563426 F/Sgt Frederick George BERRY, DFM, MiD, Royal Air Force: 01/09/1940, Battle of Britain

Discussion in 'The War In The Air' started by CL1, Dec 24, 2009.

  1. Jdbbooklets

    Jdbbooklets Member

  2. Jdbbooklets

    Jdbbooklets Member

  3. Jdbbooklets

    Jdbbooklets Member

    I Thankyou of this I’m just merely pointing out that it was a state of confusion at the speed a pilot acted but my historian friend has got his facts right it was not a 111 but a ju88 that was what I was trying to say.
     
  4. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Im not worried
    It is as it is
    Just remembering Fred today along with all other casualties
     
  5. Jdbbooklets

    Jdbbooklets Member

    I respect that and the pilot will be added to the story but had to get right plane you said I got to get it right that attitude to me isn’t nice I’m trying sir to get so many facts right
     
  6. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    What attitude
    I am saying i am not worried about the info
    Im no expert so it is as it is
    People are just advising you as best they can
     
  7. Jdbbooklets

    Jdbbooklets Member

    Oh that’s ok just me getting tight I’ve added the pilots name at the bottom of the RAF loss and I will keep adding as best I can. My computer so slow today doesn’t help
     
  8. Jdbbooklets

    Jdbbooklets Member

    Just finished adding another page of lives lost which brought mr to tears one part it said the love of a husband and his wife’s grieving,I wrote to a friend and said how upset it made me and no book has done that. I nearly packed it in before that with so much grief going on but that has spurned me so had data protection at Liverpool with a message I recieved stating items I was referring too earlier are public domain but I’m not interested. I’m putting backgrounds to these in memorium pages which now tally at 211 pages alone that’s without other pages I have . So if you have a story to talk tell me . It appears no one has much to say in this field why I don’t know. It appears I may have upset someone too .because I didn’t do this or that but did send an idea and no reply which I consider very rude.
     
  9. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Many forum members on here are experts in their field so this may not be an indepth interest to them due to their lack of knowledge.
    Some are right anoraks(which we like)
    Many forum members are generalists (like myself) who dabble and dig and rake on many aspects on WW2 and other things.
    We all try to help as best we can.

    Re your current interest as we stated it has been covered many times.
    You are looking to put a different bent on it which is fine.We have tried to assist where we can but again 80 years have passed and any new info is either in the archives ready to be found or word of mouth around the internet.
    We do not want to suggest "what if" because we do not do that

    You have not upset anyone at all
    Keep asking questions

    Fight the good fight with all your might

    Please keep this thread about Fred thank you
     
    Jdbbooklets likes this.
  10. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Fred Berry
    A poem from Fred's brother Edwin, sent to in by their Nephew, Richard,

    in June 2010, can be found on this page...

    There was a time, there was a place,
    A time of youth, a time of haste,
    When what we had we didn't know
    When passing moments seemed too slow.
    We all grew up, so very fast
    And now, when gone, we seek the past,
    Those wonder years that slipped right by
    Are simply visions of inner eye.


    But feed we must off memory's plate,
    And savour the fare, before too late,
    Let us but nourish on all that was good,
    The lightness, the laughter, the joys of childhood.
    Victoria and Dow Hill Schools Poetry

    Flt.Sgt. Fred Berry. DFM., Boulogne 1940

    Berry received his DFM for coming to the aid of the troopship, Lancastria. The Lancastria was sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft, off the French coast near Boulogne, with great loss of life. 1 Squadron., RAF. was based in France at that time.

    Name: BERRY, FREDERICK GEORGE
    Initials: F G
    Nationality: United Kingdom
    Rank: Flight Sergeant (Pilot)
    Regiment: Royal Air Force
    Unit Text: 1 Sqdn.
    Date of Death: 01/09/1940
    Service No: 563426
    Awards: DFM
    Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
    Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. G.5. Grave 92.
    Cemetery: HARROW (PINNER) NEW CEMETERY

    On 1st September 1940 Fred Berry was flying a Hurricane of 1 Squadron based at RAF Station Northholt. he was involved in a dogfight with Bf-109's, and was shot down and killed in Hurricane P3276, crashing at Brisley Farm, Ruckinge. He is buried at Pinner New Cemetary, Harrow, Middlesex.

    Fred Berry therefore, is "One of The Few" that is, a pilot who fought in The Battle of Britain.
     
    BrianHall1963 likes this.
  11. Jdbbooklets

    Jdbbooklets Member

    Hello I’ve put Fred’s medal recieved in the raf loss via The London gazette and I will put this poem in too if that’s ok .
     
  12. Jdbbooklets

    Jdbbooklets Member

    Thankyou so much yes I’m not a professional writer but a hobbyist and I appreciate the help I’m being given,but I think the layout I’m doing and the manner has upset someone. I’ve appologised but can only do so much in a way I have taught myself at nearly 75 on a computer is amazaing for at school my pet hate was history believe it or not so I took up art. Book writing only started 2018 but now I’m pushing books out like I’m Fred’s poem as I haven’t long to live, each day is for us my wife and I a bonus. But because of my disability I write because now I can’t walk and yesterday I cried over something moving never happened before and this book I dream the name never done that before. Yes 80 years ago it’s hard to put into perspective but for those that died I will try, and for the people of Liverpool I will try,and for those helping me on here I will try thank
     
  13. Jdbbooklets

    Jdbbooklets Member

    I’m now ceasing this request it’s not for me I’ll finish what I’ve done and it will be available online at my website,The reason sadly behind this is a colonel in the pioneers who seems to know it all but pulls books apart so I’ll resume with my fund raising for MNDA and the USAAF and AAF and RCAF and the RAF which an be viewed on my website JDB Booklets and the testimonials written. I have tried with Ship 557 it will only be available online but the words this person wrote to me is slander as nothing was altered I merely pointed things out to the association who told this historian and I have sent back a check for the person. But before I go I have had from the CWGC all RAF which were lost on the Lancastria. I feel hurt with his comments to the fact I nearly shut everything down but a child said to me Don’t cry David my daddy didn’t die in vain and the child was from a father who died from MNDA. So Thankyou gentleman who have tried to help me very much appreciated.
     
  14. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Flt.Sgt. Fred Berry. DFM., Boulogne 1940

    Berry received his DFM for coming to the aid of the troopship, Lancastria. The Lancastria was sunk by Luftwaffe aircraft, off the French coast near Boulogne, with great loss of life. 1 Squadron., RAF. was based in France at that time.

    Name: BERRY, FREDERICK GEORGE
    Initials: F G
    Nationality: United Kingdom
    Rank: Flight Sergeant (Pilot)
    Regiment: Royal Air Force
    Unit Text: 1 Sqdn.
    Date of Death: 01/09/1940
    Service No: 563426
    Awards: DFM
    Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
    Grave/Memorial Reference: Sec. G.5. Grave 92.
    Cemetery: HARROW (PINNER) NEW CEMETERY

    On 1st September 1940 Fred Berry was flying a Hurricane of 1 Squadron based at RAF Station Northholt. he was involved in a dogfight with Bf-109's, and was shot down and killed in Hurricane P3276, crashing at Brisley Farm, Ruckinge. He is buried at Pinner New Cemetery, Harrow, Middlesex.

    Fred Berry therefore, is "One of The Few" that is, a pilot who fought in The Battle of Britain.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2021
    Jdbbooklets likes this.
  15. Jdbbooklets

    Jdbbooklets Member

    I have put all this info in the pages associated with and had permission from the RAF to use other details for this plus my historian RAF friend has given details in full of his medal given and mention in the London gazette August 1944 .
     
  16. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    The grave has received a clean up,I reported this a while a go.Not sure re the wings.

    BERRY, FREDERICK GEORGE
    Rank: Flight Sergeant
    Trade: Pilot
    Service No: 563426
    Date of Death: 01/09/1940
    Regiment/Service: 1 Sqdn., Royal Air Force
    Awards: D F M
    Grave Reference: Sec. G.5. Grave 92.
    Cemetery: PINNER CEMETERY

    upload_2022-9-1_8-47-30.jpeg

    upload_2022-9-1_8-47-8.jpeg

    upload_2022-9-1_8-46-51.jpeg


    upload_2022-9-1_8-47-54.jpeg
     
  17. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    [​IMG]
    The story is told by Tims son re Tim Elkington Battle of Britain Pilot .Fred assisted Tim when Tim was shot down and bailed out but was knocked unconscious.

    johnelkington.com - influences - people - battle of britain.

    At the time, my father - Tim Elkington - was a 19-year-old pilot with No. 1 Squadron. A fighter pilot's average life expectancy was 87 flying hours and a fair number died before they even had time to unpack their kit-bags. Nonetheless, on August 12, Tim claimed an Me. 109. On the 15th, he also painted a mythical animal on his Hurricane's cowling for good luck.

    The next day he was "Top Weaver", flying back and forth over the rest of the squadron to provide an early warning of enemy fighters, when they encountered 100 German aircraft. In the ensuing melée, he never saw the aircraft that riddled his plane with cannon shells - although, amazingly, his mother did. From nearby Hayling Island and quite unaware that her son was involved, she watched the lone Hurricane pursued by three Me. 109s. Tim's fuel tank exploded, peppering him with shrapnel.

    Perhaps not what most people would think of as good luck. Yet his luck did hold. Unconscious as he drifted seawards in his parachute, he would certainly have drowned. Then his flight leader, Sergeant Berry*, achieved the extraordinary feat of blowing him back over land with his aircraft's slipstream. He was lucky in another way, too. On August 18, the RAF was put through the mincer on its "hardest day", losing 136 planes. While he was in hospital and convalescing, No. 1 Squadron was decimated.

    Flt Sergeant Berry plunged to the ground on September 1, before Tim could even thank him. For Tim, who had also been fired on by the Home Guard as he came down in his chute, the main legacy of the incident, apart from cannon shell wounds in his legs, was the shrapnel still in his body. For years afterwards it worked rather like a barometer, warning of impending changes in the weather.
     
    Little Friend and Tony56 like this.
  18. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    Berry.jpg
     
    CL1 likes this.
  19. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    F/Sgt F.G. Berry killed. (Shot down by Bf109s during combat action over Kent)
    1400hrs: Dungeness. Hurricane P5185. 253 Squadron Kenley

    September 1st 1940
     
  20. Marks

    Marks Senior Member

    563426 F/SGT F.G BERRY D.F.M - Awarded Mention in Despatches London Gazette 1 January 1941

    Mark
     
    dbf and CL1 like this.

Share This Page