Royal Air Force War Grave Photos for Reference.

Flight Lieutenant (Flight Engineer) MATTHEWS, ALBERT EDWARD ANDERSON
Service Number 156039
Died 22/06/1944
Aged 30
49 Sqdn.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
D F C
Son of Albert Edward and Gertrude Sarah Matthews; husband of Edith Mary Matthews, of Brecon.

Lancaster LL900 Crashed in general area of Julich-Mersch after being shot down by night fighter.

 

Sergeant (Wireless Op./Air Gunner) MINCHIN, JOHN WILLIAM
Service Number 1181097
Died 17/05/1943
Aged 27
617 Sqdn.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Son of Bertram and Eliza Minchin; husband of Jessie Kate Minchin, of Bedford.

Dambuster John William Minchin.....

Minchin was badly wounded in the leg when Lancaster "M-Mother" was hit by flak en-route to the Möhne Dam. Sgt Minchin sat for almost an hour at his radio set nursing this terrible injury before the target was reached.
M-Mother, the second aircraft to attack, was severely hit by ack-ack on the run-in and set on fire. The bomb was released but hit the parapet wall and exploded. F/Lt Hopgood struggled valiantly to keep his blazing aircraft airborne in order for the crew to bale out.
Tony Burcher evacuated his rear turret and made for the crew door. There he was confronted by the pained face of John Minchin, who had dragged himself the length of the fuselage, his leg almost severed.
All Burcher could do to help his comrade was to clip on Minchin’s parachute and push him out into the darkness, pulling his D-ring in the process. The Lancaster crashed 3 miles to the north-west of the dam and exploded in flames.

 

Sergeant (Flight Engineer) BRENNAN, CHARLES
Service Number 942037
Died 17/05/1943
617 Sqdn. Dambusters
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

When Hopgood was called up by Guy Gibson, he must have contacted Brennan and asked him to rejoin him. As Brennan was only halfway through a tour, he probably thought it a good opportunity to finish it with a pilot he knew and trusted. He was posted to Scampton, and undertook his first training flight with Hopgood on 11 April 1943.
He would have needed all his flight engineering skill to help the pilot keep the aircraft aloft, as one of the engines was damaged and running on reduced revs. Tony Burcher recalls that he was a ‘calm chap’, so also having to hold a handkerchief over Hopgood’s head wound may not have completely fazed him.

When they were hit again, as they attacked the Möhne Dam, the pair must have realised that they would never get off the flight deck themselves, and that all they could do was to give as many of their colleagues as possible the chance to escape. They were both remarkable men.

 

Flying Officer (Air Gunner) GREGORY, GEORGE HENRY FORD GOODWIN
Service Number 141285
Died 17/05/1943
617 Sqdn.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
D F M

It is likely that Gregory was severely wounded some twenty minutes before Hopgood’s aircraft reached the Möhne Dam, as he wasn’t answering his intercom. In the same flak attack Hopgood, Minchin and Brennan himself were also wounded. However they pressed on, the mine was dropped, and moments afterwards Hopgood told the crew to bale out. According to John Fraser’s post-war debriefing after his release from PoW camp, it would seem that Gregory attempted to get back to the rest area to retrieve his parachute but never escaped.

 

Wing Commander CROCKER, MALCOLM
Service Number 124256
Died 22/06/1944
Aged 27
49 Sqdn.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
D F C and Bar
Son of Samuel E. M. Crocker and Gladys T. Crocker, of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Malcolm Crocker, Wing Commander, Royal Canadian Air Force. Joined RCAF (in January 1942, after being rejected by US Army Air Corps. Lost in action in 1944. He flew from bases in North Africa, Italy, and England and took part in raids over Germany as captain of a Lancaster bomber. Winner of the Distinguished Flying Cross and a bar to the citation. He had worked as an engineer at Ludlow Manufacturing and had two years of civilian flying.

 

W/Cdr Crocker was never in the RCAF. The next paragraph down on the No. 49 Sqn site says:

Malcolm Crocker didn't join the RCAF. In January 1942 he was assigned to a U.S. - based pilot refresher course for prospective pilots for the RAFVR. Upon completion of the course he was sent to Canada to receive overseas orders from the RAF not the RCAF.

Regards,

Dave

 

Pilot Officer (Navigator) BENSON, LESLIE BERNARD
Service Number 177992
Died 22/06/1944
Aged 24
49 Sqdn.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
D F M
Son of George and Ada Alice Benson, of Harrogate, Yorkshire.

Lancaster LL900 Crashed in general area of Julich-Mersch after being shot down by night fighter.

 

Pilot Officer (Air Gunner) CARR, DAVID HOUNSELL
Service Number 177718
Died 22/06/1944
49 Sqdn.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
D F M

Lancaster LL900 (EA-T)
W/C M. Crocker DFC & Bar Pilot (Killed)
F/L A.E.A. Matthews DFC F/E (Killed)
P/O L.B. Benson DFM NAV (Killed)
F/O J.R. Worthington DFC W/OP (Killed)
P/O A.D. Creighton RCAF A/G (Killed)
F/O K. Dutton B/A (Killed)
P/O D.H. Carr DFM A/G (Killed)
MR K. Stevenson BBC (Killed)

 

Flying Officer (Pilot) SHORTTLE, JOSEPH MALPASS
Service Number 157422
Died 24/02/1945
Aged 27
214 Sqdn.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
D F M
Son of Joseph and Liza Shorttle; husband of Joan Shorttle, of Middlesbrough, Yorkshire.

London Gazette 14 September 1943 DFM awarded while with 199 Squadron.
London Gazette 26 October 1943 Appointed Flight Sergeant from 4 September 1943.
London Gazette 24 March 1944 Promotion to Flying Officer.
After the crash of HB805 on 24 February 1945 the body of the pilot, FO Shorttle, was found and was buried on 7 May 1945 at No1 cemetery Ittenbach Germany, before being
re-interred at Rheinberg war cemetery.

Born in July 1917 at Stockton, Co. Durham, England.
He married Joan Smith at Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire in July 1938.

 

Flying Officer (Navigator) EARNSHAW, KENNETH
Service Number J/10891
Died 17/05/1943
617 (R.A.F.) Sqdn
Royal Canadian Air Force

First wave of the attack. Second aircraft to attack Möhne Dam. Aircraft hit by flak. Mine dropped late and bounced over dam. Aircraft crashed on far side of dam.

Kenneth Earnshaw was born in Bridlington, Yorkshire, on 23 June 1918, the son of Joseph and Janet Earnshaw. His family emigrated to Canada a year later and took up farming in rural Alberta.
Before leaving to enlist in the RCAF. He married Mary Heather in November 1941, and they lived in Bashaw.
After training in Canada, at the end of which he was commissioned, he travelled over to England, and was posted to 50 Squadron in November 1942.

Pilot John Hopgood needed two new crew members. His first navigator had fallen ill and his bomb aimer had not come up to scratch. Earnshaw was recommended and arrived at Scampton at the end of April, some time after training for the Dams Raid had begun.

 

Flying Officer (Pilot) BOYCE, WILLIAM JOHN
Service Number J/12480
Died 12/06/1943
Aged 26
419 Sqdn.
Royal Canadian Air Force
Son of William John and Charlotte Ann Boyce, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. B.Sc. (University of British Columbia).

Flight Sergeant (Air Gunner) LANG, JAMES MURRAY REGINALD
Service Number R/119753
Died 12/06/1943
408 Sqdn.
Royal Canadian Air Force

Flying Officer (Pilot)MACKELDEN, FRANK
Service Number 125698
Died 12/06/1943
Aged 28
466 (R.A.A.F.) Sqdn
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Son of Ernest James Mackelden and Margaret Mackelden; husband of Eveline Jessica Mackelden, of Milton Regis, Sittingbourne, Kent.

 

Squadron Leader (Pilot) COLLINSON, KENNETH LLOYD
Service Number 87454
Died 21/02/1945
Aged 32
166 Sqdn.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
D F C
Son of John William and Ada Bertha Collinson; husband of Irene Collinson, of West Hartlepool, Co. Durham.

 

Flight Lieutenant (Air Gunner) BARRITT, JOHN
Service Number 130337
Died 21/02/1945
Aged 33
166 Sqdn.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
D F C
Son of Edward and Annie Barritt, of Burnley, Lancashire; husband of Muriel Barritt, of Burnley.

 

Flight Sergeant LENTON, KENNETH FRANK
Service Number 1398773
Died 08/12/1944
Aged 18
630 Sqdn.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Son of Ernest Henry and Rose Hannah Lenton, of Ramsgate, Kent.


Flight Lieutenant LEWIS, RENDEL FORREST
Service Number 129118
Died 08/12/1944
Aged 29
630 Sqdn.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Son of the Revd. J.D. Vernon and Amelia Mary Lewis of Brecon. M.A. L.L.B., Barrister of law. Formerly Instructor in Navigation at R.A.F. College Cranwell.

 

Sergeant OYSTON, LESLIE
Service Number 1594315
Died 08/12/1944
Aged 24
630 Sqdn
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Son of James and Francis Oyston, of Sunderland, Co Durham, Husband of Annie Oyston of Sunderland.


Flying OfficerUSHER, REGINALD HAROLD WILLIAM
Service Number 153476
Died 08/12/1944
630 Sqdn
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Son of Thomas Reginald and Alice Usher, of Colchester, Essex.

 

Flying Officer (Pilot) GIBSON, BASIL DOUGLAS GAY
Service Number 68175

Died 17/08/1942

Aged 32

Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Mentioned in Despatches

Son of Basil Theodore and Dorothy Gibson, of Wimbledon; husband of Grete Gibson, of Wimbledon.
Buried at WIMBLEDON (ST. MARY) CHURCHYARD

Location: Surrey, United Kingdom
Number of casualties: 5

Cemetery/memorial reference: West of Church.

 

Leading Aircraftman (U/T Pilot) HUGHES, RONALD GRENVILLE
Service Number 1169220
Died 30/03/1941
Aged 19
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Son of Walter Grenville Hughes and Selina May Hughes, of Barrow-in-Furness.

Buried at RAMPSIDE (ST. MICHAEL) CHURCHYARD
Location: Lancashire, United Kingdom
Number of casualties: 3
Cemetery/memorial reference: East Wall. Grave 24.


Details from the Furness behind the Stones.
Hughes, Ronald Grenville - Furness Stories Behind the Stones

A newspaper report from the Lancashire Evening Post from the 31st March 1941 says that Ronald was killed in an air flying accident.

 

Leading Aircraftman J C Parker, Leading Aircraftman R G Hughes: killed; aircraft accident, Anson N4910, 12 Service Flying Training School, 30 March 1941. Note: Related file: 5651

Anson I N4910 [Royal Air Force Aircraft Serial and Image Database]

 

Cheers Clive

 

Sergeant (Air Gunner) JACKSON, LEONARD VERNON
Service Number 931418

Died 08/02/1943

Aged 20

418 (R.C.A.F.) Sqdn.
Royal Air Force

Son of William Henry and Clara Jackson, of Finchley; husband of Dorothy Mary Jackson, of Finchley.


INSCRIPTION
WE SHALL ALWAYS REMEMBER
Buried at EAST FINCHLEY CEMETERY AND ST. MARYLEBONE CREMATORIUM

Location: Middlesex, United Kingdom
Number of casualties: 178

Cemetery/memorial reference: Sec. C10. Grave 146.