoused north of Ireland with the ocean liner Queen Mary, which was carrying approximately 10,000 American troops of the 29th Infantry Division. The liner was steaming an evasive "Zig-Zag Pattern No. 8" to evade submarine attacks. The elderly cruiser remained on a straight course and would eventually be overtaken by the liner.

Each captain had different interpretations of "The Rule of the Road" believing his ship had the right of way. Captain John Wilfred Boutwood of the Curacoa kept to the liner's mean course to maximize his ability to defend the liner from enemy aircraft, while Commodore Sir Cyril Gordon Illingworth of Queen Mary continued their zig-zag pattern expecting the escort cruiser to give way.

At 13:32, during the zig-zag, it became apparent that Queen Mary would come too close to the cruiser and the liner's officer of the watch interrupted the turn to avoid Curacoa. Upon hearing this command, Illingworth told his officer to: "Carry on with the zig-zag. These chaps are used to escorting; they will keep out of your way and won't interfere with you." At 14:04, Queen Mary started the starboard turn from a position slightly behind the cruiser. Boutwood perceived the danger, but the distance was too close for either of the hard turns ordered for each ship to make any difference at the speeds that they were travelling. Queen Mary struck Curacoa amidships at full speed, cutting the cruiser in half. The aft end sank almost immediately, but the rest of the ship stayed on the surface a few minutes longer.

Acting under orders not to stop due to the risk of U-boat attacks, Queen Mary steamed onwards with a damaged bow. Hours later, the convoy's lead escort, consisting of Bramham and one other ship, returned to rescue approximately 101 survivors, including Boutwood. Lost with Curacoa were 337 officers and men of her crew, according to the naval casualty file released by The National Archives in June 2013.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

E H Smith was the Skippr of HMT "Carry On", a steam trawler converted into a Balloon barrage vessel. She struck a mine and sank off Sheerness on the 17th December 1940.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Deck Hand W Gates of HM Trawler “Boy Roy”, Royal Naval Reserve, died after the result of a short illness on the 13th July 1918.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 15th February 1918, HM Trawler “Violet May" was in the vicinity of Dover when German destroyers conducted a raid in the area, sinking seven drifters. Violet May was badly damaged with 22 men were killed, 54 drowned, 13 wounded and 2 unwounded.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The SS Edernian was a British Merchant steamer.

On the 20th August 1917, she was torpedoed by a German U-boat, and this time was sunk, six miles south east of Southwold, whilst bound from Middlesborough to Dieppe with a cargo of steel. Fourteen lives were lost.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The Raid on Yarmouth, which took place on 3 November 1914, was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British North Sea port and town of Great Yarmouth. Little damage was done to the town since shells only landed on the beach, after German ships laying mines offshore were interrupted by British destroyers.

The Yarmouth coast was patrolled by the minesweeper HMS Halcyon and the old destroyers HMS Lively and Leopard. Halcyon spotted two German cruisers, which she challenged. The response came in the form of shellfire from small and then larger guns. Able Seaman H Scotney was killed by a shell fragment.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 7th January 1917, HMS Donside hit a mine in the North Sea and sank. Deck Hand E J Yallop, from Lowestoft, was killed.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The second plot located in the cemetery extension contains the 1939-1945 War Plot
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 13th January 1942 at 4.20pm, air raid sirens sounded across Lowestoft. Seven minutes later a lone Dornier Do 217 of the 9/KG.2 unit and piloted by Oberleutnant Ernst Walbaum, swept low over the town centre. Following the course of London Road North it dropped four high explosive bombs which fell into the shopping centre. The effect was devastating and in a few seconds a row of shops and buildings were reduced to rubble and many more were damaged by blast.

Twelve buildings on the east side of London Road were totally destroyed, and many more on the opposite of the road and in the immediate vicinity were badly damaged. Seventy-one people, civilians and service personnel alike, were killed and the body of one victim was never found.

Twenty of the seventy victims were service personnel. Seventeen from the Royal Navy (three of whom were WRNS) and three soldiers from the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the night of 29/30 July a Dornier Do 217E-4 of 11/KG2 was shot down by fire from a night fighter and crashed into the sea off Lowestoft at 1.06am. Oberfw. A. Hartwig was killed. Oberfw. L. Petz missing. The body of Fw. F. Hotz was found at Great Yarmouth on July 30. The Body of Uffz. W. Elbers was found in the sea off Lowestoft on August 7. The aircraft U5+GV sank.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

HMS Vortigern was a V-class destroyer of the Royal Navy and served in both World Wars.

She was sunk off Cromer on 15 March 1942, whilst defending a coastal convoy against attack by E-boats. She was torpedoed by the E-boat S104, and sank with the loss of 147 lives. Only 14 survivors were rescued. Eleven bodies were recovered from the sea by the Cromer lifeboat H F Bailey III. The wrecksite is designated as a Protected Place under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986. There are twelve war graves in Lowestoft cemetery from HMS Vortigern.

This was the biggest lose of life for any ship on the English east coast in the 2nd World War.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

HMS Collingwood is a shore establishment of the Royal Navy, in Fareham, Hampshire. On the 18th June 1940, a sleeping hut was hit by a German bomb in the early hours resulting in the deaths of 33 young sailors, most of whom were aged between 17 & 19.
The raid was initially covered up by the British government for proper gander reasons and families were informed that their relatives died in an ammunition accident.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Lowestoft Cemtery has the largest group of WW2 German graves (11) in Suffolk

Junkers Ju 88A-14, 3E + CM, was one of 35 enemy aircraft which came in over East Anglia in cloud and poor visibility between 0700 & 1300 hours on the 19th October 1942. This aircraft was first intercepted above cloud by F/Sgt Munro and W/O Eastwood in Mosquito W4094 of No. 157 Squadron.

On spotting the fighter it rolled over and dived very steeply into the cloud, the Mosquito crew were informed it had crashed and awaited a “kill”. However, the Junkers emerged from low cloud over south Lowestoft and headed north over the town at 500 feet. It was then attacked by every shipping and shore guns that could engage although they apparently all missed. The Junkers banked to port and hit HT cables and crashed inverted into the ground and exploded 700 yards NW of St. Margaret’s church.

These four crew members now rest together in a joint grave.
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CWGC Lowestoft (Normanston Drive) Cemetery - Lowestoft, Suffolk, Sunday 30th December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 07/03/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

After visiting various sites across the country and Europe, I thought it was time to go to the CWGC site on my doorstep in Bury St Edmunds on New Year's Eve 2018. There are 92 CWGC graves which are mainly spread around the towns main cemetery, but there is one row of graves making up the war grave plot.
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CWGC Bury St. Edmunds Cemetery - Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Monday 31st December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Bury St. Edmunds Cemetery - Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Monday 31st December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Bury St. Edmunds Cemetery - Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Monday 31st December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the evening of the 28th September 1943, Avro Lancaster III ED875 of 166 Squadron, RAF Kirmington, Lincolnshire took off for a mission to Hamburg.

Warrant Officer Cecil J W Boone and his 6 man crew then returned early and permission was given to land. Soon after a crash was reported south of Caistor, Norfolk, which was confirmed to be this aircraft. All the crew were killed.

In addition the 166 Sqn ORB Summary of Events states that on the 27th September weather for take off, en route and over the target was good but conditions deteriorated badly on return with cloud down to 900 ft accompanied by heavy rain and a strong squally wind. It also mentions Boone's aircraft crashed whilst attempting to land at Caistor which was a grass field with no hard runways.

The 1 Gp ORB adds further confusion to this by suggesting that the loss was due to intruder activity which was very troublesome at the time.

An old boy of Culford School, Boone he was a sorting clerk and telegraphist at Bury St Edmunds Post Office before joining the RAF in 1940. He married Olive Booth who also worked for the Post Office
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CWGC Bury St. Edmunds Cemetery - Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Monday 31st December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 20th November 1942, Avro Anson I N4981 of No. 9 (O)AFU was on a cross-country navigation exercise from RAF Penrhos, Gwynedd.

The aircraft entered low cloud and crashed into the lower slopes of a mountain. The pilot, Sergeant A E Clay and 3 of his 4 crew members were killed. The other crew member passed away soon after RAF personnel had arrived at the crash site.
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CWGC Bury St. Edmunds Cemetery - Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Monday 31st December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Frederick Thomas Spicer was born in Essendon near Hatfield, Hertfordshire in 1894. He enlisted into the army in 1912 and became Private 10004 of the Bedfordshire Regiment and was posted to the 1st Battalion on completion of his training.

He landed in France on the 16th August. In 1914 alone, he was engaged in the battles of Mons, Le Cateau, the retreat to Paris, the Marne, the Aisne, La Bassee and the First Battle of Ypres. 1915 saw him involved in the Second Battle of Ypres and in the desperate defence of Hill 60 in April and May, after which time he had won promotion to Sergeant. In 1916 he was engaged during the Battle of the Somme when, as a Company Sergeant Major, he won a Military Cross and was commissioned in the field. His MC citation, dated 14/11/1916, reads:

"For conspicuous gallantry in action. He led his men in the attack with great courage .and determination, himself killing a number of the enemy. He has on many previous occasions done fine work."

He then fought in the Third Battle of Ypres as well as being heavily engaged during the German Spring Offensives of 1918.

During the war he was wounded twice and gassed twice. He was also mentioned in dispatches twice and was awarded the Russian St. George Cross over and above his Military Cross, 1914 Star with clasp and roses, Victory Medal and British War Medal.

Major Spicer also served in France during the second world war from 1939, throughout the 'Phoney War', until he was invalided home. He then served as a Brigade Major once recovered but unexpectedly died of a brain haemorrhage on the 28th November 1941, aged 47 whilst in command of the 6th battalion who were training in Bury St. Edmunds.
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CWGC Bury St. Edmunds Cemetery - Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Monday 31st December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Bury St. Edmunds Cemetery - Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Monday 31st December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer J W M Delafons & Pilot Officer C E Staples were killed when their Miles Magister I P2447 spun and crashed into the ground near the town.
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CWGC Bury St. Edmunds Cemetery - Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Monday 31st December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Bury St. Edmunds Cemetery - Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Monday 31st December 2018 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 11/03/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

St. Bartholomew Church is located in the village of Ingham, half way between Bury St Edmunds and Thetford, Norfolk. Nearby Ampton Hall was used as an auxiliary military hospital during World War One. More than six and a half thousand wounded were treated there and some of those who succumbed to their injuries or illness are buried here. I find these small village churchyard plots very poignant, especially when servicemen from the Commonwealth are buried thousands of miles from home in small, rural village churchyards.
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CWGC Ingham (St. Bartholomew) Churchyard - Suffolk, Sunday 13th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ingham (St. Bartholomew) Churchyard - Suffolk, Sunday 13th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ingham (St. Bartholomew) Churchyard - Suffolk, Sunday 13th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ingham (St. Bartholomew) Churchyard - Suffolk, Sunday 13th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 11/03/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

All Saints Church in Hitcham is located a couple of miles east of Wattisham Airfield. On the 1st November 1940, RAF Wattisham was attacked when bombs hit three barrack blocks and some married quarters. 11 people were killed and they are buried in a communal grave here.
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CWGC Hitcham (All Saints) Churchyard - Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Hitcham (All Saints) Churchyard - Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the other side of the airfield is St. Catherine Churchyard in Ringshall. This is the location of the war grave plot for personnel who serviced at RAF Wattisham or lost their lives in the surrounding area.
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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

10 days after the attack on the airfield, Aircraftman 2nd Class R A Davison & Aircraftman 1st Class J H Betts were killed when an unexploded bomb detonated whilst they were clearing the site
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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flying Officer B G Mace, Sergeant W Loxton & Sergeant B C Gilmore were killed on the 17th March 1941 when their Bristol Blenheim IV V5464 collided with Blenheim Z5808 near King's Lynn.
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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the night of the 28th / 29th September 1941, the crew of Vickers Wellington IC Z8869, 99 Squadron, took off from RAF Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire to attack Frankfurt.

On the return they collided with trees at Great Finborough, Suffolk. There are no details as to what caused the aircraft to be flying so low.
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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 25th February 1943, Handley Page Halifax DT800 took off from RAF Pocklington on a raid to Nuremberg. The crew encountered severe weather and their aircraft came down and crashed at 20:24 hours at Bayliss Hall Farm, Nr Colchester. All of the aircrew were killed.
The Pilot : Sgt Charles Henry Bray
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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Opposite the Second World War graves are those from the stations post war era
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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flight Lieutenant S W Woods of 111 Squadron was killed on the 10th June 1960 when his Hawker Hawter F6 XG193 collided with XG200 during aerobatics and crashed near RAF Wattisham, Suffolk.

XG200 landed safely,
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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Gloster Javelin FAW8 from 41 Sqn. crashed when it’s airframe broke up in mid flight. Pilot Flt Lt. J Hatch and Navigator Flt.Lt. J Nothall we both killed
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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

RAF Flight Lieutenants Robert Alfred Foulks and Robert Henry Thomas Baker lay side by side here.

Both men had served with 56 Sqn flying English Electric Lightnings with the Firebirds. On the 7th June 1962 both men were killed when the Hawker Hunter T7 they were flying stalled and went into an uncontrollable flat spin during a slow right turn manouvre south of Sleaford in Lincolnshire.
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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flying Officer D. Law, flying English Electric Lightning F Mk 3 XR721 of 56 (Punjab) Squadron, belly landed on the B1079 road at Elm Farm, Helmingham eleven miles east of Wattisham, Suffolk after being unable to maintain height following the failure of the No.1 engine. He was on an extended approach to Bentwaters and was approximately 20 miles out. A canopy fault had prevented the pilot from ejecting but the aircraft slid into a tree, the impact of which fired the seat, which was now outside its limits, killing the pilot. The aircraft came to a halt at the wall of a roadside cottage.
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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 18th July 1963, Flying Officer A Garside of 111 (Treble One) Squadron took off from RAF Wittering in English Electric Lightning F1A XM186 to perform an aerobatic display.

The aircraft spun into the ground after a high speed stall just after taking off . The pilot ejected but was too low. He was the first Lightning fatality.
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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ringshall (St. Catherine) Churchyard - Wattisham, Suffolk, Sunday 20th January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 11/03/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

While heading up to RAF Marham recently to see the 3 specially painted Tornados flying together, I visited the 2 CWGC sites with links to the airfield.

The Churchyard of Holy Trinty is located in the village of Marham and is the smaller of the two. There are 17 casualties of the Second World War, 16 of whom served with the air forces of the Commonwealth, along with a few First World War burials. Subsequent burials in the war took place at a new burial ground created nearby, Marham Cemetery, which the Commission treats as a separate site for records purposes.

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CWGC Marham (Holy Trinity) Churchyard - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Marham (Holy Trinity) Churchyard - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

At 00:30hrs on the 4th April 1941, Vickers Wellington Ic, R1470 OF 115 Sqn was shot down near King's Lynn. The aircraft was part of a large force of bombers tasked with attacking the Scharnhorst and Gneisenar warships in Brest harbour. Of the 6 man crew, 5 died, including the pilot H Y Chard.
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CWGC Marham (Holy Trinity) Churchyard - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Vickers Wellington Mk Ic
115 Squadron Royal Air Force
Registration:T2520

T/O Marham 0251. Target Hipper Class Cruiser, Brest, France.
29 Wellingtons were despatched to bomb warships, but only eleven aircraft bombed and four aircraft crashed in England on return.
115 Squadron contributed nine Wellingtons, P/O Clarke returned early with a technical problem but on landing he swung to starboard to avoid some buildings and ended up in trees to the west of the airfield. None of the crew was injured and the aircraft was repaired.

At 0825 hours Sgt Milton piloting "F" for Freddie called for a bearing and this was acknowledged and orders giving to divert to Feldwell but nothing more was heard. Crashed 0830 and burst into flames after flying into a tree at East Winch, 5 miles SE of King's Lynn, Norfolk. The crew were in w/t contact with Marham until moments before the crash.
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CWGC Marham (Holy Trinity) Churchyard - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Vickers Wellington Mk.Ic L4239, 38 Squadron, RAF Marham: Written off (destroyed) 5/11/39 when hit tree while low-flying, Marks Farm, Boughton, four miles south of Marham, Norfolk. One source states that the aircraft was returning from the "dispersal" grass airfield at RAF Barton Bendish RLG (Relief Landing Ground) back to the main 38 Squadron HQ base at RAF Marham. All seven crew were killed:

According to the following excerpt from an article in the "Lowestoft Journal"

"At 3.35pm, observers on the ground near the village of Boughton saw a low-flying Wellington making very steep turns close to the ground. According to the official 38 Squadron operations record book: “Low flying practice was being carried out."

Disaster struck as the aircraft made another very low banking turn and then struck the top of an oak tree, tearing off part of the tailplane. The stricken Wellington climbed steeply then dived nose first into a field at Marks Farm, where it disintegrated and burst into flames.

Soldiers and airmen taking part in an inter-service football match nearby rushed to the scene but there was little that could be done. Six of the seven men aboard the Wellington had been killed in the crash. The occupant of the tail turret, AC 1 Watson, was still alive when rescuers reached the crash, but he died from his injuries.

The squadron was stunned by the crash and the loss of life by accident, at this early stage of the war. It was the first fatal crash suffered by 38 Squadron since it reformed in 1935."
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CWGC Marham (Holy Trinity) Churchyard - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Marham (Holy Trinity) Churchyard - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Marham Cemetery was first used in 1941 and the land on which it lies was given by a local landowner to Marham Parish Council. Until June of that year the Royal Air Force had used the Holy Trinity Churchyard for burials, but a new burial ground became necessary and this land, within sight of the fifteenth century church, was given with the proviso that a special section near the south-eastern boundary should be reserved for RA.F. burials. This is now the War Graves Plot, and all save two of the 1939-1945 War graves are in it.

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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr


The crew members of 2./KG2 Dornier Do 217E-4 Wnr.4267 (U5+CK) which Crashed at Walton Wood, East Walton, Norfolk are laid to rest here. Shot down by a 255 Squadron Beaufighter X7944 piloted by Fg Off Hugh Wyrill with his RO Flt Sgt John Willins on the 23rd August 1942.
The crew was Ofw R Bodenhagen, Hptmn R Hellmann ,Ofw G Rockstroh and Ofw T Romelt.
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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 14th June 1941, a JU88 was shot down by Squadron Leader Harold Pleasance with his RO Sgt Bennie Bent in Beaufighter T4634 from 25 Squadron.The JU88 had a crew of three two were captured Pilot Uffz Richard Hoffmann and flight engineer Fw Peter Mayer.The wireless operator Gefr Johann Reisinger died.
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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 7yh September 1942, the crew of Vickers Wellington Mk III - BJ724 KO-P, 115 Squadron took off from RAF Marham to raid. Duisburg, Germany. Their aircraft exploded in mid air and crashed crashed at Blofield, 6 miles east of Norwich.

F/S Lanceley survived the crash but died 48 hours later.
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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 11th May 1942, the crew of Vickers Wellington Mk III - X3602- 115 Squadron were on a training flight, local circuits and landings. They became lost in poor visibility and collided with a 240 feet wooden radio mast near Sheringham, Norfolk.

All 3 crew were killed.
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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 15th January 1942, whilst in the circuit of RAF Marham and flying in adverse weather, Vickers Wellington Mk III crashed at 21:11.Contributing factors were severe icing, which led to almost total glazing of the windscreen. All the crew were killed.

Crew
Sgt D H Faith
Flt Sgt D J Maskill RCAF (American)
Sgt R M Shaw
Sgt S A Orford
Flt Sgt S C Lester
Sgt R F Bishop
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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

11th November 1941

Wellington Mk III - X3394

When on a ross country exercise and fuel consumption test, Vickers Wellington Mk III - X3394 crashed at 1203 at Carol House Farm, near Swaffham, Norfolk. Subsequent Board of Enquiry ascertained that the aircraft suffered starboard engine failure in flight as a result of mishandling by the pilot and was unable to maintain height

All 7 crew members were killed.

Harold Sidney Mellows - Observer Son of William Montague Mellows and Florence Edith Mellows.
Husband of Rosalind Mary Mellows, of Sanderstead, Surrey.
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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Leonard Herbert Pitt - 2nd Pilot, Son of Alan Leighton Browne and Eileen Rowena Browne, of East Malvern, Victoria, Australia.
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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The crew of Vickers Wellington Mk IC - R1517 - KO-Z, took off from RAF Marham on the 17th June 1941 and when their aircraft climbed slowly to 500 feet, it turned through 180 degrees and then dived to the ground. At about 15 feet it leveled out and then crashed and burst into flames at Palgrave Farm, Sporle, 2 miles NE of Swaffham, Norfolk.
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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 15th Septmber 1942 the crew of Short Stirling I N3725 HA-'D', 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron had raided Wilhelmshaven when, having already lost one engine on the return to England, then had another engine failure which caused it to spin and crash into the ground while in the landing pattern at RAF Marham. 6 airmen died and 2 were injured.
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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

DH Mosquito DZ378 crewed by Sgt R Clare & Flt Off E Doyle crashed on the 27th January 1943 after returning to RAF Marham following a raid on Copenhagen. Their aircraft struck a balloon cable and a tree at Yaxham, Norfolk, killing both crew members.
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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

There are also a large number of post war graves in the cemetery too.

Vickers Valiant B(K)1 flew into ground after a night takeoff from RAF Marham on the 11th Septmber 1959 . This aircraft was on an in flight refuelling exercise and due to be air refuelled by other 214 Valiant(s) over Malta. It was reported that the aircraft suffered a partial flap failure as it became airborne and the pilot lost control while trying to correct the resulting yaw by reducing t/o power at too low an altitude
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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 6th May 1964 Vickers Valiant WZ363 crashed just south of Market Rasen in Lincolnshire, killing all five members of the crew. The crew were :- Captain - Flt Lt FC Welles; Co pilot Flt Lt GA Mills; Nav Plotter - Flt Lt JR Stringer; Nav Radar - Flt Lt LR Hawkins; AEO - Sgt R Noble.

The aircraft exploded on crashing and the level of destruction was extremely resulting in an unknown cause of the crash
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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Air Chief Marshal Sir Brendan James Jackson was born on 23 August 1935. He was educated at Chichester High School For Boys and the University of London. He then joined the Royal Air Force on a National Service Commission in 1956. As a junior officer, he successfully ejected from a Victor B2 which became uncontrollable during a night training exercise on 20 March 1963. Jackson also became a qualified interpreter. He was appointed Officer Commanding No. 13 Squadron in 1966 and went on to be Station Commander at RAF Marham in 1977. He was made Director of Air Staff Plans at the Ministry of Defence in 1979 and then Assistant Chief of Staff (Policy) at SHAPE in 1984.He went on to be Chief of Staff and Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Strike Command in 1986 and Air Member for Supply and Organisation in 1988. He wrote a paper entitled "Nuclear Forces – The Ultimate Umbrella" in 1991, in which he wrote that Third World nuclear proliferation was even "more chimerical" than the threat from Russian nuclear weapons. He retired in 1993.
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CWGC Marham Cemetery - Marham, Norfolk, Wednesday 23rd January 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
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Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 14/03/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

I haven't had a chance to update the thread recently, but here are a few more locations I have visited on my travels.

There are 2 CWGC plots in Ipswich Cemetery, each for both world wars.

First World War plot :
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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (First World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (First World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Samuel Hollis Alfred D’Arcy joined the RFC in August 1916 and his "wings" on the 15th March 1917. He was then posted to France and Flanders from the 21st March 1917 until June 1917.

On the 7th June 1917 we was wounded by several bullets to his right thigh and leg. For an hour he harassed enemy positions until be became exhausted and landed his aircraft near Canadian trenches. For this action he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

After recovering from this wounds he was posted to Martlesham Heath as a test pilot. He was killed in a flying accident on a test flight on the 8th June 1918.
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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (First World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 22nd January 1919, Lt CW Blain was flying Sopwith Camel C1588 at Martlesham Heath when its port wing cracked in level flight at 450 feet and he side-slipped in and was killed.

This Camel had been at Martlesham since May 1918 where it was used for propeller testing, and lubricant and engine testing, amongst other things.
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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (First World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (First World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (First World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

HMS Erebus was a First World War monitor launched on 19 June 1916 and served in both world wars. Petty Officer Harold Hewitt was killed on the 28th October 1918 when HMS Erebus was hit and damaged by German German FL explosive motor boats off the Belgian coast
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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (First World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (First World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Peter Alick Hoggar was born in Woodbridge, Suffolk in 1881 He enlisted in the army in 1900 at the age of 19. On the 19th November 1914 while serving in France, he began to lose weight and suffered from cramps in his legs and was invalided home. He passed away on the 14th August 1916 from diabetes.
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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (First World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

William Webb enrolled in the Royal Navy on the 13th October 1896 and after serving on a number of vessels throughout the first world war, he passed away on the 20th November from influenza while on HMS Wildfire.
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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (First World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (First World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The Second World War plot is located nearby
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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (Second World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (Second World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Jackson Corwin Nixon of Guelph, Ontario, Canada was posted 102 (RAF) Squadron when on the 3rd September 1941, he was part of a crew that left RAF Topcliffe, North Yorkshire in Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Z6946, bound for Frankfurt.

On the return journey his aircraft caught electric cables and crashed at 03:45 near the village of Kirton, Suffolk. The 5 crew were killed.
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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (Second World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sergeant Jack Foden Stanley & Sergeant Thomas Fraser Munro were 2 of a 4 man crew in Vickers Wellington IC DV930 that took off from the satellite airfield Steeple Morden, Hertfordshire on the 11th September 1942. Their target was Dusseldorf. On the return journey the aircraft crashed at Herne Hill Farm, Chediston, Suffolk. All 4 crew members were killed.
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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (Second World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (Second World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 6th Septmber 1942, the crew of Avro Lancaster R5752 left the UK to attack Duisburg. Whilst on their bomb run the aircraft received three direct hits from flak, during which time the 2nd pilot, Sgt Gregory-Coleman RAAF and Sgt Maloney were wounded. The aircraft Captain managed to nurse his Lancaster back to England where over Orfordness he ordered four crew members to parachute to safety. P/O Jeffreys remained at the controls in order to attempt a safe landing with his wounded comrades onboard. A belly landing was made at Martlesham Heath airfield, but sadly too late for Sgt Gregory-Coleman who had succumbed to his injuries.

Lancaster R5752
P/O G.S. Jeffreys Pilot (Injured)
Sgt W.P.J. Gregory-Coleman RAAF 2nd Pilot (Killed)
Sgt J. Harrison (Safe)
Sgt O.D. Blaha W/AG (Safe)
Sgt W.L. Van Der Dasson RCAF (Safe)
Sgt J.C. Morgan (Safe)
Sgt P. Maloney W/AG (Injured)
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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (Second World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (Second World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 25th January 194, the crew of Handley Page Halifax Mk II W7823, PNTU Royal Air Force (PNTU RAF) took off from RAF Upwood on a Target Indicator training exercise. It failed to climb and struck trees before coming down in the middle of Upwood village nearby and catching fire. Nine of the ten airmen on board died in the crash and the tenth died from his injuries the following day.
No one in the village was reported to have been killed or injured. William Ellenor is buried here in his home town.
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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (Second World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flight Sergeant Terence Emile Procureur was killed on the 8th April 1943 when the tail of his de Havilland Mosquito NFII DD747 broke off in mid air, resulting in the aircraft crashing near Centenary Road, Goole, Wesy Yorkshire. His other crew member, Sergeant Gerald Henry Wheatland was also killed in the crash.
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CWGC Ipswich Old Cemetery (Second World War Plot) - Ipswich, Suffolk, Saturday 2nd February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

User avatar
iainpeden
Posts: 3730
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:01 pm
Location: Great Oakley, Corby, Northants

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 14/03/2019**

Post by iainpeden »

Chris
I think this is the most poignant, thought provoking thread on this forum and certainly puts all the bickering and name calling to shame. Your research into the individual stories is amazing.

If you're ever near Arras/Cambrai drop into the communal cemetery at Noyelles-sur-L'Escaut, the last resting place of 112 British soldiers, mostly from the Kings Liverpool, including my great uncle, Thomas Greenfield, who fell 3 days after his 19th birthday only 6 weeks before the end of the war.
(Mark Twain: There are lies, there are damn lies and then there are statistics)

User avatar
SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 11/06/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

iainpeden wrote:Chris
I think this is the most poignant, thought provoking thread on this forum and certainly puts all the bickering and name calling to shame. Your research into the individual stories is amazing.

If you're ever near Arras/Cambrai drop into the communal cemetery at Noyelles-sur-L'Escaut, the last resting place of 112 British soldiers, mostly from the Kings Liverpool, including my great uncle, Thomas Greenfield, who fell 3 days after his 19th birthday only 6 weeks before the end of the war.


Thanks for your kind comments. It takes a bit of time to do the research but it is always worth having the stories told. I've been meaning to visit Cambrai for a while now so i really need to get down there soon.

I decided to head up to Coningsby back in February for a day at the fence but managed to visit a couple of sites on the way back. I'm sure a lot of you who have visited Coningsby along Dogdyke Road have gone past the cemetery, so I would recommend taking the time to pay it a visit.

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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Flt Lt Christoper Haynes and Navigator/Radar Operator Flt Lt Martin Smith of 6 Squadron were flying in McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR2, XV477 on the 21st November 1972, when, after flying as a pair on a low level sortie, encountered bad weather near Penrith, Cumbria, while returning to RAF Coningsby.

Visibility deteriorated as they approached the Pennines and the flight carried out the low level abort procedure. During the attempt to climb clear XV477 struck high ground sadly killing the two crew.

The impact was on the southern side of Thack Moor at an altitude of 1,770ft above sea level, and only 130ft from the top of the hill. The aircraft dug a huge furrow in the ground and wreckage was catapulted onto the northern side of the hill where many of the larger sections, including the wings were found scattered across the moor at the top of Bleaberry Gill.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 9th August 1947, Pilot Group Captain David Robert Kidgell Blucke and Navigator Flight Lieutenant Terence Wesley Kirkland of 41 Squadron, RAF Coningsby, were flying in McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR2, XV493 when it collided with a Piper Pawnee crop sprayer, G-ASVX, over Fordham Fen, near Downham Market, Norfolk and crashed.

The Pawnee had departed earlier on the from Southend Airport to a disused airfield at Broomhill, near Downham Market in Norfolk. Broomhill was used as a temporary base to refuel the aircraft and to load pesticide. At about 14:04 the aircraft had finished spraying a field 6.5 mi south of Broomhill and was returning to replenish the pesticide hopper. The Phantom departed RAF Coningsby at 13:51 to fly a low-level navigation and reconnaissance flight at no lower than 250 feet (76 m) above ground level. The Phantom was following a standard low-flying route, the Pawnee pilot was aware that military low-flying routes were in the area but the exact routing was classified and not released by the military. About 14:08 about 1 km west of the village of Hilgay, and at an estimated height of around 300 ft the Phantom, flying at a speed of about 420 k, struck the Pawnee on its right side. The Pawnee disintegrated, while the Phantom, on fire and shedding parts of its structure, continued on its heading for a further 1 kilometre before it hit the ground inverted.

The investigation determined "The accident occurred because neither pilot saw the other aircraft in time to avoid collision. The 'see and be seen' principle was inadequate for preventing collision in the circumstances that existed. A significant feature which contributed to the accident was the absence of any system for co-ordinating military and civil low flying activities in the low flying areas and link routes".
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 17th December 1975, McDonnell Douglas FGR.2 Phantom II XV463 from 41 Squadron flew into the Solway Firth with the loss of both crew members.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 7th October 1964, the crew of Avro Vulcan B2, XM601, 9 Squadron were killed when the wingtip hit ground on an asymmetric approach and overshot.

Wing Commander Kenneth John Lewis Baker (39) (Captain and Officer Commanding 9 Sqn)
Flying Officer Paul Elliot Busfield (23) (Co-Pilot)
Flight Lt Charles Vernon Burkard (23) Air Electronics Officer
Flight Lt Geoffrey Bingham (34) (Nav Plotter)
Flying Officer Alan Hubert Jones (21) Nav Radar

The two pilots managed to eject successfully, but were killed due to the angle of the aircraft as the moment of ejection, and at too low an altitude and received fatal injuries on impact. The three rear crew - who were not provided with ejector seats (as was standard on all Vulcans) did not manage to bail out before the aircraft crashed
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr



On the 5th January 1953, the crew of Boeing B-29A-60-BN Washington B.1 was completing a local training mission out of RAF Coningsby as part of 15 Squadron. On final approach, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and the pilot-in-command decided to abandon the approach and made a go around. A second attempt to land was later abandoned as well. During a third attempt to land, the aircraft was too low and crashed in a field near Horncastle, about 6 miles north of the airbase. Five crew members were killed while two others were injured. Five crew members were unhurt and the aircraft was destroyed. One of the crew was awarded the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct:

"KARR, William Richard, Sergeant Royal Air Force
Queen's Commendation for Brave Conduct - awarded as per London Gazette dated 24 April 1953.

"Sergeant Karr was one of five survivors of a Washington aircraft crash which occurred on the night of Monday, 5th January 1953. Five members of the crew were killed and one seriously injured. Immediately after the crash this non-commissioned officer assumed charge and, despite the fact that he was suffering from severe shock, took measures to inform Royal Air Force Station, Coningsby, by telephone.

He then returned to the aircraft and supervised the removal of the navigator who was badly injured and pinned down by the wreckage. One wing, close to this position, was burning, but Sergeant Karr entered the fuselage without hesitation, in spite of the danger of explosion. Having done all he could to help the injured man, he stationed himself on the public road where he was able to direct the fire tenders and ambulance to the scene of the crash. The navigator, having been extricated by the combined efforts of the aircrew survivors and civilians, thus received early medical attention. Sergeant Karr displayed initiative and great presence of mind and his prompt action doubtless contributed in no small measure towards saving the injured man's life."

The five killed were
Flt Sgt E Matthews, (aged 29) of Wales
Flt Sgt G Tomblin (aged 29) Coningsby, Lincs.,
Flt Sgt L F Lloyd (aged 29) Suffolk;
Flt Sgt Robert Douglas Howes (aged 34) of Hampshire, and
Flt Lt. F A Rust (aged 29) of Bournemouth,

A verdict of "accidental death" was recorded at the inquest, on Tuesday 13th Jan 1953 by Deputy Coroner J C Walter esq. who commended the Great Gallantry of the farm workers who assisted in the rescue of the seven survivors
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot G H Ramey was killed on the 10th December 1942 when his damaged Avro Lancaster W4250 crashed while attempting to land at RAF Woodhall Spa following a raid on Turin.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 18th December 1941, Pilot Harold Bischlager of Duncan, British Columbia, Canada, took part in an attack on the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in Brest. His 97 Squadron Avro Lancaster was damaged and the landing gear was crippled. When attempting to land back at RAF Coningsby, the aircraft crashed and he was killed.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 17th February 1942, Pilot John Watson Yost was killed when his Hawker Hurricane ZZ052 flew into the ground during a snowstorm near Horncastle, Lincolnshire.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 8th November 1941, Pilot Officer Donald Kinnear Hodge, a Rhodesian of 97 Squadron died at 2300 at RAF Coningsby after returning from a bombing mission to Dunkirk.

He was flying with the crew of Avro Manchester L7476 (coded OF-K). The aircraft crash landed at Coningsby at 2038 on 8 November 1941, after returning from a bombing mission and being hit by flak.

He was serving as Second Pilot and was the only fatality on the aircraft. The rest of the crew walked away with minor injuries and the aircraft was salvaged and struck off charge in April 1943.

The crew had been on a three-aircraft mission to bomb the docks at Dunkirk, during which they encountered much flak and many searchlights. The aircraft was hit by flak, which injured Hodge and they were unable to release their bomb load. This was eventually jettisoned over the North Sea. Another Manchester, L7466 ditched in the North Sea on the way back from this mission, and no trace was ever found of the crew.

Hodge was post-humously awarded the 1939/45 Star, Air crew Europe Star and the 1939/45 War Medal.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The crew in this Handley Page Hampden AD785 took off from RAF Coningsby at 18.10hrs on 26th October 1941 and was one of 115 aircraft tasked with bombing shipyards in the Hamburg area at two aiming points. Returning crews later reported that good bombing was possible in the moonlight but this Hampden appears to have flown off track on the return leg and came in over the Yorkshire coast somewhere near Scarborough. The aircraft exploded in mid-air at around 01.00hrs on 27th October 1941 over the eastern side of the North Yorkshire Moors and wreckage fell to the ground at a steep angle where upon it caught fire.

Sadly all four crew were killed in this incident.

Pilot - Sgt Edward Boucher Smith RAFVR (778398), aged 22, of Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. Buried Coningsby Cemetery, Lincolnshire.

Pilot - P/O David Roy Bowden RAFVR (68167), aged 19, of Torquay, Devon. Buried Torquay Cemetery, Devon.

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - Sgt Oliver Halward RAFVR (936240), aged 19, of Watford. Buried Watford North Cemetery, Hertfordshire.

Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - F/Sgt Darrel Barry Stables DFM RAF (526438), aged 24, of Moulton, Northamptonshire. Buried Brigg Cemetery, Lincolnshire.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Avro Lancaster I R5576 departed RAF Coningsby for a practice bombing sortie but crashed almost immediately after take-off due to failure of the port inner engine. Eye witnesses to the tragedy state that the Lancaster climbed slowly to about 200 feet, before stalling and falling near the airfield.

All 10 of the crew, including Pilot Officer W.B. Carlyle, were killed.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the night of the 25th July, 1942, Avro Lancaster I R5683 departed RAF Coningsby for an operation over Germany. As the aircraft approached the English coast it exploded in mid-air and crashed minutes later on mudflats at Butterwick, four miles East-north-east of Boston, Lincolnshire.

The crew of seven were all killed. The funeral for F/Sgt G.Appleyard DFM, Sgt R.L.Beaddie , F/Sgt M.Darvill DFM, Sgt J.W.Grimwade, Sgt L.W.Young, Sgt J.D.Davie and Smith was held on the 29th July 1942.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 14th August 1952, Squadron Leader Jack Jagger was killed when his Gloster Meteor F8, WK657 of 92 Squadron crashed at Dogdyke near RAF Coningsby during an aerobatic manoeuvre.

He had agreed to put on a display for a delegation at the airfield. After being told to hurry his demonstration by the tower due to an in-flight of 3 Meteors that had requested permission to land, his aircraft came down outside the airfield perimeter during a half twist.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Squadron Leader G W Curry was killed on the 18th September 1948 when his de Havilland Mosquito T.3, VA887 of139 Squadron stalled and spun during a slow roll over RAF Coningsby. His crew member was also killed.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flight Officer Andrew Matheson (158113) from Edinburgh, died aged 21 whilst serving with 627 Squadron – the Mosquito Pathfinder Squadron referred to previously.

On the night in question, the Squadron was tasked with marking a target at Karlsruhe. Mosquito DZ521 (coded AZ-M) took off from Woodhall Spa at 0226. Less than half an hour later, the aircraft crashed near Kings Lynn in Norfolk killing both Matheson and his Navigator A T Fitzpatrick DFM, who died later in hospital. The cause of the crash was never established, only that the aircraft flew an inverted dive into the ground and caught fire.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 30th March 1943, after returning from a raid on Berlin, the crew of Avro Lancaster I, W4175 of No. 97 Squadron were in the circuit to land back at RAF Woodhall Spa when their aircraft came down Coningsby, killing all of the crew.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 10th December 1942, the of Avro Lancaster I W4250 of 57 Squadron took off from RAF Scampton to bomb Turin. Soon after it stalled and crashed 1 mile north of RAF Woodhall Spa The injured were taken to RAF Hospital Rauceby, where Sgt McPherson and Sgt McLeod died soon after being admitted. F/S G.H.Ramey RCAF KIA, Sgt K.W.Pharoah KIA, P/O A.J.McLaughlin RCAF KIA, Sgt W.O.Lundy inj, Sgt J.F.Macpherson inj, F/S R.B.Dion RCAF KIA, Sgt T.N.McLeod injured.
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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Coningsby Cemetery - Coningsby, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the journey home I made a couple of stops, the first of which was just down the road at Boston Cemetery. During the First World War the port of Boston was used to a small extent by hospital ships, and more than 4,000 sick and wounded passed through it. The First World War graves are scattered throughout the cemetery but most of those of the Second World War are in a war plot.
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CWGC Boston Cemetery - Boston, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The Saint-class tugboat HMS St Cyrus struck a mine and sank in the Humber on the 22nd January 1942 with the loss of most of her crew, including Lieutenant-Commander Alan Peter Allan, who lived in Boston.
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CWGC Boston Cemetery - Boston, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Boston Cemetery - Boston, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

HMS Jersey was a J-class destroyer of the Royal Navy.

On 25 March 1937, the British Admiralty placed orders for the eight destroyers of the J class, including one ship, Jersey to be built by J. Samuel White and Company at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Jersey was laid down on 20 September 1937 and launched on 26 September 1938. Jersey was commissioned on 28 April 1939

Following commissioning, Jersey worked up at Portland through to July 1939. On 12 August 1939, Jersey joined the Seventh Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet, based at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.

Jersey was torpedoed off Haisborough Sands by the German destroyer Z12 Erich Giese, which was returning unseen from laying a minefield. Ten of the ship's company were killed, including Ordinary Seaman R Moore and extensive damage caused. Jersey was towed to the Humber for repairs and did not return to her flotilla until 28 October 1940.
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CWGC Boston Cemetery - Boston, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Boston Cemetery - Boston, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Boston Cemetery - Boston, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The second stop was at Sutton Bridge, on the Lincolnshire / Norfolk border. Most of these airmen here flew from RAF Sutton Bridge, of which very little survives of the site today Most of the Second World War burials are in a plot in the south-eastern corner, the rest are scattered in various parts of the churchyard. Sutton Bridge (St Matthew) Churchyard contains three Commonwealth burials of the First World War and 54 from the Second.

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CWGC Sutton Bridge (St. Matthew) Churchyard - Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

P/O Jan Zerovnicky was killed on the 7th January 1942 when his Hurricane V7469 collided with W9180 during a practice dogfight
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CWGC Sutton Bridge (St. Matthew) Churchyard - Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickrand crashed at Sellys Farm, Walpole St. Peter, Norfolk

Pilot E Eves was killed on the 21st January 1942 when his Hawker Hurricane I, W9206 of No 56 OTU, flew into the ground at Clenchawarton in Norfolk.
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CWGC Sutton Bridge (St. Matthew) Churchyard - Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Mission: Night intruder sortie

Date: 14th June 1941

Time: 1.00 a.m.

Unit: 4 Staffel./Nachtjagdgeschwader 2

Type: Junkers Ju 88C-4

Werke Nr.0335

Coded:R4 + DM

Location: Wingland Marsh, near Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England.

Pilot: Unteroffizier. Helmut Baehner. 53576/1078 – Killed. Born 07.12.1912 in Niedersessmar.

Radio/Op: Unteroffizier. Jakob Ried. 69023/14 – Killed. Born 14.05.1916 in Oberhoechstadt.

Gunner: Unteroffizier. Hans Schulz. 60941/2 – Killed. Born 23.10.1915 in Annaberg.

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took-off from Gilze-Rijen at 23.20 hrs. to patrol area C. This aircraft was shot down by a night fighter, caught fire in the air, crashed into mud flats and broke up. The wireless operator baled out but his parachute only half opened. Rest of the crew unidentifiable.

On the night of the 13/14th June 1941, No. 25 Squadron (B) Flight was again active in the skies over the East Coast. P/O D. W. Thompson and P/O L. D. Britain took off from Wittering at 22.50 hours in a Beaufighter on routine patrol controlled by Digby. Meanwhile at Gilze-Rijen 4/NJG2 were also active, at 23.00 hours (German time) Uffz Helmut Baehner (Pilot) Uffz Jakob Ried (R/Op) and Uffz Heinz Schulz (Gunner) were preparing themselves for their mission to patrol RAF aerodromes in Lincolnshire.

From P/O Britain’s combat report the following is known;

After being on patrol controlled by Digby, we were handed over to Orby G.C.I. at 0030 hours and at 0045 hours we were vectoured on a curve into a stern chase and almost immediately I obtained a blip. We were at 10,000 feet and I instructed the pilot to climb in pursuit of the enemy, which I estimated to be ahead and about two miles away. After climbing to 14,000 feet I got a minimum range on the A.I and a few moments later the pilot reported that he had got a visual of an enemy aircraft about 300-400 feet away and 200 feet above and flying west at 140/150 m.p.h. P/O Thompson immediately slowed and started to follow the enemy aircraft which disappeared from view, I maintained A.I contact and a few minutes later the pilot reported that he had got a second visual which was lost, although four exhaust flames were plainly visible at one time.However, we tried again and minimum range was reached on the A.I and looking out to port I got a visual of the enemy a/c about 300 feet away, I told the pilot who at once crossed over so as to get a silhouette against the northern light and we identified the e/a as a He 111 (in fact it was Baehner’s Ju 88) which was still flying west and gradually climbing. At 0105 after a chase of about twenty minutes P/O Thompson closed right in and fired a short burst from the port quarter at about 100 feet range which immediately caused the enemy aircraft’s starboard engine to burst into flames.

Inside Baehner’s Ju 88 the crew were obviously in shock after being caught unaware by the guns of Thompson’s Beaufighter. Desperately, the twenty-five year old radio-operator Heinz Schulz tried to extricate himself from the aircraft as it dived to the ground but to no avail as his body was found in the harness of his unopened parachute. Neither Helmut Baehner nor his Gunner, Jakob Ried left the aircraft, as it exploded on the mudflats of Wingland Marsh, near Terrington, Norfolk. A total of thirty-six 20mm cannon shells from four cannon guns were fired at this aircraft.

No return fire came from e/a which dived in flames and exploded on the ground near Terrington.Visability was fair, with some cloud, but no help from the moon. There were no technical failures and the A.I worked very well. We landed at Wittering at 0150 hours

Sadly, the only identifiable body recovered at the crash site was that of the gunner, Uffz. Heinz Schulz, his remains were taken to Sutton Bridge and later on the 19.06.41 was laid to rest here. The body of the pilot, Uffz. Helmut Bähner has no known official grave, yet from the Minute Sheet, Air Ministry File No. LL35091/53 it states an unknown with Uffz. Schulz, identification disc number 53576/1078 (for either of these two men) yet this disc number is that of the pilot Baehner, one can only assume that the remains found were buried with Uffz. Schulz. The last crew member, Uffz. Jakob Ried was washed ashore on the Norfolk Coast on the 07.07.41, his grave incorrectly has this date for his date of death, he now lies in the cemetery at Great Bircham, Norfolk.
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CWGC Sutton Bridge (St. Matthew) Churchyard - Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flt. Lieut. Terence Cathcart Stanbury died as the result of a mid-air accident 10 April 1943 aged 30. He was involved in a mid-air collision with a Spitfire and crashed 2 miles west of Whyton, Lincolnshire, while on a course at the Central Gunnery School. The Spitfire pilot survived.
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CWGC Sutton Bridge (St. Matthew) Churchyard - Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Sutton Bridge (St. Matthew) Churchyard - Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Sutton Bridge (St. Matthew) Churchyard - Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer Tomas Patlejch of No 56 OTU was killed on the 1st November 1940 when his Hawker Hurricane I, L1851 dived into the ground at Tydd St Mary, Norfolk.
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CWGC Sutton Bridge (St. Matthew) Churchyard - Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sgt David Lawrence Meisner was born on the 11th January 1921 in Bridgewater, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia. During his childhood years he had the measles and scarlet fever.

His initial flight training took place from the 24th March - 4th May 1941. and his first solo, in a Fleet Finch, on the 21st June 1941.

He then moved on to the North American Harvard and the report filed on the 1st September 1941 said that he was an average student, perhaps a bit inclined to be inattentive but to have good conduct and deportment. The recommendation at that time was that he become a fighter pilot. He attained Sergeant rank at that time.

Sometime after that date he started training on the Hawker Hurricane at RAF Great Massingham near Fakenham, Norfolk. He had had 90 hours flying time on type when on the 7th November 1941, while carrying out aerobatics on a training flight, his aircraft was seen to fall into a steep vertical dive and crashed.
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CWGC Sutton Bridge (St. Matthew) Churchyard - Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 26th March 26 1942, Pilot Officer Harold John Appel was flying Supermarine Spitfire IIa P8563 on a patrol over the coast around Seaham harbour, County Durham

He had over 140 hours solo flying on the type but little experience flying only by instruments instruments. He arrived in England just months before in September 1941 for further training before transferring to his squadron. When he lost his section leader he dropped below the clouds to find his bearings and flew his Spitfire into the hills south of Blanchland, Northumberland.
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CWGC Sutton Bridge (St. Matthew) Churchyard - Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Sutton Bridge (St. Matthew) Churchyard - Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sergeant William Thomas Cheropita & Warrant Officer Neil Maxwell Dalton of 410 (Cougar) Squadron, RCAF, RAF Coleby Grange, were killed on the 27th August 1943 when their de Havilland Mosquito NFII crashed on a training flight.

Their aircraft was tail-chasing with another Mosquito as part of a cine-gun exercise. They followed the lead Mosquito into a sharp, steep dive, and was trying to stay on its tail when it crashed into the sea, possibly after entering cloud and losing control in the other aircraft's slipstream.
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CWGC Sutton Bridge (St. Matthew) Churchyard - Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Sutton Bridge (St. Matthew) Churchyard - Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, Monday 4th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr
Last edited by SuffolkBlue on Tue 11 Jun 2019, 12:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 11/06/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

Ely Cemetery in Cambridgeshire contains 13 Commonwealth burials of the 1914-1918 war and 14 of the 1939-1945 war here which are scattered across the site

On the evening of the 14th November 1944, the crew of Handley Page Halifax III LK844, 51 Squadron took off from RAF Snaith, Yorkshire. Soon after they entered low cloud and it's speculated that the flaps on their aircraft iced up. It came down on houses in Tingley, Yorkshire. No one of the ground was injured but the 7 crew members were killed.

Sgt Alfred William Payton is buried in his home city of Ely.
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CWGC Ely Cemetery - Ely, Cambridgeshire, Sunday 17th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Air Gunner Ronald Payton of 90 Squadron was on board Short Stirling III MZ262 that took off from RAF Wratting Common, Suffolk to attack Hannover on the 22nd Septmber 1943. Shortly after, the starboard inner engine caught fire. The blaze spread quickly and at 19:16hrs the Stirling exploded at 500 feet, scattering wreckage in the vicinity of Brockley Green, Suffolk.

Only one crew member survived.
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CWGC Ely Cemetery - Ely, Cambridgeshire, Sunday 17th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The military graves of the Garner brothers, William and John Henry, can be found in Ely Cemetery. They survived the Great War but died within days of each other in 1920.


William gave his employment as general labourer when he attested at the outbreak of the War on 10th November 1914. His papers describe him as 5 feet 5 inches tall with a fair complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. William served for 3 years and 182 days with the Suffolk Regiment before being discharged on 10th May 1918 as “no longer physically fit for war service”.

During this period he had fought in France from 7th January 1916 to 10th May 1917 and in Egypt from 19th August 1917 to 20th December. The periods between postings abroad were spent in England recovering from wounds which included a severe gunshot wound to the right leg in 1916, a slight wound to the left arm on 4th May 1917 and a wound on 6th November 1917. This final wound was a shattered right scapula in the Third Battle of Gaza, which resulted in “70% disablement” and brought about his return to England a couple of months later and his eventual discharge. Four months of post-operative treatment were recommended by the military surgeon.

William was awarded a military pension of 20/- and granted a Silver War Badge (Number 360480) to show that he had been honourably discharged due to his wounds. Unfit for work, his official employment was registered as “army pensioner”.

On 6th March 1918 William’s younger brother John, then a farm labourer, was attested into the Suffolk Regiment (180709). His papers describe him as 5 feet 4 1/2 inches tall with a fresh complexion and brown hair and eyes (and flat feet). He went to France with the Suffolks on 14th July 1918 and was then transferred immediately into the Royal Fusiliers .On 6th September he was sent back to England and hospitalised at Shrewsbury until 17th December. He was discharged on 15th June 1919, when he was formally transferred to the Reserve, went home to live with his parents, and became a general labourer.

The young men’s father George Garner also served during the War, but on Home Service.

As the War was drawing to a close a global pandemic of influenza hit; it was an airborne virus which affected every continent. It is thought that, in the UK, the virus was spread by soldiers returning home from the trenches in northern France. The troops traveled home by train and so the flu can be tracked spreading from the railway stations to the centre of the cities, then to the suburbs and out into the countryside. Young adults between 20 and 30 years old were particularly affected and the disease. Within hours of feeling the first symptoms of fatigue,fever and headache, some victims would rapidly develop pneumonia and start turning blue, signalling a shortage of oxygen. They would then struggle for air until they suffocated to death. The medical service was overwhelmed; there were no treatments for the flu and no antibiotics to treat the pneumonia.

During the pandemic over 50 million people died worldwide and a quarter of the British population were affected. The death toll was 228,000 in Britain alone. Two of those who succumbed to pneumonia were the Garner brothers William and John, who died within a fortnight of each other— with John being diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis the day after William died.

They were buried in Ely Cemetery and, as recently returned soldiers, they were honoured with official military gravestones by the CWGC. Tragically for the family, just one year later, the young men’s sister Mary Ann (the sibling between William and John in age) also died.
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CWGC Ely Cemetery - Ely, Cambridgeshire, Sunday 17th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ely Cemetery - Ely, Cambridgeshire, Sunday 17th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ely Cemetery - Ely, Cambridgeshire, Sunday 17th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ely Cemetery - Ely, Cambridgeshire, Sunday 17th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ely Cemetery - Ely, Cambridgeshire, Sunday 17th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ely Cemetery - Ely, Cambridgeshire, Sunday 17th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ely Cemetery - Ely, Cambridgeshire, Sunday 17th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
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Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 14/06/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

RAF Cranfield was formally opened on the 1st June 1937 and initially became the base for No. 62 Squadron RAF and No. 82 Squadron RAF of No. 1 (Bomber) Group, flying the already obsolete Hawker Hind biplanes. Both squadrons converted to Blenheim's in 1938.

August 1941 saw the fast developing station become a night fighter training centre with the arrival of No. 51 Night fighter Operational Training Unit. This was disbanded after the end of the war in Europe in May 1945 and the airfield became the site for a new College of Aeronautics (now Cranfield University).

There are 2 sites within the local area that contain CWGC plots from the airfields past, one of which is located in the village at SS Peter & Paul Churchyard.
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CWGC SS Peter & Paul Churchyard - Cranfield, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer Thomas R. Williams of Ottowa, Ontario, Canada, was killed when his Fairey Battle I L7279 of 207 Sqn crashed at Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire on the 28th November 1939. He was conducting circuits and landings at night for the first time on type when his aircraft came down away from the airfield boundary.
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CWGC SS Peter & Paul Churchyard - Cranfield, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr


On the 16th December 1940, Aircraftman Frank G. Harrington, aged 19 of Bordesley Green was the pilot of Airspeed Oxford I N4736, of 14 FTS. His aircraft which crashed at Thrift Wood, Marston, Bedforddshire.

The RAF report noted :

Circuits and Landings. Very dark, little horizon. Climbed to 1000’ turned left andfFailed to maintain equilibrium by use of instruments. Loss of control in black out probably aggravated by strength and gusting of wind.
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CWGC SS Peter & Paul Churchyard - Cranfield, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On Monday 7th October 1940 Flying Officer James Bridge and Leading Aircraftman Jack Kissner of 14 Flying Training School were on low flying practice out of Cranfield in Airspeed Oxford N4729 when it struck a tree and crashed between the road and former railway line near Newton Park Farm, one mile south west of Turvey, Bedfordshire.
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CWGC SS Peter & Paul Churchyard - Cranfield, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC SS Peter & Paul Churchyard - Cranfield, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Aircraftman Victor W. Harris was killed on the 11th November 1940 whilst flying Airspeed Oxford I, N6292 of No 14 SFTS, which crashed near Ryhall, Rutland during a forced landing.
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CWGC SS Peter & Paul Churchyard - Cranfield, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The second is Kempston Cemetery, located between Bedford and Cranfield that has two CWGC plots. The smaller of the two is a bit sporadic
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CWGC Kempston Cemetery - Kempston, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The main plot is located nearby
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CWGC Kempston Cemetery - Kempston, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flt. Sgt. Ross Mackenzie Gilmour was killed on the 19th August 1942 when his Bristol Blenheim I L6623 of 51 OTU hit a tree soon after taking off from RAF Cranfield on a GCI exercise. Eye witness mentioned that one or both engines were not working correctly.
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CWGC Kempston Cemetery - Kempston, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 6th May 1942, the crew of Handley Page Hampden I AD826 took off from RAF Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire on a training / night cross country flight

After completing the first part of their task over a bombing range it would appear that a fire started somewhere on the aircraft. At a height of only 500 feet the Hampden suddenly dived to the ground at 02.57 hrs, killing the all Canadian crew instantly.

Mr. William Cook of Bourne End Farm was 18 years old at the time and was the second person to arrive at the crash site. Although he did not see the aircraft crash it was reported locally that the aircraft was on fire before the fatal crash. The aircraft's cockpit canopy was found by William lying in a field about a mile away from the crash site a few weeks after the incident.
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CWGC Kempston Cemetery - Kempston, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 6th May 1942, the crew of Handley Page Hampden I AD826 took off from RAF Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire on a training / night cross country flight

After completing the first part of their task over a bombing range it would appear that a fire started somewhere on the aircraft. At a height of only 500 feet the Hampden suddenly dived to the ground at 02.57 hrs, killing the all Canadian crew instantly.

Mr. William Cook of Bourne End Farm was 18 years old at the time and was the second person to arrive at the crash site. Although he did not see the aircraft crash it was reported locally that the aircraft was on fire before the fatal crash. The aircraft's cockpit canopy was found by William lying in a field about a mile away from the crash site a few weeks after the incident.
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CWGC Kempston Cemetery - Kempston, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Kempston Cemetery - Kempston, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Kempston Cemetery - Kempston, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Kempston Cemetery - Kempston, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Kempston Cemetery - Kempston, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sergeant (Pilot) Mark Radford Cuke, from St. Michael, Barbados, was a crew member on 51 OTU Bristol Blenheim I L1353 when it lost height after taking off from RAF Cranfield and crashed. The other crew members were also killed.
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CWGC Kempston Cemetery - Kempston, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sgt (Pilot) George Platon Phitidis of Johannesburg, was killed when his Bristol Blenheim IV L4849 of 51 OTU (Cranfield) crashed while carrying out local flying. At 03.45hrs on a moonlight night, the aircraft came in to land with the undercarriage retracted. It went round again & dived steeply into ground.
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CWGC Kempston Cemetery - Kempston, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Ten aircrew were killed when Vickers Wellington Ic X9799 of 15 OTU from RAF Harwell collided with Tiger Moth N6968 of 6 EFTS from RAF Denton on the 5th December 1941 while on a cross-country night training flight. Both aircraft were flying between 800-1000 feet and came down near Piddington Station, near Denton, Northamptonshire. All crew in both aircraft were killed - eight in the Wellington and two in the Tiger Moth.

The Wellington crew are buried together here
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CWGC Kempston Cemetery - Kempston, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

There are 211 CWGC graves at Bedford Cemetery, the most then any other site in the county. It contains war graves of both world wars, some in a combined 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 War graves plot and the rest widely distributed throughout the cemetery. The 1914-1918 burials number 151, of which 41 are in the plot. There are in all 70 burials of the 1939-1945 War but only twelve of the graves are in the plot.
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CWGC Bedford Cemetery - Bedford, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Bedford Cemetery - Bedford, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

A relatively little known part of Bedford's recent history is the friendly invasion of the town early in the First World War, by thousands of Scottish part time soldiers of the Territorial Force, the forerunner of today’s Territorial Army. The "invaders" were the men of the Highland Division (later to become the 51st Highland Division) whose infantry units carried famous and evocative names such as Gordon, Seaforth, Argyll and Sutherland and Queens Own Cameron Highlanders. The Scottish troops became a familiar and welcome sight in the town and surrounding countryside as they trained and prepared for war.

Although the division's time in Bedford was largely trouble free in terms of disciplinary matters, tragedy came in the form of disease. Scarlet Fever, diphtheria and measles ran through the ranks of men who had never been exposed to these diseases in the more remote areas of Scotland. The majority of men who contracted these illnesses survived, but some fatally succumbed. The Camerons were affected more severely than any other unit in the Highland Division, with the disease ultimately claiming the lives of 28 of its men and the same number, at least, being discharged as unfit for further military service.

By the time the measles epidemic showed signs of abating in late January 1915, the total of reported cases within the Division was 529, with 65 deaths, although fatalities continued well in to 1915.

It is reckoned that between August 1914 and May 1915, the Division suffered a total of 135 fatalities due to illness and other causes. The remains of the majority of men who died were returned to Scotland for burial in home towns and villages. However, thirty-three men of the Highland Division who died of disease are buried here.
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CWGC Bedford Cemetery - Bedford, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Bedford Cemetery - Bedford, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Bedford Cemetery - Bedford, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Bedford Cemetery - Bedford, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Bedford Cemetery - Bedford, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Bedford Cemetery - Bedford, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

During the morning of 4th June 1941, Westland Lysander V9605 took off from RAF Clifton near York with two pilots on board. The official reason for the flight was to carry out a photographic exercise at 5000 feet, but after this task was carried out the aircraft overflew Scarborough shortly after 11.00hrs. The pilot in charge of the aircraft at the time came from the Scarborough area and his parents lived at 20 Lowdale Avenue. The aircraft overflew Lowdale Avenue and it was thought that the pilot was showing his friend and college where his parents lived. They were so low that the aircraft clipped the roof of 26 Lowdale Avenue and shortly afterwards, at 11.15hrs, dived into the ground on allotment gardens near Weydale Avenue killing both men instantly. P/O William Leonard is buried here in his home town.

Pilot - P/O Geoffrey Richard Graham Mould RAF (44535), aged 26, of 20 Lowdale Avenue, Scarborough

Pilot (Passenger) - P/O William Leonard Theys RAFVR (81418), aged 30, of Bedford.
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CWGC Bedford Cemetery - Bedford, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The last location of the day was St Mary Church Cemetery in Cardington. The site started life as a private venture when Short Brothers bought land there to build airships for the Admiralty. It constructed a 700-foot-long Airship hangar (the No. 1 Shed) in 1915 to enable it to build two rigid airships, the R-31 and the R-32. The airships site was nationalised in April 1919, becoming known as the Royal Airship Works.

In preparation for the R101 project the No 1 shed was extended between October 1924 and March 1926; its roof was raised by 35 feet and its length increased to 812 feet. The No. 2 shed (Southern shed), which had originally been located at RNAS Pulham, Norfolk, was dismantled in 1928 and re-erected at Cardington. After the crash of the R101, in October 1930, all work stopped in Britain on airships. Cardington then became a storage station.

In 1936/1937 Cardington started building barrage balloons; and it became the No 1 RAF Balloon Training Unit responsible for the storage and training of balloon operators and drivers. In 1943 until 1967 it was home to the RAF Meteorological research balloons-training unit, undertaking development and storage. The two sheds dominate the local area and within sight of the cemetery.

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CWGC St Mary Church Cemetery - Cardington, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St Mary Church Cemetery - Cardington, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On Monday 19th August 1940, the crew of Handley Page Hampden P1300 were on a training flight from RAF Cottesmore practicing the use of oxygen and seat change. The aircraft lost control and exploded in a field beside an oak tree at The Dower House,Melchbourne, Bedfordshire.

On Monday 26th August 1949 , the remains of the four men were buried here.
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CWGC St Mary Church Cemetery - Cardington, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St Mary Church Cemetery - Cardington, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St Mary Church Cemetery - Cardington, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 29th November 1957, the second Thrust Measuring Rig, better known as the Flying Bedstead, serial XK426, was destroyed during a test flight, resulting in the death of Wing Commander H. G. F. Larsen, who had been piloting the aircraft for the first time.
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CWGC St Mary Church Cemetery - Cardington, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St Mary Church Cemetery - Cardington, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The R101 was one of a pair of British rigid airships completed in 1929 as part of a British government programme to develop civil airships capable of service on long-distance routes within the British Empire.

After trial flights and subsequent modifications to increase lifting capacity, which included lengthening the ship by 46 feet to add another gasbag, the R101 crashed in France during its maiden overseas voyage on the 5th October 1930, killing 48 of the 54 people on board. Among the passengers killed were Lord Thomson, the Air Minister who had initiated the programme, senior government officials, and almost all the dirigible's designers from the Royal Airship Works. The crash of R101 effectively ended British airship development.

The bodies of the crew were carried back to Dover by destroyers H. M. S. Tempest and H. M. S. Tribune. A special train then carried the remains to London accompanied my members of the Royal Air Force. They were then laid in state in Westminster Hall before they were buried here at Cardington on 11th October 1930 in separate coffins but in a mass grave because so many of the remains were unidentified.

The memorial was designed by Sir Albert Richardson. It is a large stone tomb chest of simple design set on a three tiered base. The north west panel is inscribed: "Here lie the bodies of 48 officers and men who perished in the airship R101 at Beauvais, France, Oct. 5 1930". The side panels are inscribed with the names of the dead. The monument was listed by the former Department of Environment in May 1984 as Grade II, of special interest.
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CWGC St Mary Church Cemetery - Cardington, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/SLHoqo]Image[/url
]CWGC St Mary Church Cemetery - Cardington, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St Mary Church Cemetery - Cardington, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC St Mary Church Cemetery - Cardington, Bedfordshire, Sunday 24th February 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 14/06/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

RAF Oakington, just north of Cambridge, was constructed in 1939. In September 1940, Oakington was passed on for the No. 2 Group which stationed the first Short Stirling Squadron No. 7. The airfield was closed in the 1970's and transferred to the Army. Demolition of parts of the site commenced in late January 2011 for the construction of 1,500 homes in 2014.

The small CWGC plot for the airfield is located in All Saints Church, Longstanton. After visiting so many sites during the winter, it was nice to see some Spring colour appearing.
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CWGC Longstanton (All Saints) Churchyard - Longstanton, Cambridgeshire, Saturday 16th March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Longstanton (All Saints) Churchyard - Longstanton, Cambridgeshire, Saturday 16th March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 3rd October 1941, a Short Stirling of 7 Squadron was in the circuit to land back at RAF Oakington after a raid on Brest. Shortly after they were attacked in the darkness by a roaming JU88 and the Stirling came down a couple of miles away from the airfield, killing all but 2 of the crew.
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CWGC Longstanton (All Saints) Churchyard - Longstanton, Cambridgeshire, Saturday 16th March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flying only their third operation, the crew of Short Stirling I N3643, No. 7 Squadron took off on the night of 23rd /24th March to bomb Rotterdam for a second time. The aircraft left its satellite base of RAF Newmarket because the runway at their home station, RAF Oakington, was under repair. The aircraft developed a technical fault and the pilot, Squadron Leader Stuart Alistair Frederick Robertson, had to abort the mission and was forced to return homeward. As they crossed the coast, observers on the ground noted one of its engines burning fiercely, streaming smoke, and the aircraft was rapidly losing altitude. Further disaster struck the crippled bomber when it clipped high tension power cables.

It struck the gable-end of a cottage called Logwood, then the home of Mr Charlie Lovett and his family and continuing falling to earth before crashing on the Aldringham/Aldeburgh road; its momentum sent it careering through thick gorse hedges breaking up as it did so. It ended up demolishing the clubhouse of the Hazelwood golf course. Luckily at the time of impact the club professional, Mr Maggs, and his wife were across the road with their friends playing cards in their bomb shelter.

Three Auxiliary nurses, Mrs Amy Spall, Mrs Joan Lay and Miss Florrie Mower, all of whom lived locally, were at the crash scene within minutes, and desperately tried to save the crew despite the bomber being fully laden with its full bombs and ammunition lying scattered all around the crash site. Ignoring their own safety they managed to pull Flight Sergeant Fred White, the only survivor from the wreckage, but sadly he died of his injuries four days later.
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CWGC Longstanton (All Saints) Churchyard - Longstanton, Cambridgeshire, Saturday 16th March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Longstanton (All Saints) Churchyard - Longstanton, Cambridgeshire, Saturday 16th March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Longstanton (All Saints) Churchyard - Longstanton, Cambridgeshire, Saturday 16th March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 18th August 1940, the crews of Bristol Blenheim IV's L9264 & T1929 of No. 218 Squadron, RAF Oakington, were carrying out a formation exercise when their aircraft collided. L9264 crashed inverted into the ground and T1929 spiraled down in flames soon after.

A/C 1st Class Robert Harrison was on-board T1929 to check that one of the engines that we recently carried out a repair on was working correctly.
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CWGC Longstanton (All Saints) Churchyard - Longstanton, Cambridgeshire, Saturday 16th March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 4th February 1941, Pilot L E Clayton and his crew took off from RAF Upper Heyford in Handley Page Hampden I P1332 on a training flight. Due to heavy showers, they were forced to fly below the cloud base. While banking steeply, the wing hit the ground near Conington, north west of Cambridge. None of the four crew survived.
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CWGC Longstanton (All Saints) Churchyard - Longstanton, Cambridgeshire, Saturday 16th March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 14/06/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

I recently spent some time in Berlin and managed to visit the Berlin 1939-45 War Cemetery, which is the second largest CWGC site in Germany. Located in the western suburb of Pichelhelsberg, the site was selected by the British Occupation Authorities and Commission officials jointly in 1945, soon after hostilities ceased. Graves were brought to the cemetery from the Berlin area and from eastern Germany.

The great majority of those buried here, approximately 80 per cent of the total, were Bomber Command airmen who were lost in the air raids over Berlin and the towns in eastern Germany. The remainder were men who died as prisoners of war, some of them in the forced march into Germany from camps in Poland, in front of the advancing Russians. The cemetery contains 3,595 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 397 of them unidentified. In addition there are 265 post war graves of men of the British Occupation Forces.

The vast majority of sites I have visited in the UK are located near former airfields where aircrew were killed flying over or near their home base and sometimes it's difficult to fully appreciate the job they volunteered to do, being that they are often small churchyard plots. For me, visiting my first site here in Germany really does hit home the sacrifice they all made and puts a lot of things into perspective. It definitely made me appreciate seeing the Lancaster for the first time this season at Cosford and taking in what it stands for, not just for that perfect "top side" pass for my picture. I can't imagine what it must have been like in a bomber at night over Berlin as an 18 / 19 year old.

My only regret was not having more time to stay there longer.

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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the night of the 24th March 1944, the crew of No 15 Squadron Avro Lancaster III LM490 took off from their base at RAF Mildenhall at 18:48 hrs to bomb Berlin. They were one of 811 Allied bombers that took part in the mission. The weather was clear with very high visibility and due to unforecasted high winds, the bombers scattered south of the intended route with many aircraft then not flying with the protection of "Window". The night became known in Bomber Command as "the night of the strong winds".

After dropping their bombs on the target, LM490 was shot down 16km south of the centre of Berlin. All 7 crew members were killed.

In total, 72 aircraft were lost on the raid.
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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The post war plot
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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Handley Page Halifax V LK993 and it's No.429 Squadron crew took off from RAF Leeming to attack the city of Leipzig on the 19th February 1944. In total, 561 Lancasters, 255 Halifaxes and 7 Mosquitoes took part in the raid.

The bomber stream was attacked by German night fighters as soon as they crossed the Dutch coast. LK993 was shot down over Gardelegen, around 160km West of Berlin. All of the crew were killed.
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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Kenneth Frank Cornwell enlisted n February 1942 having been one of the original members of the Norwich Union Flight of the A T C formed in 1941.

Decorated on the 7th January 1944, his citation reads "Pilot Officer K F Cornwell and Pilot Officer J Horsley were navigator and pilot respectively of an aircraft detailed to attack Berlin one night in December, 1943. Soon after crossing the enemy coast one of the aircraft's engines became useless. Pilot Officer Horsley continued his mission, however, being greatly assisted in meeting the target at the prescribed time by excellent navigation on the part of Pilot Officer Cornwell, who, despite the fluctuations in height and speed, displayed great accuracy. In spite of intense light anti-aircraft fire, Pilot Officer Horsley displayed great persistence and made three runs over the target before releasing his bombs. Considerable height had been lost and one of the starboard engines was hit and caught fire; the artificial horizon and the directional gyro were also rendered useless. Two engines were now unserviceable. Nevertheless, Pilot Officer Horsley flew the damaged aircraft to base. On the homeward flight Pilot Officer Cornwell proved his skill in extremely difficult circumstances and his faultless navigation contributed materially to the safe return of the bomber. These officers, who had completed many sorties, have invariably displayed a high degree of skill, courage and devotion to duty." He had completed 29 Operational flights, 7 against Berlin, when he was reported missing.

His Avro Lancaster III AS-Z ND382 was shot down over Fretzdorf on the 29th January 1944 and his crew buried together here
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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flight Lieutenant Melborn Leslie Mellstrom, Royal Canadian Air Force, was the rear gunner on Avro Lancaster III ME315, No. 405 (Vancouver) Squadron when it took off from RAF Gransden Lodge on the 10th April 1945 at 14:41 hrs to bomb the Marshaling Yards at Plauen.

His aircraft was attacked by an Me163 rocket fighter over the target area. The cannon fire tore away the rear turret and Flight Lieutenant Melborn Leslie Mellstrom was killed. He was later buried by British POW's close to where his turret had crashed.

The Lancaster was nursed back to England and made an emergency landing at RAF Woodbridge.
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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Avro Lancaster III DV269 of No 101 Sqn was shot down on the 3rd January 1944 and crashed near Michendorff on its return from a raid to Berlin.
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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Along with his 463 (Australian) Squadron crew, Pilot Officer Arthur William Heap of Queensland, Australia, boarded his Avro Lanaster ED420 at RAF Waddington on Christmas Eve 1943. They took off from Lincolnshire for their target, Berlin. Their aircraft was attacked by a night fighter over the eastern suburbs of Berlin and crashed at Kaulsdorf. There were no survivors.
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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Stanley Warren Reeder & Navigator Robert John Bolton of 608 (North Riding) Squadron took off from RAF Downham Market on the night of the 11th / 12th October 1944 in their de Havilland Mosquito XX KB348. Their aircraft crashed due to unknown reasons over Berlin.
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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

The crew of Avro Lancaster III JB359 PH-Q had taken of from RAF Wickenby at 18.35 hrs for an operation against Berlin on the 24th March 1944. Their aircraft came down while homebound 3 km north of Harzgerode.
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CWGC Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery - Berlin, Saturday 23rd March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

User avatar
SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 17/06/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

Felixstowe has strong historic links to both the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force.

RNAS Felixstowe was created soon after the outbreak of World War I following the formation of the Royal Naval Air Service on the 1st July 1914. On formation of the Royal Air Force, the unit was renamed the Seaplane Experimental Station. As the name implies, the unit designed seaplanes and flying boats and these were generally known by the Felixstowe name although, apart from the prototypes. RAF Felixstowe closed 21 June 1962.

There are numerous CWGC sites in the town, the biggest of which is as the New Cemetery, where there are 64 Commonwealth burials of the 1914-18 war, including 1 unidentified Royal Navy sailor who was buried on 26th March 1917. There are a further 44 burials of the 1939-45 war in a plot that included 9 unidentified seamen of the Merchant Navy.

The World War I plot

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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Lieutenant Colonel Arthur C. Vincent Clutterbuck served in Africa and India, as well as Gallipoli and in France. He committed suicide in 1916, aged 40.
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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flying Officer Edward Ewart Paull Smith of the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment drowned on the 25th June 1924 when his aircraft crashed into the North Sea off the coast at Felixstowe on the 25th June 1924.
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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Second World War Plot

F/Lt E. N. Bunting and P/O F. G. French in a DH Mosquito XII of No. 85 Squadron brought down a Me410 of 16/KG2 off the Suffolk coast on the night of the 13th / 14th July 1943. The enemy aircraft was involved in an attack on Cambridge and was crewed by Feldwebel Franz Zwissler and Oberfeldwebel Leo Raida, who were both killed. Their bodies were later recovered from the sea and buried together here in Felixstowe.
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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot William Alfred Shillitto DFC was killed whilst flying in Bristol Blenheim IV Z7960 of No 527 Sqn when it flew into the ground after side-slipping in a turn at low level over Ipswich.
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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 7th November 1940, Flying Officer A Stevens was the 2nd Pilot in RAF Newmarket based Vickers Wellington IC R3289 of 99 Squadron when it was shot down 150 yards off the coast at Felixstowe while on a raid to the Ruhr.
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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Lieutenant Commander Robert Peverell Hichens, DSO & Bar, DSC & Two Bars was the most highly decorated officer of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve, being awarded two Distinguished Service Orders, three Distinguished Service Crosses and three Mentions in Despatches. He was also recommended for a Victoria Cross after being killed in action in April 1943.

Having completed training in December 1939, he was promoted to lieutenant and appointed to HMS Halcycon, part of the 5th Minesweeping Flotilla and later the 4th Minesweeping Flotilla. He moved ship to HMS Niger in April 1940 and during the Phoney war period, both flotillas were kept busy minesweeping in the North Sea and the only action seen was on the 15th May 1940, when HMS Hussar was holed by a German bomber.

On the 29th May 1940, Hichens was informed that the British Expeditionary Force were being evacuated from Dunkirk in Operation Dynamo and that Niger would be leaving to assist.Arriving off Dunkirk on the 31st May, Hichens organised the small boats and yachts used to evacuate the army from the Dunkirk jetty. When Niger was ordered home with a full complement of soldiers, Hichens asked to be left behind to continue with the evacuation. He was given permission but also informed he would have to find his own way home.

Arriving back in Dover on the yacht Chico he rejoined Niger on the 1st June. HMS Niger returned to Dunkirk another three times, Hichens once more went ashore to arrange the evacuation before the end of the operation. For his work on the beaches in the withdrawal of the Allied armies from Dunkirk, Hichens was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

In January 1941, Hichens was given a new command, Motor Gun Boat 64, becoming the first RNVR officer to command a MGB, and the only RNVR crewed boat in the 6th MGB Flotilla.

Hichens was next appointed commander of the 8th MGB Flotilla. These new boats were armed with a twin Oerlikon mount aft, a QF 2-pounder Mark XIV forward, twin Lewis or later twin Vickers machine guns either side of the bridge and depth charges

On the night of the 12th/13th April 1943, the flotilla was ordered to escort mine laying MLs off the Dutch coast. Detecting two trawlers they engaged them leaving one on fire, but as they withdrew MGB 77 was hit, killing Hichens outright and wounding three others on the bridge. Hichens received a posthumous MID for these actions.
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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe New Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

There are 25 casualties buried in Felixstowe (Walton) Cemetery

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CWGC Felixstowe (Walton) Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by
Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe (Walton) Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe (Walton) Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Felixstowe (Walton) Cemetery - Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sunday 31st March 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

User avatar
SuffolkBlue
Posts: 1316
Joined: Sun 31 Aug 2008, 7:31 pm
Location: Bury St. Edmunds

Re: CWGC Cemeteries **updated 20/08/2019**

Post by SuffolkBlue »

RAF Upwood was a former airfield adjacent to the village of Upwood in Cambridgeshire, England in the United Kingdom

Since its opening in 1937, Upwood had seen frequent periods where flying operations had to be curtailed or halted altogether due to the grass airfield being unserviceable. This unserviceability was caused by the levels of rain and general dampness of the area. When No 17 OTU was chosen for transition to Vickers Wellington bombers, it was decided to move the unit from Upwood as the field would never take the pounding from these heavier aircraft. When 17 OTU departed for RAF Silverstone in April 1943, Upwood was left with no aircraft. The RAF took this opportunity to begin construction of three concrete runways. These runways were completed by October.

The first flying unit to use the new runways at Upwood was No 139 Squadron Mosquitoes. They arrived in late January 1944 and flew their first mission against on 2 February, a single plane mission to drop target indicators over Berlin. On 5 March 1944 Upwood became home to No 156 Squadron and its Avro Lancasters. They flew their first mission from Upwood on 15 March 1944, attacking Stuttgart with 22 aircraft.

At its wartime peak, the station had a working population of over 2,500 people. A total of 210 aircrew from the two squadrons were killed as a result of operations.

There are 2 CWGC plots near the village for casualties from RAF Upwood and the surrounding area. The smallest of these is at Ramsey, which also contains casualties from the first world war.

The grave of Private Harry Greenwood, Bedfordshire Regiment, who also lost 3 of his brothers to the war.
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CWGC Ramsey Cemetery - Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ramsey Cemetery - Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 6th April 1940, John Drummond Stein was the pilot of Bristol Blenheim I P6918 when it crashed soon after taking off from RAF Upwood when an engine cut out on a solo training flight.
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CWGC Ramsey Cemetery - Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Bristol Blenheim I Z6360 lost control and spun in at Old Halves, near Chatteris, Cambridgeshire on the 12th July 1941. Wireless Operator James Tinker lost his life in the crash.
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CWGC Ramsey Cemetery - Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Wireless Operator Evan Aneurin Davies took off in Bristol Blenheim I L1245 from RAF Upwood for a night flying training exercise on the 12th August 1941. His aircraft was shot down by an enermy intruder and crashed at Crow Farm, Wilburton, near Ely, Cambridgeshire. Eye-witnesses describe the enemy fighter making three attacks before bringing the Blenheim down.
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CWGC Ramsey Cemetery - Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sydney Stephen Lang of Cicero, Illinois, U.S.A, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force before America's involvement in world war 2. He joined 17 OTU Sqn and was taking part in night training from RAF Upwood on the 14th January 1942 when his aircraft crashed into farmland near the airfield.
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CWGC Ramsey Cemetery - Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

In strong winds, Bristol Blenheim I L4894 stalled & crashed near gasworks at Ramsey on the 6th December 1941. The crew had taken off from RAF Upwood on a training mission. Robert Barr of Coleraine, Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland and Charles Herman Woodworth of Berwick, Nova Scotia, Canada, were killed in the crash.
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CWGC Ramsey Cemetery - Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ramsey Cemetery - Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 13th May 1942, the crew of Bristol Blenheim V5384 were on a bomb training exercise when three minutes after the bomb run, they dived from 1,000 feet and crashed at Butchers Farm, Thorney, near Peterborough, Northants. Rodney Ernest Corr of Terenure Dublin, Irish Republi and Harry George Zavadowsky of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, were killed.
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CWGC Ramsey Cemetery - Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Ramsey Cemetery - Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Sergeant Phillip Paul Duffy left RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire on the night of the 4th August 1940 on a navigation training exercise in Fairey Battle L5113. His aircraft crashed near Bicester, Oxfordshire.
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CWGC Ramsey Cemetery - Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the night of the 22nd August 1942, a German bomber dropped four high-explosive bombs on Ramsey. Bombs completely demolished two houses, and many others were so badly damaged by the blasts that the occupants had to be evacuated. Other buildings, including the Methodist Chapel, the Council School and the Telephone Exchange, were also damaged.

Miss Ruby Joan Rosher BELL, aged 31 years, the elder daughter of Ralph McLain & Anne BELL of 34 Field Terrace, was killed in the blast damaged home of her aunt, Mrs. Mary Ann ROSHER, and was buried in Ramsey cemetery. She had been a teacher at Ramsey Fortyfoot village school, and a voluntary helper in the report centre.

Mrs. Ethel Mary INGLE, aged 53, of 1 Field Terrace, was killed and her husband, Herbert INGLE, was injured, when a bomb dropped on their home. Mr. & Mrs. INGLE had recently heard that their only son had died of wounds while serving with the 7th Hussars in Burma. She was buried in Ramsey cemetery.

Hector Lewis CAMPBELL, aged 29 years, youngest son of Mrs. Laura Edith and the late Arthur William CAMPBELL of 38 High Street, was buried in Ramsey cemetery. He had been employed as a corn buyer & salesman etc. for Messrs. Herbert LARRATT & Co. Ltd. of Ramsey. Mrs. CAMPBELL had two other sons, Colin Featherstone CAMPBELL, who had lost his hairdressing business in the raid, and Maurice CAMPBELL.

Wilfred TATT, aged 34 years, son of Wilfred & Florence TATT, was buried in Ramsey cemetery. He left a widow Harriet Victoria TATT and a 14 years old son Victor, living in Little Whyte.

These last two men were in the street and dashed for a passage between two houses [next to 39 High Street] for shelter, when a bomb fell directly above them. They were buried beneath tons of masonry, and their bodies were not recovered until several hours later.

Mrs. Gwendoline Mary WORLOCK, aged 31 years, of 47 High Street, was killed by falling masonry, when her home was damaged by the blasts, and was buried in Ramsey cemetery. Her husband, G. H. WORLOCK, was a warrant officer in the Royal Air Force.

Charles CRUMP, aged 81 years, and his wife Ada CRUMP, aged 73 years, were both killed when their home was demolished by a bomb. Two evacuees from London, they had been living with the Misses Clara & Drusilla HARRISON at 36 High Street, a large house adjoining the Methodist Chapel.

Mrs. Emma CROSS of 34 High Street, was badly injured in her blast damaged home. The wife of Reggie CROSS, she was taken to hospital where she was put on the danger list, and died a short time later.
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CWGC Ramsey Cemetery - Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr



A couple miles away from Ramsey is the village of Bury, which has a larger war grave plot.

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CWGC Bury Cemetery - Bury, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Navigator William Robert Hopcraft was the pilot training on Bristol Blenheim T1931 when it's engine failed on take off from RAF Upwood on the 11th October 1942. The aircraft engulfed in flames after crashing into trees.
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CWGC Bury Cemetery - Bury, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Leslie Partridge was the pilot training on Bristol Blenheim T1931 when it's engine failed on take off from RAF Upwood on the 11th October 1942. The aircraft engulfed in flames after crashing into trees.
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CWGC Bury Cemetery - Bury, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Bury Cemetery - Bury, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 10th April 1941, Bristol Blenheim I V5519 was taking part in night circuit training at RAF Upwood.

At 21.20, while banking, the plane flew into a lightening pole and crashed onto the flare path and burst into flames. Both crew members managed to scramble clear but the seven airmen on flare path duty, including Sergeant Sidney McLeod Wells, were not so fortunate. All were rushed to RAF hospital Ely but none survived their injuries. Sgt. Wells died in the ambulance on route to the hospital.
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CWGC Bury Cemetery - Bury, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Alfred James Victor Secker, of Te Awangh, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand was the Observer in Bristol Blenheim I L4835 on a daytime cross-country flying exercise from RAF Upwood. During the flight the weather deteriorated and flying at 1,200 feet, the crew crashed into the side of Clee Hill (1750 ft above sea level), some 6 miles east of Ludlow, Shropshire.
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CWGC Bury Cemetery - Bury, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Wireless Operator Arthur Robinson was killed on the 26th November 1940 when his Bristol Blenheim I T1854 Ran into bad weather and flew into high ground near Kettering, Northamptonshire on a night navigation training exercise from RAF Upwood.
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CWGC Bury Cemetery - Bury, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

John Henry Knowling was the Wireless Operator in Handley Page Hampden P5321 that took off on the night of the 30th / 31st May from RAF Cottesmore to attack Cologne. His aircraft collided with a 7 Sqn Handley Page Halifax and crashed near March, Cambridgeshire.
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CWGC Bury Cemetery - Bury, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the night of the 6th / 7th August 1944, de Havilland Mosquito XX KB202 from 139 Pathfinder Force Sqn crashed into a house at RAF Upwood while trying to land in fog. Four people died in the accident. Two were members of 156 Sdn, Flight Sergeant Allan Lawson Rookes and Flight Sergeant David Winlow, who had just returned to the house after coming back from a night mission over Germany.

The two Mosquito crew members also died. F/L John Henry Kenny (Pilot) DFC & Bar and F/O Martin Henry Ove Levin (Nav.) DFC.
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CWGC Bury Cemetery - Bury, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Flight Lieutenant Edward Patrick Mortimer was the pilot of Blenheim IV P4902 that stalled and spun into the ground near Cranfield on the evening of 7th August 1940 after leaving RAF Upwood. Sergeant Dennis Frank Alves was also killed in the aircraft.
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CWGC Bury Cemetery - Bury, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 25th January 1944, Handley Page Halifax II W7823 crashed at Upwood village. Taking off from RAF Upwood at 21.15 with 10 crew members on board, tasked for a target indicator dropping exercise, it failed to gain height. Seconds later, having crashed through some trees, the Halifax exploded after crashing just south of the airfield perimeter.
Navigator Geoffrey William Clifton Candlin DFC DFM was killed in the crash.
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CWGC Bury Cemetery - Bury, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Pilot Officer William James Atkinson was killed on the 11th March 1942 when his Lockheed Hudson III AE550 crashed near Coltishall, Norfolk.
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CWGC Bury Cemetery - Bury, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr



Huntingdon (Priory Road) Cemetery contains 28 CWGC casualties which are mainly spread across the cemetery, although there are 2 small plots located on the site.

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CWGC Huntingdon (Priory Road) Cemetery - Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Huntingdon (Priory Road) Cemetery - Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Huntingdon (Priory Road) Cemetery - Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Huntingdon (Priory Road) Cemetery - Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Second Lieutenant James Athol Gordon died on the 15th February 1948 when his Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2e entered a spin and failed to recover.
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CWGC Huntingdon (Priory Road) Cemetery - Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 23rd March 1918, Royal Flying Corps pilot Second Lieutenant Kenneth Wastell lost his bearings and was killed when his DH6 collided with the steeple at St Ives All Saints Parish Church, Cambridgeshire.
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CWGC Huntingdon (Priory Road) Cemetery - Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Huntingdon (Priory Road) Cemetery - Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

On the 11th August 1942, the 15 Sqn (RCAF) crew of Short Stirling I N3756 took off for a mission to Mainz in Germany. Observer John Bentley Hammond was killed when the aircraft crashed while attempting to land at RAF Wattisham after being attacked by night fighters.
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CWGC Huntingdon (Priory Road) Cemetery - Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

Air Gunner Franklin Thomas Sabourin and the crew of 83 Sqn Avro Lancaster I R5670 left their home base at 22.05 on the 6th November 1942 to attack Genoa, Italy. He was killed when the aircraft overshot the runway at RAF Mildenhall on their return.
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CWGC Huntingdon (Priory Road) Cemetery - Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr




The final location of the evening was at Brampton, with the post war graves located in one area of the village cemetery. There are also a few first world war graves here. I have struggled to find any details of the casualties here but I can presume they lost their lives serving at the local non-flying installation of RAF Brampton.
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CWGC Brampton Cemetery - Brampton, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Brampton Cemetery - Brampton, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Brampton Cemetery - Brampton, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr

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CWGC Brampton Cemetery - Brampton, Cambridgeshire, Thursday 8th August 2019 by Chris Day, on Flickr