My great uncle was a pilot in the RAFVR. Attached is a summary of his service/training record. He went missing on a training flight AW275 on 11/03/1943. A lot of his service record is to do with training in Canada. Does it look like he had passed his training before he went missing? From what I gather it looks like he never went on any bombing runs or anything - however surely he cannot have been training for two years? Would the fact he was only a sergeant (rather than an officer) show that he was still training? My nan never thought he saw active service, however another family member thinks he may have been present on a few active bombing runs. Any insights or assistance would be useful.
Hi, I’m sure an RAF expert will be along shortly but I’d hazard a guess that he died whilst on the strength of an Operational Training Unit as neither his MOD record or CWGC record show a Squadron number. A member will likely turn up a reference to the incident and if he was in a bomber you may be lucky to find fuller details in the Canadian or Australian National Archives If any crew members were from Canada or Australia - not likely - see below link to Runnymede Memorial that appears to show that all personnel were RAFVR. Good Luck. Steve EDIT TO ADD No. 5 Operational Training Unit RAF (5 OTU)
Runnymede panel from my collection. Sergeant WARE, JOHN ALFRED RONALD Service Number 1315385 Died 11/03/1943 Aged 31 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Son of John James Ware and Esther Ware, of Oxford. Casualty Commemorated at RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL Location: Surrey, United Kingdom Number of casualties: 20278 Cemetery/memorial reference: Panel 168.
Hi, From RAFCommands site RAFCommands Forums The four missing personnel were with No.5 (C)OTU. March 11th 1943, “At 08.05 Beaufort AW275 with Sgt Ware, pilot, Sgt Clark, Nav.B, Sgt Kemp, Sgt Fitzmaurice WOP/Ags took off on navigation exercise and were at approx 11.20 estimated to be near Stornoway. A signal was received at 13.38 that being the last heard of them. Presumed missing in sea.” Here is link to all men who died 11th March 1943 who are listed on Runnymede Memorial. Results Steve
The four missing personnel were with No.5 (C)OTU. March 11th 1943, “At 08.05 Beaufort AW275 with Sgt Ware, pilot, Sgt Clark, Nav.B, Sgt Kemp, Sgt Fitzmaurice WOP/Ags took off on navigation exercise and were at approx 11.20 estimated to be near Stornoway. A signal was received at 13.38 that being the last heard of them. Presumed missing in sea.” 430311 - Unaccounted airmen - 11-3-1943
Hi, I may as well have a stab at answering your queries within the quoted text below - queries numbered for my ease of reference - Steve
Thanks so much for your in depth reply! His loss was so sudden and heartbreaking for his family they never really spoke of him again, so I’m trying to piece it all together. Would his pilots log book be available anywhere, or likely lost? Ps his age at death was actually 22 (born 1921 not 1913) and it’s on my to do list to get this changed. Any experience as to how easy this is?
Hi, Just follow the advice from CWGC site via below link - Amending Records Steve PS Air Ministry usually let NOK of deceased Pilot’s have the log book post war. RAF expert may be able to confirm if Number 5 OTU Operational Record Book is available via U.K. National Archives.
The text posted on RAF Commands is a transcript of the entry in the ORB. Log books were advertised in the national press as available to be claimed until a certain date post war - then apart from a few typical and notable examples held in archive were destroyed. Ross
To add to this thread, I now have some additional papers for John Ware from the MOD. From what I can see, they show that, as discussed above, John was towards the end of his training when he died. For those with much more experience than I, is there anything particularly interesting or note worthy in the documents? TIA