For anyone who may have a personal interest in 78 Sqn Royal Air Force: "Exercise Halifax Shadow" a 78 Sqn memorial weekend will be held 4-7th June 2010 at various locations in the greater York area The event is open to all former members of 78 Sqn - be they air or ground crew (and from any era of our operational past) We will also welcome the relatives/families of the 979 78 Sqn personnel KIA/MIA during WWII and of those 20+ personnel lost since the end of hostilities. . . So if you have served with 78 Sqn at either; Al Mazra, Breighton, Croft, Dishforth, Fayid, Kabrit, Khormaksar, Linton on Ouse, Middleton St. George, Mount Pleasant or Sharjah (or are related to someone that did) and are interested in attending Halifax Shadow, please contact me for further information - Thanks Nemo Non Paratus Tony H http://f285.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f573%5fALVu%2bFcAAUSMSz%2fMuQeSsRzHga0&pid=2.2&fid=Sent&inline=1http://f285.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f573%5fALVu%2bFcAAUSMSz%2fMuQeSsRzHga0&pid=2.3&fid=Sent&inline=1
Hi Tony, welcome to the forum. Sounds like an interesting weekend. Was it you that I was communicating with some time ago about the Venables brothers from Portsmouth?
One of my Widnes Casualties JOHN SUMMERFIELD RICE Pilot Officer 55924 Royal Air Force 78 Squadron 15th February 1945 Halifax MZ799 of 78 Squadron, Royal Airforce. Airborne at 18:02hrs on the 14th February 1945 from Breighton as part of operation Gardening to lay mines in the Kadet Channel. Lost without trace. All are commemorated on the This was an experienced crew. All had flown in excess of thirty operations. F/L R.S.Cumming KIA P/O J.S.Rice KIA (ex Halton Apprentice) P/O J.S.Thompson KIA P/O S.A.W.Tressider KIA F/S E.P.Yates KIA F/S I.Williams KIA P/O M.Schwarz RCAF KIA
Hi James - yep that's me ! Did you have any joy tracing info on the Venables brothers loss via the Pompey News ? Tony http://f285.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f573%5fALVu%2bFcAAUSMSz%2fMuQeSsRzHga0&pid=2.2&fid=Sent&inline=1http://f285.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f573%5fALVu%2bFcAAUSMSz%2fMuQeSsRzHga0&pid=2.3&fid=Sent&inline=1
Tony as you can see from my forum name I have a great interest in 78 Sqn during WW2. I will send you a email/PM to explain. Hopefully we can both assist each other. Best wishes Daz
hi tony welcome to the forum, from a new member myself, (i only joined last week) its a great place to be & very friendly
Hi Geoff - Sent to you via this as unable to send you a PM due to "technical problems" with your inbox (full up?) Fascinating stuff - and strangely coincedental too! I had an email earlier this week from a contact in Canada who has highlighted the same situation - in that "official" losses do not always match the "actual" losses of personnel from the Dominions. A much far higher number of Australians, Canadians & Kiwis serving (across all services I assume) existed than their own "officialdom" actually assumed? Those aircrew who for whatever reason were already in the UK then joined and served in the RAF - & NOT the RAAF/RNZAF/RCAF, would if then subsequently KIA/MIA NOT show up as losses from their mother country . . . The highest ranking 78 Sqn loss was a Wg Cdr Toyland (OC 78 Sqn) He was killed in a Whitley that crashed in Scotland as a result of a GROSS Navigational error (The aircraft was returning from a raid and overshot the base in Yorkshire and then continued northwards into Scotland - er and then into a mountain! He is buried in the UK and listed as RAF - but is originally Canadian. . . I discovered an Australian based "Halifax" web site/forum some months ago and left a message but I never heard back from them. The site has presumably "folded" Health permitting, a few RCAF veterans that are hoping to recrosss the Atlantic to attend our memorial weekend in June. However, I readily acknowledge it is just too far to travel for anyone (RAAF or RNZAF) to travel from "Down under" - but it would have been nice to somehow let any surviving AUS/NZ 78 Sqn vets (and there MUST be one or two left surely ? -even if they are in their 80's/90's?) know that we are having a memorial in honour of their all their crewmates who didn't come back . . . Thanks for all the information you have passed me and if there is anything else you need then please feel free to email me direct! Kind Rgds Tony H tonyhibberd752@yahoo.co.uk
Hi James - yep that's me ! Did you have any joy tracing info on the Venables brothers loss via the Pompey News ? Tony http://f285.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f573%5fALVu%2bFcAAUSMSz%2fMuQeSsRzHga0&pid=2.2&fid=Sent&inline=1http://f285.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f573%5fALVu%2bFcAAUSMSz%2fMuQeSsRzHga0&pid=2.3&fid=Sent&inline=1 Hi Tony, I haven't had a chance to look at the Pompey News yet, they've only got 2 microfilm readers in the Library and every time I go in their taken!
Fascinating stuff - and strangely coincedental too! I had an email earlier this week from a contact in Canada who has highlighted the same situation - in that "official" losses do not always match the "actual" losses of personnel from the Dominions. A much far higher number of Australians, Canadians & Kiwis serving (across all services I assume) existed than their own "officialdom" actually assumed? Those aircrew who for whatever reason were already in the UK then joined and served in the RAF - & NOT the RAAF/RNZAF/RCAF, would if then subsequently KIA/MIA NOT show up as losses from their mother country . . Kind Rgds Tony H tonyhibberd752@yahoo.co.uk Hi Tony, I have over 240 Aussies who were Killed or Died in the RAF and are listed as UK in line with the CWGC policy. I have sorted a few of the Higher ranking ones here with a Bio on the first that I admit to having never heard of before my research. MITCHELL,SIR WILLIAM GORE SUTHERLAND (KCB (CB (CBE) (DSO) (MC) (AFC) (MID******) Air Chief Marshal London ATC 16/08/1944 56 RAF UK WANDSWORTH (PUTNEY VALE) CEMETERY UK London Educated at Wellington College, joined the army then seconded to the RFC where he had a meteoric rise in WW1. This Bio from: W G S Mitchell_P William Gore Sutherland b: 8 Mar 1888 r: 1 Jul 1941 d: 15 Aug 1944 KCB - 1 Jan 1938 (CB - 1 Jan 1935), CBE - 30 May 1924, DSO - 1 Jan 1918, MC - 1 Jan 1917, AFC - 3 Jun 1919, MiD - 19 Oct 1914 (& 9Dec 1914), MiD - 1 Jan 1916, MiD - 11 Dec 1917, MiD - 10 Jun 1921, MiD - 30 May 1924. (Army): - 2 Lt: 15 Aug 1906, Lt: 4 Nov 1911, (T) Capt: 15 Jan 1915, Capt: 17 May 1915, (T) Maj: 1 Mar 1916, (T) Lt Col: 18 Dec 1916. (RAF): - (T) Lt Col [Maj]: 1 Apr 1918, (T) Col: 9 Jul 1918, Wg Cdr: 1 Aug 1919 [FONT="][1 Apr 1918][/FONT], Gp Capt: 1 Jul 1924, A/Cdre: 1 Jul 1929, AVM: 1 Jul 1933, AM: 1 Jul 1937, Act ACM (unpd): 9 Sep 1939 - 13 May 1940, ACM: Retained. (RAFO Class CC): - Wg Cdr: 13 Jul 1942. 15 Aug 1906: Officer, 4th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment (Special Reserve). 28 Jun 1908: Officer, 3rd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment (Special Reserve). xx xxx 1909: Officer, Highland Light Infantry. (RAeC Certificate No 483) xx xxx 1913: Attended Central Flying School. 17 Dec 1913: Pilot, No 4 Sqn RFC. (Various types – Netheravon/Western Front) 15 Jan 1915: Flight Commander, No 10 Sqn RFC. (BE2c, BE2d – UK/Western Front) 1 Jun 1916: Officer Commanding, No 10 Sqn RFC. (BE2c, BE2d – Western Front) 18 Dec 1916: Officer Commanding, 12th (Corps) Wing RFC. 9 Jul 1918: Officer Commanding, No 20 Group. 1 Aug 1919: Awarded Permanent Commission as a Lieutenant Colonel 6 Jan 1920: Officer Commanding, No 52 (Corps) Wing. (India) 1 Apr 1920: Officer Commanding, No 3 (Indian) Wing. (re-designated No 1 (Indian) Wing) 10 Jul 1920: Officer Commanding, No 1 (Indian) Wing, Wiziristan. 28 Mar 1924: Officer Commanding, No 1 FTS. 19 Jan 1925: Group Captain - Admin, HQ RAF Halton./OC No 1 SoTT (Boys) 8 Mar 1928: Officer Commanding, Aden Command. 4 Oct 1929: Director of Training. 30 Jan 1933: AOC, RAF Cranwell/Commandant, RAF College. 31 Dec 1934: AOC, British Forces in Iraq. 1 Jul 1937: Air Member for Personnel. 21 Mar 1938: Supernumerary, HQ No 6 (Auxiliary) Group. 23 Mar 1939: AOC in C, RAF Middle East. 24 May 1940: Inspector-General of the RAF. 1 Oct 1941: Reverted to Retired List retaining the rank of Air Chief Marshal. 26 Sep 1941 Appointed Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod 13 Jul 1942: Appointed to commission in Class CC of RAFO, Admin and Special Duties branch xx xxx 1942 - 15 Aug 1944: Commandant, London Command - ATC. He was awarded RAeC No 483 on 17 May 1913. Retiring from the RAF in 1941, he became the first RAF officer ad Australian to hold the post of 'Black Rod' in the House of Lords. With the expansion of the Air Training Corps following it's formation in 1941, there became a growing need for decentralising the command structure as a result of which he was appointed Commandant of London Command in 1942, a post he held until his death at the early age of 56 from a heart attack. Mitchell's final responsibility in the RAF demanded his zeal, leadership, and organizational skills, as he was based in Glasgow to oversee the distribution, installation, and speedy completion of the chain of radio direction-finding (radar) stations on the highlands and islands of Scotland. Described by the air minister as 'temporary work of exceptional importance', his task was completed by September 1941, and he was placed on the retired list. This enabled him to take up his new post as gentleman usher of the black rod in the House of Lords-the first officer of the RAF to be appointed to that post. Mitchell was commandant of the Air Training Corps in London and Essex and was at Lord's watching his cadets play the army at cricket on the day of his death. He died of a cerebral thrombosis at his home, 14 Eresby House, Rutland Gate, Westminster, London, on 15 August 1944, survived by his wife, and was buried at Putney Vale cemetery four days later. Three other high ranking Australians! DRUMMOND, Sir PETER ROY MAXWELL K C B, D S O and Bar, O B E, M C, Twice Mentioned in Despatches Air Marshal 27/03/1945 50 RAF UK Panel 264. RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL UK Surrey McCLAUGHRY, WILFRED ASHTON (CB) (DSO) (MC) (DFC) (MID 3) Air Vice Marshal 4/01/1943 48 RAF UK 3. H. 12. HELIOPOLIS WAR CEMETERY Egypt Heliopolis SILLY , BENJAMIN JAMES (MC) (DFC) Air Commodore 7/12/1943 50 RAF UK VI. B. 7. SAI WAN WAR CEMETERY China - Hong Kong
Spidge could you possibly send me the details of the 48 casualties that you have for 78 Sqn as I only have 41 showing on my database. thanks Daz
For those interested in 78 Squadron, here is the updated reseaech on my 'Widnes' Casualty. In Memory of Pilot Officer JOHN SUMMERFIELD RICE 55924, 78 Sqdn., Royal Air Force who died age 19 on 15 February 1945 Son of George Summerfield Rice and Mary Rice, of Widnes, Lancashire. Remembered with honour RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL One of five children, John Summerfield Rice, was born on the 25th October 1925, the first child of George Summerfield and Mary Rice (Nee Callister), who had married six years earlier in 1919 at West Derby Liverpool. John, was joined by the addition of a sister, Margaret in 1928, after which the family moved to Widnes, where they settle at 31 Fairhaven Road before extending the family further with the additons of Bernard in 1930, Edith in 1932 and finally Frances in 1935. John Attended St Helens Grammar School and St Edwards College, Liverpool after which in August 1941, by then aged 16 he enlisted in the Royal Airforce, and was admitted to RAF Halton, as an apprentice as part of the 43rd entry. On acceptance he was assigned to 1 Wing ‘C’ Squadron, where after serving 4 terms, he passed out in the summer of 1944, gaining a commission as a Pilot Officer, after which he was assigned to No 4 Group Bomber command where he served with 78 Squadron, by then based at RAF Breighton, on the outskirts of Selby. On the evening of the 14th February 1945, Pilot Officer Rice took off from RAF Breighton at 18:02 hours as part of the seven-man crew of Halifax X1D EY-T under the command of Flight Lieutenant Raymond Stanley Cumming. Part of Operation Gardening the crew was tasked with laying mines in the Kadet Channel, a marine channel between the coasts of Denmark and Germany. Having each flown over thirty operatons, the crew was one of the squadrons most experienced, but failing to return the aircraft was recorded as lost without trace, with all crew members listed as missing, and then missing presumed killed. Alongside Pilot Officer Rice and Flight Lieutenant Cummings, the following crewmembers are all remembered with honour on the Runnymeade memorial. P/O J.S.Thompson P/O S.A.W.Tressider F/S E.P.Yates F/S I.Williams P/O M.Schwarz RCAF Pilot Officer Rice was one of four members of the 43rd Entry at RAF Halton to loose their lives during the later part of the Second World War, including Sgt (Flight Engineer) Sidney Thomas Tanser, who also serving with 78 squadron was killed on the 8th June 1944 when the Halifax that he was a crewmember of crashed near Lieusant whilst on a operation to bomb rail communicatons..
Just a gentle reminder that Exercise Halifax Shadow -the 78 Sqn Memorial Weekend to be held 5th-7th June is now only three months away . . . It's open to ALL former members of 78 Sqn RAF from any era of our operational past. Also welcome are the families / relatives of the 979 aircrew KIA/MIA during WWII and of the 30+ lost in flying accidents since 1945 . . . So, if there is anyone out there who has a direct or indirect link to 78 Sqn, Royal Aur Force and is interested in attending Exericse Halifax Shadow, please contact me for futher info - Thanks Tony H. tonyhibberd752@yahoo.co.uk
