Trevor John Cox 102 Squadron

Can anyone help me find more information about
http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2042800/COX,%20TREVOR%20JOHN

Im trying to confirm whether he is the same Trevor Cox that was listed in the 1911 census as a boarder at Spondon House school. He would have been born in 1898 and his father was Reuben Cox.

Thanks in advance

 

The serial number of the bomber he was shot down in was W7919

 

Could well be your man.

An interesting feature here is that he must have been one of the oldest aircrew at 45 years of age to feature in the RAF during the Second World War...the record belongs to Sir Arnold Wilson, a Great War veteran and politician who may have used his good offices to be accepted for aircrew operations...he was killed at 56 years of age on 31 May 1940, while serving in a No 37 Squadron Wellington crew, as a Gunner engaged on an operation during the Dunkirk withdrawal.

Sgt Cox's RAF service number suggests that he joined the RFC service in January 1918 as a civilian by direct entry.He would be transferred to the RAF on 1 April 1918.At the age of 20,he may have seen service elsewhere unless he was exempt...however one would expect his service number to indicate the this.

Halifax Mark11 was shotdown over Cologne at 2130hrs when engaged in a bombing operation, having taken off from Pocklington,near York at 1853hrs....one of two losses sustained by the squadron over enemy territory on the night.There were no survivors and Sgt J Wilby was declared missing and is remembered on the RAF Runnymede Memorial.

Crew as follows:

Sgt E G Frith...........Pilot
Sgt J Peak..............Flight Engineer
P/O R S Burgher.....Navigator
Sgt W Stewart.......Bomb Aimer
Sgt T J Cox............Wireless Operator
Sgt A R James.......Mid Upper Gunner
Sgt J Wilby.............Rear Gunner

All the crew apart from Sgt Wilby were buried in Cologne South Cemetery (Zollstock suberb) in the WW1 /Cologne British Garrison plot but postwar, were reinterred in the newly created military cemetery farther down the Rhine at Rheinberg.

Operation detail,crew manning and fate of crew as published by Bill Chorley.in his Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War.

 

Thank you Harry.

Could be another name to add to the school's War Memorial

 

Perhaps not...
A Trevor John Cox is recorded as born 1898 with father Reuben Cox, mother Laura Nott Cox.
Shown as having died in December 1955 aged 57.
Probate shows widow as Mary Kathleen Cox with Leicestershire address.
I haven't found an England or Wales marriage to match though...

 

Thanks Kevin

 

This is the Marriage and the death in 1955 eliminates him.


Births Jun 1898 (>99%)




COX


Trevor John





Brentford


3a


52




































Marriages Jun 1925 (>99%)




Lusk


Mary K


Cox


Tynemouth


10b


490





















Marriages Jun 1925 (>99%)




Cox


Trevor J


Lusk


Tynemouth


10b


490

 

One day, probably long into the future, I MAY just get as good as you Geoff!
Well found!
.... so who is the T J Cox on W7919?

EDIT: On checking the Loss Card, Wilby is the ONLY one confirmed dead......
Form 136/5 report shows: (Wilby) Shot down 21:30 BURIED 3/3/43 engl Ehrenfriedhof Koln Sud.
Wilson (J L) Sgt (658464) and 6 unknowns also.

It then refers to Wilson as HR669 102 Sqdn (no doubt the other loss referred to by Harry Ree).

So, if Wilby was the only identified casualty AND his burial recorded by date and location, why is he on Runnymede?

Details: W/Op Sgt T J Cox 1193709

 

Well done Kevin and Geoff

The marriage/death loop solved the mystery it, but as Kevin has said,who is the airman of the same name...unusual to have two Coxes with the same christian names...not as if Cox is a common name.

Since Sgt T J Cox is assumed to have joined the RFC in January 1918 as indicated by his service number,his birth year must be around the new year of 1900.I did think it strange that a man should appear as joining the RFC about the age of 20 with no indication of previous military involvement in the era of conscription.

 

Maybe they could not find his grave when they were doing the exhumations.

I have RAAF lads who were buried in the Russian sector of Germany (Wittstock Cemetery) however not being able to exhume them (Though details were solid at that time) they were listed on the Runnymede Memorial. I actually sent a letter regarding these two lads to CWGC however not being able to find the graves they considered them irretrievably lost.

 

Hi Harry,

I did a wide search for births with just Cox as the input and came up with 3,884 names, which astounded me. The second thing that amazed me was when I move the years a little closer together there were under 10 named Trevor.

He may not have been born in Britain. He may have come to Britain from Overseas as a youngster.


EDit: If he was in the RFC, there may be something on one of the ww1 sites. Maybe someone at GWF!

Looking for Reuben Cox in a closely confined number of years, the result was I think (11) so Reuben Cox was more popular than Trevor 20 years earlier and with no spouses of Mothers surmames listed until September 1911 - Just about impossible.

Service records seems the likely result here. If it was in Australia I could look up his nominal roll online for FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I think the Loss Card data quoted by Kevin is at odds with CWGC information

Checking the burial details of Halifax W 7919 crew, all, with the exemption of Sgt J Wilby are interred at Rheinberg in collective grave 4.C 2-20.

Realising it is a collective grave, I have made a check on the burial details of the other No 102 Squadron Halifax lost on the same night...HR 669 and just checking the detail of the skipper of the aircraft, Sgt M G Gibbons, I find that he is also interred in the same collective grave 4 C 2-20.

I have not checked the remainder of Sgt Gibbons's crew (there was an additional airman on board making 8 in total and one, Sgt Wilson was declared missing and is now remembered at Runnymede) but I suspect that his crew are also in the same collective grave. Further, I would say that the likelihood is that there is another crew interred in the same collective grave to account for the remaining 7 graves.

One of the problems found by the CWGC after the war ended was that at Cologne South Military Cemetery, the Germans had multi interred RAF casualties on the top of WW1 and postwar WW1 Cologne British Garrison burials and this might have led to a collective grave being established at Rheinberg when remains were transferred.

 

One of the most annoying websites on planet earth has a daylight photo (?) of Halifax W7919 DY-N apparently on it's last flight.
I think... it's inscribed "on a mission to Koln on 1943-02-27." The day after it's loss record here. (For which I can not find a record.)

See: http://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/image/22844.html

http://www.backtonormandy.org/the-history/air-force-operations/airplanes-allies-and-axis-lost/halifax/W79191943-02-27.html
_______________

Thing is, I do not own Chorley. My local library has only two of his books.
I have W7919 MH-X as being an entirely different aircraft (a 51 Squadron Halifax) with an entirely different crew, lost on a mission from Dishforth to Hannover two years earlier: Aug 14th 1941.

Can anyone clarify this? It would be useful to read the complete record. Tnx!

Edited: added DY-N to W7919 to research serial numbers. I thought Halifax's of this era had 2 letter, 3 number serial numbers. Could the "7" have been transcribed?

Edit #2: References: http://www.raf.mod.uk/organisation/51squadron.cfm
http://www.51squadron.com/
1944-6 to 1945 Operations Record Book at: http://www.51history.org/

 

well, this certainly seems to be spawning more questions than answers!
1) Who was the T J Cox (trevor John as per CWGC)?
2) Wilby was the only crew member specifically stated as Dead
3) W7919 is clearly shown as the Halifax II they were aboard, Code letter "N" and fitted with TR1355 (radio?) IFF and FR4HM43.
I agree that W7919 would seem to be a very old girl by mid 1943, perhaps she had been damaged and under considerable repair before coming back into service?
The 35 Squadron Halifax lost to Magdeburg on 14/15 August was L9500 with Benning, Gannel(?) and Lisle as pilots!
Strangely, the rear gunner was a 648868 J A A Cox !

See http://www.lancasterbombers.net/Loss_Cards/1943/Feb_43/Feb_43_Pt3/files/book.swf
The following page has the HR669 crew and details, plus the crew reference to Wilby and Wilson.
(crew: Gibbons, pilot; Bradshaw co pilot; Langham, Nav; Russell, F/Eng; Dowdall, W/Op; Rickings A/G; Hunt, A/G and Wilby Bomb aimer)..
erhaps the answer lies in the possible confusion of the names Wilby/Wilson?

(Apologies to Chris for side tracking his thread, but we may get an answer to the TJ Cox eventually!)

 

No problem - enjoying the sidetrack

 

Fred,

No 51 Squadron were equipped with Whitleys from February 1938 until October 1942 and did not convert to the Halifax until they arrived at Snaith in late October 1942,.the Halifaxes being received in November 1942.

On the night of 14-15 August 1941,there was a No 51 Squadron Whitley V Serial Z 6819,lost on an operation to Hanover. Probably the data relating to the lost Halifax W7919 was incorrectly transcribed.

 

My bad, Harry, got wrapped up with 35 Squadron Halifax (from a previous thread!)
I should have checked for 51 Squadron! :sign_oops:

 

Air Britains "The Halifax File" records W7919 as being one of 200 BII,s manufactured to production contract B73328/40 by parent company Handley Page and was delivered sometime between 24/10/42 & 13/12/42.

It further records that this aircraft only served with 102 Sqn and failed to return from a raid on Cologne on 7/2/43.

 

Harry I think you have lost a digit somewhere... his Service No of 1193709 falls in the block of 1150001 to 1250000, the Cardington intake beginning April 1940.

Sgt T.J. Cox was probably posted to 102 Squadron in late October early November he isn't noted in the Form 540 and neither is Sgt Wilby but the Con Flight ORB says Sgt Frith was Captain of one of nine complete crews converted in November. However they did not fly as a crew until January 9th, being one of two Freshman crews on a Gardening Op to Juist, Sgt Gibbons' crew was the other and also one of the nine converted crews mentioned, their time on the squadron is almost identical.
Two more Mining Ops in January on the 14th and 21st, neither of them flew in December and then bombing L'orient on 13th February, Cologne on the 14th with Frith scrubbed due to mag drop, L'Orient again on the 16th. Gibbons goes to Wilmhelmsaven two nights in a row on the 18th and 19th then both Frith and Gibbons to Nuremburg on the 25th, with both failing to return from Cologne the following night, Sgt Gibbons carrying Sgt Bradshaw as 2nd Pilot.

Originally the Frith crew had Sgt F W Valentine as Nav and Sgt J E Hill as Mid Upper. The Navigator Sgt Burgher had been on the squadron a while having previously flown with another crew and replaced Valentine on the final two Ops. At that time many of the crews seem to interchange and there were quite a few odd bods flying with different crews. Coupled to that there are a few typos and ommissions in the ORBs which complicates matters, for example there were two Cox's on the squadron T.J. the W/Op and F.W. the B/A and the compiler sometimes got them mixed up, Sgt F.W. Cox is also killed in February. 102 Squadron had lost 18 aircraft and over over 120 men in the time these two crews came and went.

Halifax W7919 was delivered in November 42, the ORB stops listing them after October when W7883, W7909 and W7910 were delivered on the 17th, fresh from Radlett. W7919 first appears on Ops on 18th November.

Rgds

Pete

 

Pete,

You are correct.. referenced 6 digits instead of 7.

Remembered where I jotted F T Cox's service number and it was 7 digits.....means that he was little more than 21 years of age when he was killed on 26 February 1943.

No 102 Squadron well researched for the period. As regards the completion of Squadron ORBs, it was usually left to the Squadron Adjutant and the clarity of the report was as determined by his proficiency and the time he had available ...some detailed, others not.