From my other thread on my great grandfather's POW logbook you'll know that I have many photos taken in various camps between 1940-1945 which I am starting to identify. One set that piqued my curiousity concerned an RAF funeral. Looking at the photos again I noticed that my great grandfather had written the name "Lovegrove RAF". I recently bought a copy of 'Wings' Day - the man behind the great escapes by Sydney Smith as the logbook features a very prominent photo of Day in it and I'm working on the theory that he might have been assigned to him as an orderly. Anyway, reading the book this morning I came across this passage... "There was one tragic casualty in the escape teams. A young officer named Lovegrove, member of the Mapping Intelligence department, trying to survey the immediate eastern vicinity of the camp from the top floor of the orphanage building, leaned too far out of the window and crashed to the cement pavement below. He was killed instantly. Ironically, the details he had been trying to see were noted by Wings and the party who were allowed into the village under escort to his funeral, attended with military honours by the Germans."
Flying Officer ( Pilot. ) Peter Lovegrove Avro Manchester 1 L7427 OL-Q of 83 Squadron took off at 22.15 hours on 9 April 1942 from RAF Scampton on a mission to bomb Hamburg. The aeroplane was last heard at 00.10 hours on 9 April and was thought to be near Lastrup, Germany. The aeroplane crashed NE of Cloppenburg Peter Lovegrove survived but the other 6 crew members died, they were: Pilot Officer Jack H Morphett, Flight Sergeant Geoffrey D Hutchinson RNZAF, Flight Sergeant Albert H Salter, Sergeant Reginald S Williams, Sergeant George C Fisk RCAF and Sergeant Charles D Gellatly RCAF. These crew members are buried in Sage War Cemetery. Peter Lovegrove was interned by the Germans in Stalag 21B in Poland. He was PoW no. 778. He died in captivity on 12 November 1942. TD
Thought I would pass on this link to an interesting page about the death and funeral of F/O Peter Lovegrove. The funeral photos were taken from my late great grandfather's POW logbook. The Oflag 64 Record: Death and farewell of F/O Peter Anthony Lovegrove at Oflag XXI-B
Is it worth incorporating this thread with - Funeral of Pilot Officer Lovegrove Oflag XXIB Shubin 1942 (photos) Just a thought for completeness TD
That's up to the mods I would guess. I don't have any objection to merging it with my photo thread though.
Just finished reading a book called “The Cooler King” which is a biography of William Ash, an American who joined the RAF (after taking Canadian citizenship) who was one of the escapees from Schubin. In the book it seems to imply Lovegrove’s death was a suicide rather than an accident. I’ll try an find the relevant passage and post it up later.
