Brookwood Military Cemetery/Lytchett Minster Churchyard/Glasgow Western Necropolis/ LANCASTER CRASH

We have had contact from a lady who is related to the 'Hall' side of the family of the last Airman.

Robert Edgar Hall Cameron was so named as he was the son of Edgar Wilson Hall and when the mother re married he became a Cameron.

Margaret Cameron married Alexander who died only five years after she lost her son in the aircraft crash in 1944.

She then re married a third time in about 1960. This third husband William Orville Hollis died in 1980 in Quebec. Thus we now start searching there.

Also in a book about WW2 Canadian Servicemen at the Brandon Air Museum there is a reference to a Mrs. Dorrance listed next to Maragert Cameron noting her as a NOK to Robert. This lady lived in Montreal and is / was quite possibly Margarets sister.

The family originated from Montreal and so our enquiries are active there as well.

Although we can't find an obituary for Margaret Cameron there is one for her second husband and we are looking for one for her third husband.

Lot's to explore yet.

 

A quick update regarding the crash site memorial, we are now in possession of the black marble top which has been produced with raised lettering, listing the seven lost airman, plus a black marble plaque for the front of the memorial, with the RAF insignia inset in white, beautiful work, and most of the cost for these was covered by a generous donation from the company that have provided the site for the memorial, construction on the site will commence in early February, not a complicated job but keen to get started. its all moving along very well.

Regards lofty

 

I'm now in possession of Margaret Camerons second and third husbands obituaries and have gained more information to examine.

Also there may be another lead on Mrs.S.Dorrance who is listed as a second NOK of Robert Cameron in a book about Canadian servicemen ('They Shall Not Grow Old').

Bernice if you're reading this can you please respond to my emails (5th and 12th Sept), thanks.

 

A new lead has come in from a newspaper appeal which was published for me in 'The Equity' newspaper in the Shawville (Quebec) area of Canada. Shawville was the town where Margaret Camerons third husband died.

I am hopeful that we have found a cousin who now lives America.

Ref Lofty's post above about the memorial top now completed. We are very pleased with the result and we must at this point remember to mention the generosity of the companies supporting this project:

David Davies the Business Development Manager at Space Maker Safe Store Limited Borehamwood Hertfortshire and Susan Ho M.D. of Seven Seas Marble and Granite Ltd of Kelvedon Essex. Also Sue Moran who works for the same company and her husband Jim the stone inscriber.

Because of these three companies and these individuals we will have a fitting memorial for the seven airmen.

Whilst the unveiling ceremony is still some months away we have now have started to look at this. More on this later, but we're particularly pleased to know that two elements are confirmed.

 

RAFWMC - Events

 

Anne Law recently sent me this link to their Commemoration Service.

A modest lady who has spent countless hours quietly behind the scenes documenting what went on at RAF Wickenby during the Seond World War. Her dedication to collating and remembering the crews who served there is quite amazing.

12 & 626 Squadron Memorial Service - YouTube

 

Stan
Thanks for the post.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

We have today made contact with a cousin of Robert Cameron in California and in doing so have learnt a little more about Robert. He had already completed his required number of missions. This one on the 24th April he volunteered to go on, basically stepping in last minute.

Margaret Cameron, his mother, died in London Ontario seven or eight years ago. This information is surprising as we carried out extensive searches in London Ontario but could find no records of this anywhere.

Hopefully we will be sent a photo of Robert in due course.

There is one more relative who we're going to try and make contact with as this information has already been sent to us. But basically we have now completed the search for the crews relatives. We have achieved much in the last two months, and our thanks goes to all those who have helped:

Michael Heath who was one of the then school boys who visited the crash site. He was able to provide initial information through his contact with:

Nigel Julian Historian.


Members on here to thank are:

EnglandPhil
Ramacal
Lofty1
Jack Russell


And a big thank you goes to this lady who saw one of the first newspaper appeals and remained with me offering information and guidance:

Nancy E. MacFarlane London Ontario Canada. This lady has been incredibly helpful. (Edit November 2015: Rest in Peace Nancy).

Another big thank you goes to:

David Smith Royal Canadian Air Force Association Canada 427 (London) Wing.

David was also very helpful. He went out of his way to visit schools, churches, colleges, searching for possible memorials in the London Ontario area where Robert Camerons name might have been mentioned. He visited the location of the former Cameron home - now a restaurant, and arranged for our search to be discussed at Committeee meeting level.

Anne Law and Tim Brett Wickenby Memorial Museum U.K.

John Brehaut Veterans Affairs Canada Prince Edward Island.
Deborah Taylor Veterans Affairs Canada.
Andrea Cranfield The Equity newspaper Shawville Quebec Canada.
Lyse Lacourse Shawville Notes The Equity newspaper Quebec.
Don Page Bristol Quebec.
Jennifer Davies Shawville Library Quebec.
Helen McMunn Shawville Quebec.
Hilary Stringer The London Free Press - Sun Media Canada.
Anne Gow London Ontario Public Library.
'Jacquie in Canada' on 'RootsChat'
Carole W on RootsChat
Bernice King from contact on 'Rootschat'
Stephen Haytor Brandon Air Museum Manitoba Canada.
Bill and Brenda Whitehead Fairview Cemetery Roland Manitoba Canada.
Kevin Trew at Carrot River Historical Society Saskatchewan Canada.
Doug Chisholm Woodland Aerial Photography Melfort Saskatchewan Canada.
Julia Adamson Saskatchewan GenWeb Canada.
Major Harol E. Kellett (retired) RCAF Canada.
Ann Kermode Kamloops British Columbia Canada.
Bill Barry Saskatchewan Virtual War Memorial Canada.
Dorris Williams Legion Magazine Canada
Derek Dyck former resident of Carrot River Saskatchewan Canada.
Mike Cheeseborough Kamloops British Columbia Canada.
Manitoba Historical Society Canada.
Connie Karst Kamloops British Columbia Canada.
Norma Seabrook, former postmistress Carrot River Saskatchewan Canada.
The Montreal Tribune Canada.
Patty Brown Montreal Genweb

Craig Mackey Air Force Historical Research Agency Maxwell Air Force Base Alabama.

Melanie Guney The Commonwealth Graves Commission Brookwood Military Cemetery Surrey U.K.
Joe McGuire and Ben Spencer The Glaswegian Newspaper U.K.
Julie Hastings and Joanna Donaldson Jordanhill school Glasgow U.K.
David Lumb and Adam Phillips The Express and Star Walsall Staffordshire U.K.
Andrew McGill Newsquest South West The Bridgewater Mercury U.K.
Jim Durkin The Bournemouth Echo U.K.
Hattie Coyne Trinity Mirror PLC (The Southport Visitor newspaper) U.K.
St. Dunstans Lytchett Minster Poole Dorset U.K.
John Elwell 626 Squadron Historian
Simon Gallup Langham Essex U.K.

Members on 'The Airfield Information Exchange' website:
'kebeker' (Peter from Quebec).
'tigger' - Moderator.
'airfields man' (Paul).
'mbriscoe.'
'jack russel' Dianne Ablewhite.

And finally, thanks to Owen and the other people on this forum that make it 'tick.' WW2talk.com is without doubt an important website and has many knowledgeable members who are prepared to share their information.

And I nearly forgot my manners - thank you to Roger Collier ('RCO' on WW2talk.com ) of Pristine Images for the excellent work he's done for us improving images we've recieved from relatives of the crew.

 

We have now made contact with another relative in Quebec. This is from the mothers sisters side of the family. They are pleased to hear about the memorial and will try and find a photo of Robert Cameron for us.

It may be interesting if we can find a link to the Germans family who shot up the Lancaster. From Wickenby Memorial Museum I was able to discover that this was Unteroffizier Beier of 6/KG 51, the claim for the attack is listed as 5 - 15km S Diss (1357) - 0358

This information came from Theo Boiten's book Nachtjagd War Diaries Vol 2

If anyone has any suggestions of where to start a search - forums etc, then perhaps they could contact me, thanks.

 

Dennis Randles (RAF Wireless Operator) son David has kindly sent some images to me today.

This was his father

 

STAN50 has asked me to add these,------ Dennis Randles log book although very sad, was an unexpected addition to whats been found out about the crew members, and the letter, writing these so often must have been an awful job.
regards lofty

 

Stan50, Lofty, superb work. I look forward to seeing more and hearing about the construction and dedication of the memorial.
Quite a wonderful example of co-operation by so many people, including many members here.

 

We have located a third relative now of Robert Cameron in Canada so all being well we will have a photo of him to hand soon.

We have put together a list of all the relatives who may wish to contact each other and this has been well received.

As Mike L says in the post above, this project has gone forward because of the help given by some good members on this forum.

 

I've now initiated a search for the German pilot who attacked the Lancaster so we'll see what transpires.

 

We have received some more pictures from Francis Gunn's relatives. In the first picture he is seen standing next to his daughter, Patricia.

Patricia did well in life taking part in school activities and public speaking. She received her Bachelor of Education degree at the University of Saskatchewan and taught for many years.

The picture of Patricia playing in the garden was always carried with her father.

 

We have had some good people come forward and help us with this project. One of these is David Smith from the Air Force Association of Canada 427 (London) Wing.

He has now managed to locate and obtain the service rceords of Robert Cameron for us. These are very comprehensive and detailed. There is one photo of Robert obvioulsy taken when he first joined up at the age of just seventeen.

The documents are very interesting and it is a strange feeling to see his signature on some of these. So at last we have some knowlege of him.

 

We very kindly have been sent some images from Joan and David Dorrance in Canada. David was a nephew to Margaret (the mother of Robert).

So to date, we have managed to obtain photographs of five members of the crew of Lancaster UM-K2 DV177.

Note how many mssions Robert had taken part in.

 

One of the main Canadian newspapers published our appeal letter back in the summer which kick started the search for Canadian relatives of the crew.
I've recently updated and thanked them and they again have published this for thier readers. I thought also members on this forum might like to see it as well:

Link: RAF LANCASTER CREW MEMORIAL COLCHESTER ESSEX UNITED KINGDOM | | The London Free Press

 

We have also received some images kindly forwarded by Brenda Nicholson. Her husband is second cousin to Robert.

The little Island is located close to two family cottages. Robert loved this place and spent a lot of time there. The family named it Bob's Island.