FLETCHER, JOSEPH AMBROSE Rank: Flying Officer Service No: 1511475 Date of Death: 09/07/1944 Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 622 Sqdn. Panel Reference: Panel 206. Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL Casualty Details
Details of the above loss. 7 July 1944 622 Squadron Lancaster I R5625 GI-B Op. Lisieux Took off from Mildenhall at 1215 to bomb a flying -bomb site. Lost without trace Crew. W/O. P E. Bamford + Sgt. D V. Barlow + F/O. H C. Polkinghorne + P/O. J A. Fletcher + Sgt. J. Blyth + Sgt. W R. White RCAF + Sgt. S E. Lanceley + Source - RAF Bomber Command Losses Vol.5 - W R. Chorley
A poignant announcement just a few months before. Manchester Evening News, Wednesday, March 15, 1944 Coming of age Mr and Mrs J H Fletcher wish to announce the Coming of Age of their son and brother, Joseph A Fletcher (Flying Officer, RAFVR). March 15, 1944. Mam and Dad, Chrissie (ATS), Edith (NFS). Love, best of luck, and a speedy return.
A daylight raid for which 622 Sqdn put up 12 Lancasters, and which seems to have been badly hampered by cloud; the ORB says they bombed - using Gee or visually - from between 11,500 and 13,400 feet with no a/c reporting any visible results. Two a/c couldn't see the target at all (one had instrument trouble) and jettisoned their load elsewhere. The bomb load was 11 x 1,000lb and 4 x 500lb bombs, type unspecified. Of the Bamford crew, with Joseph Fletcher as bomb aimer, it just says "Nothing heard from this aircraft after takeoff." I wonder what that suggests in terms of a formation, etc. - was B-Beer lost before they formated (if they did)? In daylight ops, presumably with fighter escort too, there must have been more chance of somebody seeing something, but alas presumably not in this case. I don't suppose we'll ever know.
