Hi, my Father lost his own Dad during WW2. All we know about him is from the war graves commission. His name was Dennis Edward Dalton. He was from Barnsley in South Yorkshire and he was a Sergeant in the RAF volunteers. His date of death is recorded as 3/8/1943. Would anyone know anything about the possible mission he was on or was involved in? According to records he was in Squadron 61 but my attempts to trace him or missions by the squadron around that date have drawn a blank. I would really like my Dad to know a little more about his own before it's too late. He's 73 now and not in the best of health. Yours Steve Dalton
Hi Steve one of the RAF experts will be along shortly and tell you the details of his death if he was on a mission. If you can get to the National Archives at Kew they will probably have a copy of the Sqn's operational book that records the missions etc. Click the link below: Detecting your browser settings Cheers Andy
Hi Steve, 61 Sqn Lancaster III W5000 QR-B Op: Hamburg F/O R Lyon + Sgt G A Hodges + F/O E A Povey + Sgt D E Dalton + Sgt G W MacKenzie + Sgt J P Padley + Sgt B Robinson + T/o 2339 Syerston. Lost without trace. All commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. BCL 1943 Vol 4 W R Chorley W5000 - 61Sq May43, Missing (Hamburg) 2/3Aug43. 142hrs. Home
Some information on the Hamburg operation that night from The Bomber Command War Diaries by M Middlebrook and C Everitt. 2/ 3 August 1943 HAMBURG 740 aircraft - 329 Lancasters, 235 Halifaxes. 105 Stirlings, 66 Wellingtons, 5 MosXquitoes. 30 aircraft - 13 Lancasters, 10 Halifaxes, 4 Wellingtons, 3 Stirlings lost. 4-1 per cent of the force. The bombing force encountered a large thunderstorm area over Germany and the raid was a failure. Many crews turned back early or bombed alternative targets. At least 4 aircraft, probably more, were lost because of icing, turbulence or were struck by lightning. No Pathfinder marking was possible at Hamburg and only scattered bombing took place there. Many other towns in a 100-mile area of Northern Germany received a few bombs. A sizeable raid developed on the small town of Elmshorn, 12 miles from Hamburg. It is believed that a flash of lightning set a house on fire here and bomber crews saw this through a gap in the storm clouds and started to bomb the fire. 254 houses were destroyed in Elmshorn and 57 people were killed some of them refugees from recent raids on Hamburg. Minor Operations: 5 Mosquitoes to Duisburg, 6 Wellingtons minelaying in the River Elbe, 12 O.T.U. sorties, 1 Wellington minelayer lost.
Hi Steve You may be interested in this thread from The RAF Commands forum which explores the possible reasons for your grandad's palne crash, icing up or nightfighter. Sgt George Hodges You will get his missions from the 61 Sqdn ORB which Andy has already mentioned. You might like to think about getting a copy of his service record. This will show where he did his training, when he was posted to the squadron and any relevant training he received. It will probably also show which camapign medals he was entitled to. Details of how to get it can be found here: Ministry of Defence | About Defence | What we do | Personnel | Service Records | Making a Request for Information held on the Personnel Records of Deceased Service Personnel They do take a few weeks to come through. Dave
Again from Dr Theo Boiten's "NJG Diaries Vol. 1" (Red Kite Books). He believes that W5000 may have shot down by Lt. Hermann Leube of 2/NJG3. Although the pilot claimed a Stirling it is thought that it may well have been W5000 of 61 Squadron. The location is given as being 20km NW of Juist timed at 03.28.
Hello Panels attached from Runnymede as requested by Nick Name: DALTON, DENNIS EDWARD Initials: D E Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Sergeant Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Unit Text: 61 Sqdn. Date of Death: 03/08/1943 Service No: 1396464 Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 146. Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL Flying Officer RICHARD LYON 130633, 61 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who died age 30 on 03 August 1943 Son of James Clarkson Lyon and Agnes Lyon, of Burnbank, Lanarkshire. Remembered with honour RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL Sergeant GEORGE AUSTIN HODGES 1581728, 61 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who died age 20 on 03 August 1943 Son of Colin and Rose Ann Hodges, of Sutton Coldfield. Warwickshire. Remembered with honour RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL Flying Officer ERIC ALBERT POVEY 130974, 61 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who died age 22 on 03 August 1943 Son of George Albert Povey, and of Nellie Povey, of South Molton, Devon. Remembered with honour RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL Sergeant GORDON WILLIAM MACKENZIE 1367215, 61 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who died age 21 on 03 August 1943 Son of Roderick Muir MacKenzie and Mary Campbell MacKenzie, of Glasgow. Remembered with honour RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL Sergeant JOHN PATY PADLEY 1394579, 61 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who died age 20 on 03 August 1943 Son of George Horace Paty Padley and May Biddulph Padley, of Woodthorpe, Nottinghamshire. Remembered with honour RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL Sergeant BENJAMIN ROBINSON 1324276, 61 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who died age 21 on 03 August 1943 Son of Benjamin and Annie Robinson, of Shirley, Southampton. Remembered with honour RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL
Hi Steve You may be interested in this thread from The RAF Commands forum which explores the possible reasons for your grandad's palne crash, icing up or nightfighter. Sgt George Hodges You will get his missions from the 61 Sqdn ORB which Andy has already mentioned. You might like to think about getting a copy of his service record. This will show where he did his training, when he was posted to the squadron and any relevant training he received. It will probably also show which camapign medals he was entitled to. Details of how to get it can be found here: Ministry of Defence | About Defence | What we do | Personnel | Service Records | Making a Request for Information held on the Personnel Records of Deceased Service Personnel They do take a few weeks to come through. Dave Thank you so much Dave, Andy and all. I did guess from the date that he may have been killed in action during the Hamburg bombings. Will hopefully find a little more soon. Cheers again
