Does anyone have a second source for the date of death of this RAF chap: http://www.cwgc.org/search-for-war-dead/casualty/1802894/KNOWLES,%20BASIL%20ELLES%20SHARP I think it might be 10-05-1940 and not 01-05-1940 on the basis of the memorial in the picture. Regards, Marco
Marco Is this your Man KNOWLES, BASIL ELLES SHARP Rank:Sergeant Service No:580790 Date of Death:01/05/1940 Age:19 Regiment/Service:Royal Air Force 37 Sqdn. Panel ReferencePanel 16. #Memorial RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL Additional Information: Son of William Arthur and Henrietta Emily Knowles, of Wareham, Dorsetshire.
http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/war-air/21289-raf-losses-may-1940-update.html#post220241 Loss covered here thanks to Peter Clare and W R Chorley.
Thanks chaps. I thought it might be a CWGC typo because why would relatives have his dod wrongly as 10-05? Regards, Marco
I thought it might be a CWGC typo because why would relatives have his dod wrongly as 10-05? Possible (but more likely their source) and yes in that order. I'd be inclined to put more faith in the family having it right; though revealing the truth may prove more time-consuming than you'd like if nobody's already on the case. OK, Wellington P9213 may have been lost on the 1st but did all its crew necessarily perish on the same day as the department informing the CWGC seem to have assumed? Maybe Sgt Knowles died 9 days later of his wounds - say after being picked up and hospitalised. And maybe, despite the family having been told the 10th, the Air Ministry typist simply failed to realise the aberrant date when transcribing what was presumably quite a tediously-long and generally-uniform list (understandable human error if not using a ruler or copy holder to keep the darting eye on each line in turn). Just to add to the basic data, though, here are his casualty announcements as they appeared in Flight magazine - 23rd May (missing) and 30th May (missing, believed KiA). Rgds, Steve
Sgt Knowles NOK would have been informed by the Air Ministry of his possible fate with a status of "Missing" from operations on 30 April 1940.The casualty's body was not found so therefore there would be no information forwarded by the Germans to the Protecting Power.Lack of news and information would lead to the Air Ministry releasing further information to the casualty's NOK as "Missing,Believed Killed".This would be the status of the casualty until the Air Ministry were able to confirm, through postwar investigations that the casualty was still missing and that his death was legal.Furthermore information detailed in the ORB confirms that Sgt Knowles aircraft was involved in action (as seen by reliable witnesses) over the sea with enemy fighters. After the war, final information would be released by the Air Ministry to the NOK confirming that Sgt Knowles was "Missing,Believed Killed".It occurs to me that the memorial plaque could have been placed on a family grave before the postwar Air Ministry casualty confirmation letter.The date must be in error on the memorial plaque for the NOK must have been informed of Sgt Knowles FTR from operations on 30 April/1 May 1940.
The casualty's body was not found Oopsy, of course! Well, the Briantspuddle (Bladen Valley) war memorial certainly seems to agree with the CWGC rather than his family's memorial - Roll of Honour and 3 geograph photos:
