War graves in Northern Ireland

Anyone have details on the the following crash / deaths of these airmen and one soldier in co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. Thanks for any help given, as i am new to forums, any advice or tips for finding information on the net welcomed.

shields s 343617 corporal raf 17 07 1921
hallam ronald willis 621765 leading aircraftman 11 06 1940
page norman leslie 740200 sgt 11 06 1940
coles peter ernest 1389953 leading aircraftman 31 10 1941
davie collin w hebron 1387344 sgt 09 11 1942
endersby cyril sydney 1206257 sgt 09 11 1942
jones thomas sidney 635894 leading aircraftman 09 11 1942
nield cyril henry 1579238 leading aircraftman 09 11 1942

mc conkey m 16704 l/cpl royal irish rifles - 12 btn. 23 12 1919

 

Hi, thanks for the help, yes all my servicemen buried at Killead, i have been in touch with Spidge and sent him photos from Killead. If Mc Conkey won a medal there must some information on him ?

 

Hi dbf, I been to the gw forum i see that it is a standard medal, i will get a better explanation for this card from that web site, this may help, i will also follow your other advice, the medal card is a good starting point for me, as my main interest is ww2 air war. Thanks again for your time. bye for now.

 

garcia harry 931532 sgt 220 sqn 10 08 1942


On the night of 10 August 1942 No.220 Squadron lost Fortress FK207 'N' under the command of W/O. Gordon A. Sanderson (23) The aircraft left Ballykelly at 19.46 hrs to escort convoy ONS120. At 23.30 hrs the aircraft was seen flying below low cloud and very close to rising ground near Nutts Corner airfield, moments later the Fortress appeared to lose speed in a turn and dive into the ground, its load of depth charges exploded on impact. All six on board died.

At the moment I do not have the full crew list.

 

Just received confirmation of the crew list of Fortress FK207 220 Squadron via Ross and Pavel rafcommands.

10/08/42
220 Sqn
Fortress IIa
FK207
NR-J

W/O G A Sanderson
F/Sgt E W Bristow
F/Sgt D F Capel RAAF
Sgt H Garcia
Sgt V C Fretter
Sgt P G Foster

 

Thanks Peter for getting back to me on harry garcia, i new a plane crashed near Nutts corner but did not know where it came from, this aircraft also carried f/sgt Capel who is also buried at Killead, Co Antrim.

 

The following was passed on to me via email relating to the loss of Fortress FK207.

 

Thanks Peter, also thank your mates in Raf Commands for their time and effort. Have looked at the thumbnails provided, very impressed with the information that can be found out if you know how to go about it, which i don,t.

 

Hi, i have done a edit on my original list as information has come in, only these airmen and soldier left.

 

Anyone have details on the the following crash / deaths of these airmen and one soldier in co. Antrim, Northern Ireland. Thanks for any help given, as i am new to forums, any advice or tips for finding information on the net welcomed.

shields s 343617 corporal raf 17 07 1921
hallam ronald willis 621765 leading aircraftman 11 06 1940
page norman leslie 740200 sgt 11 06 1940
coles peter ernest 1389953 leading aircraftman 31 10 1941
davie collin w hebron 1387344 sgt 09 11 1942
endersby cyril sydney 1206257 sgt 09 11 1942
jones thomas sidney 635894 leading aircraftman 09 11 1942
nield cyril henry 1579238 leading aircraftman 09 11 1942

mc conkey m 16704 l/cpl royal irish rifles - 12 btn. 23 12 1919

I HAVE NOW GOT INFORMATION ON ALL THESE SERVICEMEN.

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR HELP.

 

Hi dbf, this is mainly for myself as i have been researching the air war for some years now and these war graves are local to me and i pass them every day going to and from work, having said that once i get all my information in shape i am now thinking of putting these crashes online at a web site i only found out about by visiting ww2 forums, i am learning lots. I will also make this information available locally to anyone who is interested.

 

Peter C.
Just received confirmation of the crew list of Fortress FK207 220 Squadron via Ross and Pavel rafcommands.

We move in a small circle of contacts
I met Pavel when in Prague three years ago - we had exchanged info on and off on things flying boat related - he has used some photos from me in his new book.
A very sound and decent youngman , his helping out is quite typical of his good nature.

The papers for the Fortress - I have only seem one similar set before for a 422 Sunderland which crashed near Belllek in August 44 . (NJ175).

Does anyone know if the reports like this ( from which it would seem the Form 1180's are complied) are still in existance anywhere and if so can they be accessed ?

A very good thread , thank you to all concerned for a good and informative read.

 

I took these this afternoon for Spinge / Geoff at Ballykelly.
The drive up was not as bad as I thought - cold but very busy getting through Derry was frustrating.












Flags and memorials inside the church , tomorrow in thissame church there will be an actb of remembrance to remember those killed in the "Droppin Well" bombing which claimed so many lies in the early 1980's.

Droppin Well bombing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia









The two men Geoff asked about , for me the first war grave headstone I have seen without a cross .









A sample of those from 1939-1945 , I always feel for those who are far from home.
sadly the aircrew buried here are as recent as 1968.















There would appear to be three crews buried here as a reslt of local crashes / accidents.
I know of two which crashed in Donegal but can't recall the dates details etc , one on high ground the other on the beach at Portsallon on the Swilly.

 

Fantastic effort and great photos James.

My RAAF project for Ireland is now completed.

Thanks to you and all others who generously gave their time to ensure that these brave lads who died so far from home will never be forgotten.

With respect to the missing cross on Coopers headstone, do you think they may have just forgotten to add it? He is listed as Methodist on his history.

His accident occurred at Moville in County Donegal? Is that correct? I had this information below.

Within minutes of taking off from Ballykelly the aircraft collided with Shrove Hill, just across Lough Foyle at Greencastle. At the time of the crash the mountain was shrouded in such dense fog that the Liberator was initially located by the sound of exploding munitions by those first at the scene.
His total service history is attached.

http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp

 

Know the one - I visited the site some years back - on the surface the under carriage legs still there and some of the heavier parts which scarp dealers had not removed.
Locally it is called Glengade as far as I can recall.

 

I was down to Lough Erne / Castle Atchdale with out "Hogg" - on the way back saw some work in progress in the Commonwealth Plot in Irvinestown .
Stopped to take a few photos.
The gent workto level the new topsoil told me thay had been working opn the Church of Ireland and Catholic plots over the course of the past week , the old turf / grass and topsoil had been removed and new soild and drainage spread and levelled - by tomorrow eveing new turf/ grass will have been laid.

I for one am glad to see this - the plot has been in need of a make over for a very long time and as the gent told me the War Graves Comission had not done much when the "troubles had been running".
( Fingers crossed at this point).

Below some photos of what was going on - to remove all the surface and reinstate it was quite a job.
Grateful to the men who did the work , they were certainly warm today.

For some contrasting photos please see ;
http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/all-anniversaries/16054-remembrance-sunday-11am-9th-november-2008-a-3.html

Some additional photos added when the new surface was put down , 20/3/09