The following link in German talks about that 70 years after the pilot went missing close to Tirana, Albania in 1944 his 92 year old sister receiving his wedding ring. Following a rough translation: “In 1960, a local chap found the wreckage of the Halifax and a finger with this ring about 40 km north of Tirana. Because he feared that the local authorities at the time would not appreciate his story and what he found he kept it all at home. Instead and many years later he asked his son to find his family. The British Embassy in Tirana finally identified the pilot and informed the family accordingly. A box with the bits of the Halifax and the ring finally came home.” http://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/panorama/menschen-schicksale/id_73202154/britischer-kampfpilot-nach-70-jahren-identifiziert.html Stefan.
I assume it is this man: Name: John Thompson Age: 23 Birth Date: abt 1921 Death Date: 29 Oct 1944 Cemetery: The Malta Memorial Part II Burial Country: Malta Father: Mr J Thompson Mother: Mrs Thompson Regimental Number: 642357 Region or Memorial: Memorial Register The attached shows also that his wife's initial was J - so possibly Joyce TD edited to add: Family tree info: John Thompson Birth: 1921 - Derbyshire, England Death: October 29 1944 (29 Oct 1944) - Malta (but notes Albania, listed on Malta Memorial)
John Thompson. Rank:Flight Sergeant Service No:642357 Date of Death:29/10/1944 Age:23 Regiment/Service:Royal Air Force 148 Sqdn. Panel Reference:Panel 3, Column 2. Memorial:MALTA MEMORIAL Additional Information:Son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Thompson, of Matlock, Derbyshire; husband of J. Thompson, of Hackney, London.
More here on http://www.network54.com/Forum/261665/thread/1079797396/2/Halifax+JP244+FS-S Halifax JP244 FS-S SOE Operation. The flight was part of Operation Tinker an SOE operation supporting a team of Saboteurs blowing up trains. BROWN, ERNEST LOGAN. Rank: Flight Sergeant. Trade: Navigator. Service No: 1494454. Date of Death: 29/10/1944. Age: 27. Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 148 Sqdn. Panel Reference: Panel 14, Column 1. Memorial: MALTA MEMORIAL. Additional Information: Adopted son of James Crosbie Logan and Emma Logan; husband of Joan Rostron Brown, of Levenshulme, Manchester. COOTE, ALFRED. Rank: Sergeant. Trade: W/Op A/G. Service No: 1894920. Date of Death: 29/10/1944. Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 148 Sqdn. Panel Reference: Panel 14, Column 2. Memorial: MALTA MEMORIAL DONNELLY, AUSTIN. Rank: Flight Sergeant. Trade: Bomb Aimer. Service No: 975450. Date of Death: 29/10/1944. Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 148 Sqdn. Panel Reference: Panel 14, Column 1. Memorial: MALTA MEMORIAL. Additional Information: Son of James Donnelly, and of Catherine Donnelly, of St. Helens, Lancashire. KNEE, RICHARD CHARLES. Rank: Sergeant. Trade: Dispatcher. Service No: 1331866. Date of Death: 29/10/1944. Age: 23. Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 148 Sqdn. Panel Reference: Panel 15, Column 1. Memorial: MALTA MEMORIAL. Additional Information: Son of Charles and Raynah Knee, of Sutton, Surrey. MABBS, CHARLES. Rank: Sergeant. Trade: Air Gunner. Service No: 1685949. Date of Death: 29/10/1944. Age: 31. Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 148 Sqdn. Panel Reference: Panel 15, Column 1. Memorial: MALTA MEMORIAL. Additional Information: Son of Charles and Margaret Mabbs; husband of Helena Mabbs, of West Derby, Liverpool. Member Pharmaceutical Society. STUBLEY, EDWIN JOHN. Rank: Flying Officer. Trade: Pilot. Service No: 152396. Date of Death: 29/10/1944. Age: 23. Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 148 Sqdn. Panel Reference: Panel 13, Column 2. Memorial: MALTA MEMORIAL. Additional Information: Son of Henry and Hilda M. Stubley, of Grantham, Lincolnshire. THOMPSON, JOHN. Rank: Flight Sergeant. Trade: Flight Engineer. Service No: 642357. Date of Death: 29/10/1944. Age: 23. Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force 148 Sqdn. Panel Reference: Panel 3, Column 2. Memorial: MALTA MEMORIAL. Additional Information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Thompson, of Matlock, Derbyshire; husband of J. Thompson, of Hackney, London. (although not absolutely sure of aircraft serial and letter, nor of Mabbs who had trained as a navigator)
panel 3 from Malta Memorial THOMPSON, JOHN Rank: Flight Sergeant Service No: 642357 Date of Death: 29/10/1944 Age: 23 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force 148 Sqdn. Panel Reference: Panel 3, Column 2. Memorial: MALTA MEMORIAL Additional Information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. J. Thompson, of Matlock, Derbyshire; husband of J. Thompson, of Hackney, London. photo via Mr William Blackett/Mr Jinks
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/09/albanian-solves-uk-family-mystery-of-missing-second-world-war-airman
29 October 1944 148 Squadron Halifax JP244 Part of 14 aircraft tasked to drop supplies into Albania during a daylight op. The aircraft was seen over the DZ and the crew dropped their load as planed. The Halifax was not seen again. Crew as posted by Kevin
Hopefully a recovery of the crew is in the works. It would be a shame not to recover and return them. Danny
I'm slightly puzzled that the UK and US Embassies were apparently able to pinpoint who the ring belonged to in "three months". All from a ring with two Names inscribed.... There has to be more behind that aspect. Thompson was the Flight Engineer and likely to have been in the front of the Halifax when it crashed/hit a mountain... The majority of the crew would also be there and the "box of bits" seems to have dials from instruments, again suggesting the cockpit area. I would expect there to have been more wreckage if this was an undiscovered site, so like Danny, I hope more is recovered.
Albania must have been the hardest country to legally enter postwar under the regime of Hoxha....it seemed to be a forbidden country.Consequently I would have thought that it was almost impossible for the Western Powers to be given co-operation for teams to search out for missing casualties. Per Ardua ad Astra. [In November 1991,after the fall of communism and Hoxha, the German VDK were given permission by Albania to construct a consolidated cemetery in Tirana for nearly 6000 of their identified and unidentified dead...apparently located in 173 locations.] [As an aside,apparently Norman Wisdom,even during the Hoxha regime had a huge following in Albania....his slapstick humorous films must have got through,even during the Hoxha regime.]
CWGC Information on the Tirana Park Memorial Park gives some indication of the difficulty the CWGC had to search out British casualties in Albania during the regime of Hoxha and until the fall of communism,circa 1991. http://www.cwgc.org/find-a-cemetery/cemetery/2022206/TIRANA%20PARK%20MEMORIAL%20CEMETERY
Account of the loss of the Halifax and recovery of John Thompson's wedding ring retold on BBC North Inside Out. A few frames included of what might be the close up of a Halifax fuselage showing the loading of containers through a dedicated container entry door at the bottom of the fuselage RAF roundel
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-31924821 Albanian journey to solve mystery of missing airman 23 March 2015 Last updated at 00:04 GMT BBC Inside Out unravels the mysterious story of a young airman from Derbyshire which has been kept secret for 70 years. John Thompson was 18 at the outbreak of World War II. He married in 1944 and spent a solitary weekend with his bride, Joyce, before he went missing following a secret air mission in October 1944. His family has been trying to find out what happened to him ever since, but nobody was able to throw light on the fate of the plane. A remarkable discovery on an Albanian mountain could provide clues to what happened. Inside Out's Tony Roe has been to Albania with John's sister, 92-year-old Dorothy Webster, to completely solve the 70-year-old mystery. Credits - archive footage is courtesy of British Pathe. Inside Out is broadcast on BBC One East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire & Lincolnshire on Monday, 23 March at 19:30 GMT and nationwide on the iPlayer for 30 days thereafter.
Burial service set for 24.10.2018 Tirana Park Memorial ! Burials and Rededication Services in October 2018 Mark
I was just at a formal event organized by the British Embassy Tirana where the recovered remains of the crew of Halifax JP244 from 148 Squadron RAF were laid to rest. It's a little cemetary in Tirana Park where other wartime dead lie, both British and Albanian. The event was honoured by the Albanian government with a formal guard and band. Several government officials and representatives from various embassies attended. The British Ambassador and Mayor of Tirana spoke. Members of the families of the crew were also present. Here is a picture of RAF Regiment pallbearers marching past the Albanian guard of honour. The casket contains the remains of the crew that were recovered (I think in 2018) from the crash site, after a forest fire had laid it bare.
Ceremony 24-10-2018 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/...-crew-buried-in-dignified-ceremony-in-Albania Members of the Crew of Halifax JP244 laid to rest at Tirana Park Memorial Cemetery Mark