Unusual entry on cwgc

Came across this gent listed at Tonbridge Cemetery.

Name:PANES, GEOFFREY LLEWELLYN
Rank:First Officer
Regiment/Service:British Overseas Airways Corporation
Date of Death:01/09/1941
Casualty Type:Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference:Sec. A. Grave 6038.
Cemetery:TONBRIDGE CEMETERY

Can anyone throw any light as to how an employee of BAOC gets to be commemorated on CWGC. Rather intrigued.

 

Consolidated Liberator Mk.I AM915 of the British Overseas Airways Corporation, flew into Arinarach Hill south of Campbeltown on the 1st September 1941 while flying from Montreal to Ayr.The crash occurred while the aircraft was on the final leg of its journey from Montreal with a number of passengers bound for the UK. They were a mix of military officers, technical personnel and a Belgian Count. Eric Taylor was the Principle Technical Officer, Air Ministry, at Farnborough, Mark Benjamin was returning to the UK from a scientific mission in the USA and Count Baillet-Latour was the Economical Counsellor in London to the Belgian Ministry for Colonies.

Source;-
Liberator AM915

lots more regarding the crash on this page



Verrieres

 

Many thanks for that Verrieres.

Strange that the Flight Engineer, Charles Alvan Spence, RAF Ferry Command is not commemorated on CWGC. Might be worth looking at this some more and advising CWGC of a possible non commemorated individual.

 

If one goes through the records you will find the BOAC flew to different countries,
in larger planes, Sweden and Portugal being regular runs.
Chaz Boyer refers to them in his works and I believe there is actually a photo of a Mossie in Sweden belonging to BOAC in Mossie at war

 

Many thanks for that Verrieres.

Strange that the Flight Engineer, Charles Alvan Spence, RAF Ferry Command is not commemorated on CWGC. Might be worth looking at this some more and advising CWGC of a possible non commemorated individual.

what have you got on him please; more than happy to submit him through IFCP

 

Here is a bit of film from British Pathe News about RAF Ferry Command.

British Pathe - RAF FERRY COMMAND

ChrisCharley - Have not got anything on this guy. Would like to find out anything about him.

 

Name: SPENCE, CHARLES ALVAN Initials: C A Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Flight Engineer Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Ferry Command Date of Death: 01/09/1941 Additional information: Repatriated to the U.S.A. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Memorial: THE MAIDENHEAD REGISTER

CWGC :: Casualty Details

 

I have a few of these.

This one is buried at Kilbride Old Churchyard in Scotland. From the photo it seems the one to the right could possibly be the same date and part of the crew.

Peter may have flight and crew details.
IIRC there is a headstone with a husband and wife in Ferry Coomand as well.





Cheers

Geoff

 

I have a few of these.

This one is buried at Kilbride Old Churchyard in Scotland. From the photo it seems the one to the right could possibly be the same date and part of the crew.

Peter may have flight and crew details.
IIRC there is a headstone with a husband and wife in Ferry Coomand as well.

View attachment 25655

View attachment 25656

Cheers

Geoff

Here you go Geoff. Details of the above loss.......



10-August 1941

AM261 Liberator I
Ferry Command
1 mile north of Goat Fell Isle of Arran

With the start of ferrying aircraft from Canada to the UK, it became necessary to return those crews engaged on the programme to Canada, so that they could bring another aircraft back to UK. This was initially done by sea but was slow and had inadequate capacity to maintain the ferry programme. The solution was 'The Return Ferry Service', which employed large aircraft to repatriate the crews to Canada. This aircraft took off in very poor weather and it was noted by those watching on the ground that the aircraft was not being climbed at the normal rate despite there being high ground ahead of the aircraft as it flew over the outer islands off the mainland. Nothing further was seen or heard of the aircraft until wreckage was discovered a few days later near the summit of a mountain some 25 miles from the take-off point. It appears that the aircraft drifted off track by 4.5 miles in the strong winds and not having reached its safety height because of the pilot's habit of climbing the aircraft slowly, it flew into the ground.

Caualties

Captain Edward Robert Bristow WHITE Captain
Josiah James ANDERSON Ferry Pilots
Francis Delaforce BRADBROOK
Daniel Joseph DUGGAN
Watt Miller KING
George Thomas HARRIS
Hoyt Ralph JUDY
John Evan PRICE
John James ROULSTONE
Harold Clifford Wesley SMITH
Jack WIXEN
Ralph Bruce BRAMMER Ferry Radio Officers
John Beatty DRAKE
Henry Samuel GREEN
Wilfred Graves KENNEDY
George LAING
Hugh Camerom MCINTOSH
William Kenneth MARKS
Albert Alexander OLIVER
George Herbert POWELL
Herbert David REES
Ernest George REEVES Flight Engineer

'Though Without Anger' - Cummings

 

Here you go Geoff. Details of the above loss.......



10-August 1941

AM261 Liberator I
Ferry Command
1 mile north of Goat Fell Isle of Arran

With the start of ferrying aircraft from Canada to the UK, it became necessary to return those crews engaged on the programme to Canada, so that they could bring another aircraft back to UK. This was initially done by sea but was slow and had inadequate capacity to maintain the ferry programme. The solution was 'The Return Ferry Service', which employed large aircraft to repatriate the crews to Canada. This aircraft took off in very poor weather and it was noted by those watching on the ground that the aircraft was not being climbed at the normal rate despite there being high ground ahead of the aircraft as it flew over the outer islands off the mainland. Nothing further was seen or heard of the aircraft until wreckage was discovered a few days later near the summit of a mountain some 25 miles from the take-off point. It appears that the aircraft drifted off track by 4.5 miles in the strong winds and not having reached its safety height because of the pilot's habit of climbing the aircraft slowly, it flew into the ground.

Caualties

Captain Edward Robert Bristow WHITE Captain
Josiah James ANDERSON Ferry Pilots
Francis Delaforce BRADBROOK
Daniel Joseph DUGGAN
Watt Miller KING
George Thomas HARRIS
Hoyt Ralph JUDY
John Evan PRICE
John James ROULSTONE
Harold Clifford Wesley SMITH
Jack WIXEN
Ralph Bruce BRAMMER Ferry Radio Officers
John Beatty DRAKE
Henry Samuel GREEN
Wilfred Graves KENNEDY
George LAING
Hugh Camerom MCINTOSH
William Kenneth MARKS
Albert Alexander OLIVER
George Herbert POWELL
Herbert David REES
Ernest George REEVES Flight Engineer

'Though Without Anger' - Cummings


Thanks Peter,

What a terrible loss,

Seems all are buried at Kilbride as there seems to be 22 headstones in the row 21 and one facing the other way.

Cheersw

Geoff

 

If one goes through the records you will find the BOAC flew to different countries,
in larger planes, Sweden and Portugal being regular runs.
Chaz Boyer refers to them in his works and I believe there is actually a photo of a Mossie in Sweden belonging to BOAC in Mossie at war

I remember reading that there were regular flights to Sweden during the war using civilian registered Mosquitos.

I cannot think of a better courier plane.

Regards
Tom

 

Name: SPENCE, CHARLES ALVAN Initials: C A Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Flight Engineer Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Ferry Command Date of Death: 01/09/1941 Additional information: Repatriated to the U.S.A. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Memorial: THE MAIDENHEAD REGISTER

CWGC :: Casualty Details

so he will be buried somewhere in the States; possibly another project for me to do to find the graves of these lads

Chris

 

Select British OverseasAir Corporation in the regiment field of the search engine, finds a few more.

 

Nice one Geoff.

Many thanks - Rob

 

Good luck with finding anyone in the States! If you know which state they are buried in you could narrow it down, but the ABMC doesnt, as far as I know, have any information for repatriated casualties from WW2, in fact I think they only started compiling location from 1997 onwards!

Good luck

Andy

 

Andy

have been look for some Great War soldiers in the states; so far no cooperation from any local authorities

Chris

 

Andy

have been look for some Great War soldiers in the states; so far no cooperation from any local authorities

Chris

Chris
Have you tried findagrave.com?
If you know roughly where they are or might be, you can post a request or have a search about on the site, it's quite a good site.

Good luck

Regards

Andy

 

Andy

13 found in the States from the Maidenhead Register; all found mainly using Find A Grave

Chris

 

How about these ones I spotted earlier when looking under the names Gallie and Byam-Shaw for another thread?

GALLIE WA - FISHING VESSEL OYAMA CARDIFF 12/01/1941 FISHING FLEET

BYAM G - BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION 03/02/1945 WAR CORRESPONDENT

Best,

Steve.

 

During the first world war thousands of London Bus Drivers were employed to drive the buses around trench system during that war, They remained civilians yet under orders from the Army. There role was considered so important that George V personally presented them with their medals, and this is why the last unit in the march past the Cenotaph after the army is London Transport as King V awarded them this special honour.
Now many of the BOAC crews were taken over by MoD flying those big Boeing Clipper and if they died then their name goes on the memorials as same as any one Else's in the Forces