AOP (Air Observation Post) Squadron Casualties

That would indeed be great!

 

Here they are. Sorry, I should have put them up straight away, rather than being coy. I've also included pages for honours and awards, and the lists of RA pilots trained by course. The pencil annotations are my attempt to pull info together.

CO means that guy eventually became CO of an AOP Sqn.
KIA means what it usually means.

 

Name: WILSON, JOHN
Rank: Lieutenant
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Secondary Regiment: Royal Air Force
Secondary Unit Text: attd. 659 A.O.P. Sqdn.
Age: 26
Date of Death: 15/11/1944
Service No: 149792
Additional information: Son of John and Mary Wilson, of Greenock, Renfrewshire.
Grave/Memorial Reference: Grave 2.
Cemetery: OPLOO (ST. ANTHONIS) ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHYARD

My maternal uncle.
John was TA Royal Engineers pre war.
He was commissioned into the RA in 1940.
Served at Alamein & in the invasion of Italy with 51st Highland Divison before volunteering for AOP.
The TA unit he was a member of missed all major actions and all his friends came home unscathed.
London Gazette Comissioning:
http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/34957/supplements/5774/page.pdf

 

welcome to the forum
please post any further info
forum members will be most interested

 

Information on how he was killed is posted on the website of one of our Forum Members.
"My maternal uncle.
John was TA Royal Engineers pre war.
He was commissioned into the RA in 1940.
Served at Alamein & in the invasion of Italy with 51st Highland Divison before volunteering for AOP.
The TA unit he was a member of missed all major actions and all his friends came home unscathed."

659 AOP Squadron

 

Name: BALLYN, CECIL CLAUDE
Rank: Captain
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Secondary Regiment: Royal Air Force
Secondary Unit Text: attd. 658 A.O.P. Sqdn.,
Age: 38
Date of Death: 18/03/1945
Service No: 184322
Awards: D F C and Bar

Don't know if this is any use to you, it's from the official history of 121 field/medium regt.

 

Don't know if this is any use to you, it's from the official history of 121 field/medium regt.

Any additional information is useful.

 

Are you aware of the attached book. It contains nominal rolls of the three Canadian AOP squadrons. Lots of good photos as well

John

 

welcome to the forum
please post any further info
forum members will be most interested

Information on how he was killed is posted on the website of one of our Forum Members.

659 AOP Squadron

The information there is much the same as told to me by my mother.
His commission is here:

http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/34957/supplements/5774/page.pdf

I've added all this to my original post for tidiness.

 

Many thanks for posting his photo.

Regards - Rob

 

One of the AOP Pilots is listed on CWGC as being a casualty of 51 Heavy Regt, RA and no mention of being a pilot in 652 AOP Sqdn.

I have e-mailed CWGC with the war diary page of his death and a copy of the AOP roll of honour and I quote:-

"Dear Sir/Madam.

In the war diary of 652 AOP Squadron, RAF, there is an entry showing a Capt Pugh being shot down and fatally wounded in Normandy on 9 June 1944.

The only Pugh listed on CWGC is the following man:-

Name: PUGH, ERIC VINCENT
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Captain
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Unit Text: 51 Heavy Regt.
Age: 32
Date of Death: 10/06/1944
Service No: 126219
Additional information: Son of Vincent and Margaret Pugh; husband of Yvonne Jessie Pugh, of Worcester.
Grave/Memorial Reference: XI. F. 7.
Cemetery: BAYEUX WAR CEMETERY

The majority of AOP pilots were Royal Artillery officers and Capt E V Pugh is listed in a Roll of Honour of AOP men killed.

I attach a copy of the AOP diary page and the ROH and look forward to receiving your comments."

 

I have decided to remedy an injustice (caused my ignorance on my part), by removing the Royal Artillery part of the title of this thread, as it does not give credit to RAF personnel who also lost their lives serving with this type of unit.

Whilst reading a war diary of one such unit, I noticed that an RAFVR Leading Aircraftsman was an observer who was also killed along with the pilot. A brief look discovered a second. In both cases (appropriately), they are buried alongside one another.

 

Here is the first I discovered, with a copy of the war diary page of 652 AOP covering the 13th June:-

(Headstone photos will be added in a couple of months)

Name: VANN, LESLIE
Rank: Captain
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Secondary Regiment: Royal Air Force
Secondary Unit Text: attd. 652 A.O.P. Sqdn.
Age: 22
Date of Death: 13/06/1944
Service No: 224888
Additional information: Son of Herbert and Emily Vann, of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire; husband of Jean Vann.
Grave/Memorial Reference: VIII. E. 26.
Cemetery: RANVILLE WAR CEMETERY



Name: ATKINSON, GEORGE THOMAS
Rank: Leading Aircraftman
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text: 652 Sqdn.
Age: 23
Date of Death: 13/06/1944
Service No: 1536278
Additional information: Son of George Thomas Atkinson and Mary Emma Atkinson; husband of Betty Amelia Atkinson, of Heworth, York.
Grave/Memorial Reference: VIII. E. 27.
Cemetery: RANVILLE WAR CEMETERY

 

Picture taken in 1948:



Picture taken c.1980?:





Name: Burgess, Geoffrey L.
Rank: Captain
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Secondary Regiment: Royal Air Force
Secondary Unit Text: 653 A.O.P. Sqdn.
Age: 28
Date of Death: 26/08/1944
Service No: not known
Additional information: Husband of Margaret of Oakwood, Hexham, Northumberland.
Interred in the Churchyard at Le Neuberg near Rouen

The Flight Diary records that on August 26th 1944 "the Flight moved to a landing ground [ALG] at Combon.. ..Capt Burgess did not turn up.. for the night "; on the 28th Aug: "there is still no news [of Capt Burgess] in spite of recce by plane by Squadron HQ and ‘A’ Flight." On 30th Aug: "It was with great regret that the Flight heard the news that Capt Burgess had been killed in a flying accident near Neubourg [where he had been flying in support of an Armoured Brigade].

Captain Burgess is remembered in a memorial window of the church at St John Lee near Hexham.

4 March 2016: I have since discovered that the memorial window was commissioned by Captain Burgess's father and dedicated two or three years after VE Day.

 

Robert thank you for posting and welcome to the forum

 

How spooky is that! I was looking for a headstone photo for Geoffrey Burgess this morning.

Welcome to the Forum Robert. What would be your interest in this particular person?

 

Captain Geoff Burgess was a friend of my late father, Capt R.L. Munro who was also in C Flight when they fought in Normandy. My father was on leave when Capt. Burgess went missing and heard the news when he returned on 1st Sept.

The Squadron Diary entry is quite brief, saying on the 30th August that 'the body of Capt. Burgess had been found. He was presumably killed in a flying accident." and later, in the month's summary (5th Sept), "hit H.T. cables."

Unfortunately my father spoke very little about his wartime experiences although he did leave a written account in which he says Capt. Burgess was 'shot down'. It would be interesting to discover more about the circumstances as it seems unsatisfactory to know so little.

I do have pictures of the headstone which I will post when I get hold of a scanner. One was taken in 1948 and the other after a permanent memorial was put in place.

 

How spooky is that! I was looking for a headstone photo for Geoffrey Burgess this morning.

Welcome to the Forum Robert. What would be your interest in this particular person?

Thanks Ramacal and Cl1 for your welcomes. I have now put my pictures up - apologies for the size, I had to use a camera as I am in France without my scanner right now. Next week I will be going back to the UK and passing Rouen so I will try to find the church yard at Le Neuberg (it's not far off my route) and see for myself.

 

One of the AOP Pilots is listed on CWGC as being a casualty of 51 Heavy Regt, RA and no mention of being a pilot in 652 AOP Sqdn.

I have e-mailed CWGC with the war diary page of his death and a copy of the AOP roll of honour and I quote:-

"Dear Sir/Madam.

In the war diary of 652 AOP Squadron, RAF, there is an entry showing a Capt Pugh being shot down and fatally wounded in Normandy on 9 June 1944.

The only Pugh listed on CWGC is the following man:-

Name: PUGH, ERIC VINCENT
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Captain
Regiment/Service: Royal Artillery
Unit Text: 51 Heavy Regt.
Age: 32
Date of Death: 10/06/1944
Service No: 126219
Additional information: Son of Vincent and Margaret Pugh; husband of Yvonne Jessie Pugh, of Worcester.
Grave/Memorial Reference: XI. F. 7.
Cemetery: BAYEUX WAR CEMETERY


The majority of AOP pilots were Royal Artillery officers and Capt E V Pugh is listed in a Roll of Honour of AOP men killed.

I attach a copy of the AOP diary page and the ROH and look forward to receiving your comments."

CWGC replied today (10 May 2011) and would not accept the copy of either the war diary page or the ROH I sent them as evidence that Capt Pugh was serving with 652 AOP.

The next step will be to obtain a copy of the officers return for both 51 Heavy Regt and 652 AOP Sqdn for June 1944 to see what is shown.

 

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