Can anyone advise if this person was one of a crew of an aircraft discovered in the sixties, i have tried the usual google etc but nothing is showing. Thanks for reading this Name: MILLER, Charles Edward Initials: C E Nationality: UK Rank: Sgt (W.Op) Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserves Unit Text: 19 O.T.U Age: 20 Date of Death: 07/10/1944 Service No: 1573710 Awards: Additional Info: Son of Charles Edward and Catherine Miller of Musselburgh. Born in Edinburgh. Casualty Type: CWD Grave/Memorial Ref: 31.E.8 Memorial: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany.
Do not think so. The Final Graves Registration Report attached to this casualty at CWGC lists a collective grave for the crew and annotates Buried near this spot. This usually means a grave for the recovered crew at the 1944 time that could not be identified by the Missing Registration teams in the 1945/46 period due to lost grave markers. Ross
Chorley in his book RAF Bomber Command Losses Vol.5 covering 1944 give the following re this loss...... 7 October 1944 78 Squadron Halifax III LV796 EY-K Op. Kieve Took off from Breighton at 1132 hours. All are buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery. Apart from F/O. Hill, all are commemorated here on special memorials as the precise location of their graves is unknown. Their names are also perpetuated by the Runnymede Memorial. (Is it me, or does the above make sense? Maybe I'm reading it wrong) Crew P/O. J R. Gillespie + Sgt. E P. Knight + F/O. F. Hill + F/O B E. Turnbull + Sgt. C E. Miller + Sgt. G. Sharrocks + Sgt. H R. Porter +
Thanks for replies. The clue that I have is that in the sixties wreckage was found with bodies recovered and that Sgt Miller was one of the persons recovered. I will be talking to someone tomorrow and hope to find out more. Again many thanks to all who have replied so far. Its good to know the crew and aircraft type and mission and the valuable input of the forum members.
Runnymede Memorial Old panel details :- P/O. J R. Gillespie + Panel 211 Sgt. E P. Knight + Panel 232 F/O. F. Hill + F/O B E. Turnbull + Panel 209 Sgt. C E. Miller + Panel 234 Sgt. G. Sharrocks + Panel 237 Sgt. H R. Porter + Panle 236 Mark
I eventually contacted the person I was looking for re Sgt Miller ,There is a photo in the collection taken in Elgin Morayshire which is near to Forres where 19 OTU was based. His CWGC says Killed with 19OTU but we know he was with 78 Sqn. I will post the Group photo soon. From the RAF Commands site Raid on Kleve 7th October 1944 351 aircraft , 251 Halifaxes,90 Lancasters, 10 Mosquitoes- of 3,4 and 4 Group to bomb the small German town of Kleve which,together with Emmerich, stood on the approach routes by wich German units could threaten the vulnerable Allied right flank near Nijmegen which has been left exposed by the failure of Operation Market Garden.Visibility was clear and the centre and north of the town were heavely bombed,altough some crews bombed to early and their loads fell in Holland near Nijmegen, 2 Halifaxes lost From the Bomber Command War Diaries Sgt Miller and the remainder of the crew set off on their maiden operation against Kleve on the 7th at 1132 hours and would have been in the target area at around 1400 hours when they were hit by flak and shot down. Halifax LV796 crashed on a house at Spyck Strasse Nr.60 (Street name and number) at Kleve. Only Hill could be identified. Remains of three airmen were found in 1965. Except Hill, all have a Special Grave Memorial Type C. Gillespie and Turnbull share one grave; Sharrocks and Porter share one grave; Knight and Miller share one grave.
