Hello Everyone, I am rather new to this type of research and I know little about the army and other services and have joined to pick some background and learn more. I am a grandmother and I love Family history, so I am reasonably used to researching. I am discovering the background of the service men and women of the three villages that our history society covers who died in the two world wars, and writing short Biographies for them and adding these to a website. At present I am trying to discover details of the family of this airman. F/O John Gaskell Howard was born in Hakodate, Japan in September 1917, the son of Wing Commander Frederick John Howard and his wife Gladys nee Williams. John had a younger sister Katherine who was born in 1922 also in Hakodate, Japan. They lived there until 1932 when they came back to England. Now on the Incoming Passenger List the family are shown but the father's occupation is that of Teacher. There is no mention of the RAF and his rank. So am interested in how to discover more about the father to understand how he is a Wing Commander cum Teacher. John was killed in a flying accident near our village in 1939.
Hello Cassie, John Howard Gaskie was granted a short service commission as an Pilot Officer in the RAF on 21 December 1937. Gazetted 28 December 1937. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34467/page/8138/data.pdf Regards, Dave
Flying Officer HOWARD, JOHN GASKELL Service Number 39526 Died 18/12/1939 Aged 22 97 Sqdn. Royal Air Force Son of Wing Cdr. Frederick John Howard, R.A.F., and Gladys Howard, of Notting Hill, London.
HOWARD, JOHN GASKELL Service: Royal Air Force Service Number: 39526 Rank: Flying Officer Date of Death: 18 December 1939 Units: No. 97 Squadron, RAF † Timeline 18 December 1939 † Whitley K7260: Aircraft crashed near Kingston Bagpuize, 6 miles W of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, after losing height and striking a tree during a training flight. HOWARD, JOHN GASKELL - AviationHeritage.org
England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 Name: John G Howard Death Age: 21 Birth Date: abt 1918 Registration Date: Dec 1939 Registration district: Abingdon Inferred County: Berkshire Volume: 2c Page: 745 UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current Name: John Gaskell Howard Death Date: 18 Dec 1939 Cemetery: St. John the Baptist Churchyard Burial or Cremation Place: Kingston Bagpuize, Vale of White Horse District, Oxfordshire, England Has Bio?: Y URL: https://www.findagrave.com/mem... Accident Armstrong Whitworth Whitley B.Mk II K7260, 18 Dec 1939 Armstrong Whitworth Whitley B.Mk.II K7260, 97 Squadron, RAF Abingdon: Written off (destroyed) 18/12/39. The crew was performing a training exercise and left RAF Abingdon in the morning. While cruising at low altitude, aircraft hit a tree and crashed inverted in flames in a field located near Kingston Bagpuize, some 6 miles west of Abingdon, Oxfordshire. All three crew members were killed: Flying Officer John Gaskell Howard (aged 22, Service Number 39526) killed Pilot Officer Clair Neil Robinson (aged 19 Service Number 75171) killed Sgt Albert Coe (aged 23, Service Number 565860) killed NOTE: At the time of the above accident Kingston Bagpuize was part of Berkshire, until the 1974 boundary changes transferred it to Oxfordshire. TD