Hawkinge Cemetery, Kent - Battle of Britain casualties.

Discussion in 'War Cemeteries & War Memorial Research' started by nicks, Jul 14, 2010.

  1. nicks

    nicks Very Senior Member

    Good work on the Hawkinge cemetery but I wondered if you could tell me where you got your reference for Allard shooting down Do 17Z #3369. I had this as shot down by Sgt Howes of 85 Sqn (who was on patrol with Allard at that time). My memory is that Howes attacked and shot down the rear aircraft of a small formation and Allard went after another aircraft. This info is from the BoB Museum at Hawkinge which unfortunately we have to try and commit to memory due to their paranoia about pencils, paper, cameras, etc.

    Regards,

    Jonathan S


    Jonathan

    The reference I used for all Luftwaffe losses was After The Battle: Battle Of Britain Then And Now Vol V.

    Regards,

    Nick
     
  2. Nick - many thanks. I'll go and drag it off the shelf now.

    Kind regards,

    Jonathan S
     
  3. Nick - for your info, I cross referenced Allard and Howes in Men of the Battle of Britain and they are both credited with a "share" for a Do17 on 1st Sept, so I am assuming ATB-BoBvV only gives part of the story! Incidently they each got an ME109 on 1st Sept, probably again flying together.

    Sad that these two experienced Aces should die in air accidents in Dec 1940 and March 1941 respectively.

    Regards,

    Jonathan S
     
  4. 51MMO

    51MMO A Very Proud Grandson

    What a brilliant thread! I'm a resident of Folkestone and was actually walking through these very headstones last weekend wondering about the stories behind them! I 'Googled' it up today and came across this thread - excellent work Nick. If I remember correctly, I believe that there are some airmen that were killed during the summer of 1940 also buried in this particular cemetary; I presume that their deaths were the result of bombing raids at Hawkinge aerodrome. I'll double the check the dates on their headstones next time I'm up there and let you know.
     
  5. 51MMO

    51MMO A Very Proud Grandson

    Further to my last post, I was up at the Hawkinge Cemetary yesterday and I took the opportunity to have a closer look at the graves of 3 airmen. I didn't get any photo's, but I did note down some details; they are as follows:

    Aircraftman 2nd Class O E Milway 26/8/1940 Age 19
    Aircraftman 1st Class H G Littlewood 26/5/1940 Age 18
    Aircraftman 1st Class Patrick Graham Elliot Sword 31/5/1940 Age 24

    I would be extremely interested in finding out more about these 3 individuals - is anyone able to provide further information?
     
  6. Gage

    Gage The Battle of Barking Creek

    Further to my last post, I was up at the Hawkinge Cemetary yesterday and I took the opportunity to have a closer look at the graves of 3 airmen. I didn't get any photo's, but I did note down some details; they are as follows:

    Aircraftman 2nd Class O E Milway 26/8/1940 Age 19
    Aircraftman 1st Class H G Littlewood 26/5/1940 Age 18
    Aircraftman 1st Class Patrick Graham Elliot Sword 31/5/1940 Age 24

    I would be extremely interested in finding out more about these 3 individuals - is anyone able to provide further information?

    16 Sqd, Lympne
    Lysander. Attack by P/O Stephen, F/Sgt Mayne and P/O Cobden of 74 Sqd between Bourbourg and Bergues and crash landed on return 7.45am. AC1 H.G. Littlewood killed. P/O Hall believed unhurt. Aircraft damaged state not recorded.
     
  7. nicks

    nicks Very Senior Member

    Further to my last post, I was up at the Hawkinge Cemetary yesterday and I took the opportunity to have a closer look at the graves of 3 airmen. I didn't get any photo's, but I did note down some details; they are as follows:

    Aircraftman 2nd Class O E Milway 26/8/1940 Age 19
    Aircraftman 1st Class H G Littlewood 26/5/1940 Age 18
    Aircraftman 1st Class Patrick Graham Elliot Sword 31/5/1940 Age 24

    I would be extremely interested in finding out more about these 3 individuals - is anyone able to provide further information?

    Aircraftman 2nd Class O E Milway's death was registered at Saffron Walden. RAF Debden would fall in this registration district, there was a heavy raid on this airfield on 26th August 1940, making it highly probable that AC2 Milway was a victim of this raid.
     
  8. 51MMO

    51MMO A Very Proud Grandson

    Thanks for the information Nick and I agree that he was most likely killed whilst serving at RAF Debden. It would appear that AC2 Milway was actually a resident of Folkestone; presumably his family opted to have him buried closer to home.

    Thanks for that Gage; that's educated me on a couple of points - 1) I never realised that Lysanders had Air Gunners and 2) I thought Aircrew ranks were Sargeant and above. Also, the Lysander is quite a distinctive looking aircraft; I wonder if there are any records available that would confirm what the 74 Sqn Pilots thought they had shot down?
     
  9. 51MMO

    51MMO A Very Proud Grandson

    Does anyone know what happened to Aircraftman 1st Class Patrick Graham Elliot Sword (KIA 31/5/1940)?
     
  10. 51MMO

    51MMO A Very Proud Grandson

    I've just obtained a copy of the 74 Sqn Operations Record Book from the National Archives and it confirms that P/O Stephen, P/O Cobden and F/Sgt Mayne claimed a Henschel 126 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henschel_Hs_126) shot down on the 26 May 1940; it would appear that it was a tragic case of mistaken identity as the Henschel 126 is very similar to the Lysander.
     

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