Air Crash,POW:Sapper HAROLD WILLIAM ATKINSON FINDLAY 2072609, 226 Field Coy., Royal Engineers

Discussion in 'War Grave Photographs' started by CL1, Jul 12, 2011.

  1. CL1

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

    Killed in Air crash whilst be Repatriated on the 6th May 1945
    After surviving as a Prisoner of War for five years

    Sapper HAROLD WILLIAM ATKINSON FINDLAY

    2072609, 226 Field Coy., Royal Engineers
    who died
    on 06 May 1945

    Remembered with honour
    READING (HENLEY ROAD) CEMETERY

    If anyone could add to thread I would appreciate it.

    thank you
     

    Attached Files:

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  2. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Can anyone confirm the day he became a PoW in 1940?
     
  3. BFBSM

    BFBSM Very Senior Member

    From UK, British Army Prisoners of War, 1939-1945 on Ancestry:

    Name:H. W. A. Findlay
    Rank:Sapper
    Army Number:2072609
    Regiment:Royal Engineers
    POW Number:4644
    Camp Type:Stalag
    Camp Number:VIII-B
    Camp Location:Cieszyn, Poland
    Record Office:Royal Engineers Record Office, Ditchling Road, Brighton, Sussex
    Record Office Number:9

    Mark
     
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  4. CL1

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

    If anyone could add the details of the crash and any further casualties
    thank you
    regards
    Clive
    [​IMG]
     
  5. nicks

    nicks Very Senior Member

    Casualty List on Findmypast only has him listed as missing between 10th May and 16th June 1940.

    Does that narrow it down enough??;)

    He is then listed as accidently killed
     
  6. amberdog45

    amberdog45 Senior Member

    From the GRO website Findlay.JPG
     
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  7. nicks

    nicks Very Senior Member

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  8. CL1

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

    Nicks more info
    The crew was completing a flight to the US, repatriating wounded US soldiers. It was scheduled to make a stopover at RAF Greenham Common near Newbury, Berkshire. Starting the descent, the crew encountered low visibility with clouds to 600 feet. While flying in a mountainous area, the twin engine aircraft hit a radar antenna, lost its right wing and crashed in flames on a hut located on Mt Gibbet located near Hindhead, Surrey. All 30 occupants and one person in hut were killed.
    Crew:
    2nd Lt John N. Boyce Jr.,
    1st Lt Herbert R. Chickering.

    Crash of a Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando near Hindhead: 31 killed | B3A Aircraft Accidents Archives
     
  9. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Hardly mountainous.

    Crash gets mentioned here.
    Gibbet Hill, Hindhead - Wikipedia

    Wonder if this is the mast they hit ??

    [​IMG]
    ROYAL AIR FORCE RADAR 1939-1945.. © IWM (CH 16518)
    IWM Non Commercial Licence

    Aircraft Navigation and Guidance: Two of the four 240-foot masts of the GEE Ground Radar navigational air station at Gibbet Hill, Hindhead, Surrey. GEE was a navigational system which involved sending synchronised pulses to aircraft from three separate stations in Britain. From the difference in time of arrival of the three pulses, the aircraft's navigator could determine his position.
     
    Last edited: May 5, 2017
  10. BFBSM

    BFBSM Very Senior Member

    The US Air Force Missing Air Crew Report, for this flight is available here: Dropbox - 44-77839.

    The details of the report attached specifically concern a enquiry by the father of Watkins, Dan D. No.17076978 TEC/5 in the US Army, from Arkansas. A full list of passengers is provided.

    Mark
     
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  11. CL1

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

    Excellent Mark thank you for the info
    Nick thanks for finding the aircraft


    query
    anymore on

    Jean H Galarneau 61426

    Also states casualty on the ground


    regards
    Clive
     
    Last edited: May 6, 2017
  12. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

    Casualty Details

    GALARNEAU, JEAN HUBERT
    Rank:Private
    Service No: D/61426
    Date of Death:06/05/1945
    Age:22
    Regiment/Service:Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal, R.C.I.C.
    Grave Reference:61. E. 5.
    Cemetery:BROOKWOOD MILITARY CEMETERY
    Additional Information:Son of Elmee Galarneau, of Outremont, Province of Quebec, Canada.

    Modd
    Casualty Details
    MODD, REUBEN ALFRED
    Rank:Gunner
    Service No:1526973
    Date of Death:06/05/1945
    Age:25
    Regiment/Service:Royal Artillery
    1 (Airborne) Lt. Anti-Tank Bty.
    Grave Reference:Plot D.D. Grave 1333.
    Cemetery:SPALDING CEMETERY
    Additional Information:Son of William and Agnes Ann Modd, of Spalding
     
    Last edited: May 6, 2017
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  13. BFBSM

    BFBSM Very Senior Member

    The service file for Jean Hubert Galarneau, can be downloaded from here; Dropbox - GALARNEAU, JEAN HUBERT. It is contained within the original Dropbox folder link above.

    Mark
     
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  14. snailer

    snailer Country Member

    Was Sapper Findlay injured and died later in hospital? Amberdog has pointed out his death was registered in September, also the Berkshire Burial Index shows he was buried on October 31st a long time after the crash in May.
     
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  15. amberdog45

    amberdog45 Senior Member

    Snailer, I wonder if the names were presented by the military to the Registrar as one list? Galarneau's death also registered in September. Bizarely there were two gents with same surname married that year. Galarneau.JPG
     
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  16. CL1

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

    Dear All
    As ever thank you for adding the additional detail.
    Looking through the docs Mark found all crew and passengers died in the crash on 6th May

    The only query now is who was killed on the ground in the hut
    Possibly RAF person

    Regards
    Clive
     
  17. CL1

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

    No civilian deaths registered on CWGC that day for the UK.
     
  18. nicks

    nicks Very Senior Member

    F/Lt Emerson Parsih RCAF died when an aircraft struck the building where he was on duty, his service record is available on Ancestry, death is registered in Surrey SW.

    Rank: Flight Lieutenant
    Service No: C/24451
    Date of Death: 06/05/1945
    Age: 34
    Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force
    Grave Reference: 50. A. 7.
    Cemetery: BROOKWOOD MILITARY CEMETERY

    Additional Information: Son of Eli and Dagmar Forsbcrg Parish; husband of Frances Henrietta Parish, of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada.

    Flight Lieutenant Emerson E Parish ( - 1945) - Find A Grave Memorial
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: May 6, 2017
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  19. CL1

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

    Well done Nick
    Thank you

    Regards
    Clive
     
  20. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    Evening Telegraph & Post, May 9, 1945

    OVER 30 KILLED IN PLANE CRASH
    An aeroplane accident which occurred at Hindhead on Sunday afternoon resulted in the death of over 30 service personnel.

    An American transport plane, returning from the Continent, passed over the Punch Bowl flying low and afterwards collided with one of the tall pylons at the RAF radio station at Gibbet Hill. It was raining at the time and there was low mist over the district. The plane crashed on two huts in the station grounds and one of the station personnel was killed. The machine burst into flames and was practically destroyed.

    Of the 32 occupants of the plane – crew and passengers – not one survived.
     
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