In Memoriam - Those Air Force Pilots/Crews who died on this day in WW2.

Discussion in 'The War In The Air' started by spidge, Nov 20, 2009.

  1. Many thanks to you all.
     
  2. Hi my name is Alessandro and today i found the crash site about this aircraft. I found more pieces of the aircraft. I want contact the relatives. Can you help me?
     
  3. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    Hi Alessandro,
    Great that you have found the site and some wreckage.

    Warrant Officer Hamiltonfamily was from a suburb (Burwood) near Melbourne however that was a long time ago. See attached letter sent to father in 1948.

    Somebody else might be able to add some extra information from Ancestry etc.

    Service Record

    Name HAMILTON, STEWART ALFRED

    Service Royal Australian Air Force

    Service Number 418398

    Date of Birth 8 Dec 1923

    Place of Birth EAST MALVERN, VIC

    Date of Enlistment 22 May 1942

    Locality on Enlistment Unknown

    Place of Enlistment MELBOURNE, VIC

    Next of Kin HAMILTON, ARTHUR

    Date of Death 10 Oct 1944

    Rank Warrant Officer

    Posting on Death 178 Squadron

    WW2 Honours and Gallantry None for display

    Prisoner of War No

    Roll of Honour Unknown

    Padua War Cemetery Stewart Hamilton Father Letter.jpg
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2019
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  4. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    THESE TWO AUSTRALIANS WERE THE 37TH AND 38TH OF THE 38 AUSTRALIANS WHO WERE KILLED WITH 218 (GOLD COAST) SQUADRON RAF AND THE 10,615TH AND 10,616TH AIR FORCE AUSTRALIANS TO DIE FROM ALL CAUSES AND IN ALL THEATRES.

    RAAF FATALITIES IN SECOND WORLD WAR AMONG
    RAAF PERSONNEL SERVING ON ATTACHMENT
    IN ROYAL AIR FORCE SQUADRONS AND SUPPORT UNITS

    17332 Flight Lieutenant JENYNS, Robert
    433109 Flight Sergeant KILPATRICK, George

    Source :
    AWM 237 (65 NAA : A705 : 1166/20/266 Digitised Micro Film No 463 OAFH, Commonwealth War Graves records W R Chorley : RAF Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War : Page 169, Volume 1945.

    Aircraft Type: Lancaster
    Serial number: NF 955
    Radio call sign: HA – H
    Unit: ATTD 218 SQN RAF

    Summary:
    Lancaster NF955 took off from RAF Chedburgh at 0700 hours on the 24th April 1945, detailed to bomb railway yards at Bad Oldesloe.

    As the aircraft became airborne on take off, the starboard engines faltered and lost power. With its air speed decaying by the second, the aircraft staggered across the airfield and crashed at 0701 into a hedgerow near the WAAF site and close to the Bury St Edmunds to Haverill road.

    For the next 30 seconds explosions rent the air before the flames were extinguished and what remained of the bomb load was made safe. The seven crew on board were killed.

    Crew:
    RAAF 17332 Flt Lt Robert Lance Jenyns, Captain (Pilot)
    RAF 197384 PO Frederick Anthony Morris, (Flight Engineer)
    RAF 1613184 Flt Sgt Henry Ronalds Williams, (Navigator)
    RAF 1318567 WO Peter Maurice Nicholls, (Air Bomber)
    RAAF 433109 Flt Sgt George Kilpatrick, (Wireless Air Gunner)
    RAF 197085 PO Clifford Jolly, (Mid Upper Gunner)
    RAF 1583408 Flt Sgt Harold Keith Harper, (Rear Gunner)

    RAAF 17332 Flt Lt Robert Lance Jenyns.
    Aged 28, Son of Horace Robert Walter and Hilda Mary Jenyns, of South Perth, Western Australia.

    RAF 197384 PO Frederick Anthony Morris.
    NO AGE Son of Frederick Bernard and Lena May Morris, of Wolsingham.

    RAF 1613184 Flt Sgt Henry Ronalds Williams.
    Aged 22, Son of Henry Frederick and Elizabeth Maria Williams, of Croxley Green, Rickmansworth.

    RAF 1318567 WO Peter Maurice Nicholls.
    Aged 22, Son of Maurice John and Ethel Rosetta Nicholls, of Hornchurch, Essex.

    RAAF 433109 Flt Sgt George Kilpatrick.
    Aged 20, Son of William James Kilpatrick and Eileen Maud Kilpatrick, of Petersham, New South Wales Australia.

    RAF 197085 PO Clifford Jolly.
    Aged 39, Son of Thomas and Sarah Jane Jolly, of Wanstead.

    RAF 1583408 Flt Sgt Harold Keith Harper.
    Aged 21, Son of William Harold and Mary Jane Harper, of Stourbridge; husband of Freda May Harper, of Stourbridge

    Jenyns_RL Photo.jpg Kilpatrick_GJ Photo.jpg Jenyns R L 2.jpg Jenyns R L.JPG Kilpatrick G.JPG Morris_FA RAF.jpg Nicholls_PM RAF.jpg Jolly_C RAF.jpg Williams_HR.jpg
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Sep 24, 2019
  5. CL1

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

    From my photo collection
    He and his Brother are also Remembered on the Croxley Green War Memorial.

    upload_2019-9-24_14-10-0.png


    Flight Sergeant (Navigator) WILLIAMS, HENRY RONALD
    Service Number 1613184

    Died 24/04/1945

    Aged 22

    218 Sqdn.
    Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

    Son of Henry Frederick and Elizabeth Maria Williams, of Croxley Green, Rickmansworth.
    Buried at RICKMANSWORTH (CHORLEYWOOD ROAD) CEMETERY

    Location: Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
    Number of casualties: 43

    Cemetery/memorial reference: Sec. A.A. Row 4. Joint grave 23.

    Headstone now quite weather worn

    upload_2019-9-24_14-7-59.png
     
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  6. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    Clive,

    My photo of the headstone for Williams was taken in 2009 - The deterioration is quite extreme in that short period.

    Was your photo taken pre 2009???

    Cheers
    Geoff
     
  7. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    THESE FOUR AUSTRALIANS WERE THE 403RD TO 406TH OF 594 AUSTRALIANS KILLED WITH 460 SQUADRON RAAF AND THE 7,029TH TO THE 7,032ND AIR FORCE AUSTRALIANS TO DIE FROM ALL CAUSES AND IN ALL THEATRES TO THIS DATE

    460 SQUADRON RAAF, WORLD WAR 2 FATALITIES

    Date of Death: 9 April 1944

    Source:
    AWM 64 (1/295) AWM 237 (63) (64)
    NAA: A705, 166/26/417

    Aircraft Type: Lancaster
    Serial number: ME 727
    Radio call sign: AR – X2
    Unit: 460 Sqn RAAF

    Summary:
    Lancaster ME 727 was detailed to bomb railway yards at Villeneuve St Georges, south-east of Paris on the night of 9 April 1944. Bomb load 12 x 1000lb and 4 x 500lb bombs.
    The aircraft took off from RAF Binbrook at 2124 hours and after take-off it dropped the port wing, executed a turn to port with the wing still down. It continued to turn six complete circles in the air moving away from the drome, losing height and gradually getting steeper in the turn. It finally crashed in woods at 2130 hours approx one and a half miles from the drome, and all the crew were killed. It was later established that the aircraft took off with the trim incorrectly set.

    Crew:
    RAAF 410367 PO William Douglas McKenzie, Captain (Pilot) (KILLED)
    RAAF 423957 Flt Sgt Walter David Weekes, (Navigator) (KILLED)
    RAAF 412200 Flt Sgt Bryon John Joseph Simpson, (Bomb Aimer) (KILLED)
    RAAF 420225 Flt Sgt Ronald Mansfield, (Wireless Operator Air) (KILLED)
    RAF 1216017 Sgt Sidney Basil Barber, (Flight Engineer) (KILLED)
    RAF 1437428 Sgt John Lowes Crouch, (Air Gunner) (KILLED)
    RAF 1852477 Sgt John Septimus Pyne, (Air Gunner) (KILLED)

    Sgt Barber is buried in Acocks Green (St Mary) Churchyard, and the other six crew members are buried in the RAF Cemetery Cambridge, UK

    RAAF 410367 PO William Douglas McKenzie, Captain (Pilot)
    Aged 26, Son of Kenneth and Annie McKenzie, of Noorat, Victoria, Australia.

    RAAF 423957 Flt Sgt Walter David Weekes, (Navigator)
    Aged 21, Son of Raymond Walter and Phyllis Alethea Weekes, of Harbord, New South Wales, Australia.

    RAAF 412200 Flt Sgt Bryon John Joseph Simpson, (Bomb Aimer)
    Aged 27, Son of Alfred Lewis Simpson and Dorothy Eileen Simpson; husband of Mavis Elsie Simpson, of Greenwich Point, New South Wales, Australia.

    RAAF 420225 Flt Sgt Ronald Mansfield, (Wireless Operator Air)
    Aged 22, Son of John Henry and Matilda Jane Mansfield, of Thornton, New South Wales, Australia.

    RAF 1216017 Sgt Sidney Basil Barber, (Flight Engineer)
    Aged 35, Son of Annie Barber; husband of Gladys May Barber, of Acock's Green, Birmingham.

    RAF 1437428 Sgt John Lowes Crouch, (Air Gunner)
    Aged 20, Son of William Vincent and Frances Grace Mary Crouch, of Croxley Green Hertfordshire.

    RAF 1852477 Sgt John Septimus Pyne, (Air Gunner)
    Aged 19, Son of Horace William and Louise Ann Pyne, of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.
    McKenzie W D.JPG Weekes W D.JPG Simpson B J J.JPG Mansfield R.JPG McKenzie _WD Barber RAF Crew (Large).jpg McKenzie _WD Crouch RAF Crew.jpg McKenzie _WD Pyne RAF Crew.jpg Cambridge Cemetery WW2 Air Force Plot 4.JPG Mansfield R Funeral 1.jpg Mansfield R Funeral 2.jpg Mansfield R Funeral 3.jpg Mansfield R Funeral 4.jpg
     
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  8. CL1

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

    Hello Geoff

    taken 2012

    I did report this cemetery to CWGC at the time as having a number of headstones dirty/moss.It is quite a damp environment there.
    I shall make a re visit there in the next few weeks

    regards
    Clive
     
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  9. CL1

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

    He is Remembered on the Croxley Green War Memorials

    Sergeant (Air Gunner) CROUCH, JOHN LOWES
    Service Number 1437428

    Died 09/04/1944

    Aged 20

    460 (R.A.A.F.) Sqdn.
    Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

    Son of William Vincent and Frances Grace Mary Crouch, of Croxley Green Hertfordshire.


    INSCRIPTION
    AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER YOU
    Buried at CAMBRIDGE CITY CEMETERY

    Location: Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
    Number of casualties: 1019

    Cemetery/memorial reference: Grave 13960.






    Croxley Green War Memorial
    upload_2019-9-25_11-40-32.png
     
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2019
  10. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST AUSTRALIAN TO BE KILLED IN ACTION IN WW2 AND THE 8TH AIRMAN TO DIE WITH 110 SQUADRON RAF.

    HE WAS ALSO THE HIGHEST RANKING AIRMAN FROM BOMBER COMMAND TO BE KILLED IN ACTION TO THIS DATE.

    First Australian to be killed in action in WW2 (28 September 1939) was Wing Commander Ivan McLeod Cameron, who was serving with Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of war. Wing Commander Cameron, 110 Squadron RAF, was on a reconnaissance flight to Munster, Germany on 28 September 1939, when his Bristol Blenheim bomber, serial N6212, was intercepted and shot down by a German pilot, Feldwebel Klaus Faber, of l/JG I, Luftwaffe. The Blenheim crashed near Kiel, Gerrmany. Wing Commander Cameron is buried at Reichswald Forest Cemetery, Kleve in Germany.[Dennis Newton, First Impact, Maryborough, 1997, p.49]

    He was killed whilst flying Blenheim IV, N6212 of No 110 Sqn on a reconnaissance mission to Munster. He is buried in Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

    Wing Commander Cameron detail:

    Birth 1908 Bealiba, Vic

    Died 28 Sep 1939 Kiel, Germany

    Buried Reichswald, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

    Father Alexander Cameron, b. 1865, Dunolly, Vic

    Mother Isabel Louise Sawell, b. 1868, Kilmore, Vic

    Notes Wing Commander 110 Sqn RAF, KIA



    From the Argus Newspaper Melbourne Victoria, NLA Australian Newspapers - article display

    BEALIBA, Sunday. - Relatives of Acting Wing-Commander Ivan McLeod Cameron have received a cable message from the British Ministry that he was reported missing after air operations on Thursday last.

    This entry from BCL Vol.1

    28 September 1939

    110 Squadron

    Blenheim IV N6212 VE-

    Op. Reconnaissance.

    Took off 0740 hrs Wattisham with the intention of investigating the Munster area. The entire crew of three is buried in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.

    CREW:
    RAF 24225 Wing Commander. Ivan McLeod Cameron +

    RAF 562535 Sgt. Thomas Cecil Hammond +

    RAF 522192 AC1. Thomas Fullerton +


    RAF 24225 Wing Commander. Ivan McLeod Cameron. Aged 31, Son of Alexander and Isabel Louise Cameron, of Bealiba, Victoria, Australia

    RAF 562535 Sgt. Thomas Cecil Hammond. Aged 27, Son of Charles Robert and Louisa May Hammond, of Dublin, Irish Republic.

    RAF 522192 AC1. Thomas Fullerton.
    NO AGE OR NOK LISTED

    CAMERON, Ivan McLeod (1908-1939)

    Ivan McLeod was the son of, Alexander Cameron (1865-1934) and his wife, Isabel Louise new Sawell (1868-1917) and was born at Bealiba on 11 August, 1908. His father owned Bealiba Station. His uncle, Rev D A Cameron (1862-1940) was a former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Victoria in 1921 and Moderator-General of the Australian Church from 1930 to 1933. The Rev Cameron had a close association with the College and was a member of the School Council from 1908 to 1910 and supervised the School in the transition period after Norman Morrison's untimely death.

    Ivan attended Maryborough High School before being enrolled at the College on 2 June, 1926. He attended for 6 months until December that year. After leaving the College he enrolled in a flying Course at RAAF Point Cook in Victoria. Pegasus of December, 1929 recorded that Ivan Cameron (1926) was selected as one of seventeen out of 300 applicants as a Cadet in the RAAF. After qualifying at Point Cook, he was one of five selected as a pilot to go to England for a four year course in the RAF, and has now been promoted to the rank of Flying Officer. He was recently selected to take part in the Aerial Pageant Exhibition over London.

    Ivan then did an engineering course for two years after which he received a permanent appointment to the RAF and a posting to Iraq for two years in about 1934. He then returned to Australia for three months during which time he served with a bomber transport squadron. After returning to Iraq for a year he was transferred back to England and promoted to squadron leader on 1 June, 1937. He was subsequently appointed to Acting Wing Commander with 110 Hyderabad Squadron at Wattisham, England. The squadron was part of No 2 Group, 83 Wing Force. ‘No 110 squadron reformed in 1937, as a bomber unit. On 4 September 1939, 110 Squadron led the RAF's first bombing raid of World War Two, when five of its Blenheims flew from the civil airport at Ipswich (to which No.110 had been detached from its base at Wattisham on 2 September) to attack German warships near Wilhelmshaven’ .

    Sources: Pegasus Dec, 1929 p53; Pegasus Dec, 1939 p67; Courier Mail (Brisbane) 20 Oct, 1939 p2; The Argus (Melbourne) 2 Oct, 1939 p2; James Affleck, Geelong Collegians at the Second World War p13 (citing Australian War Memorial; Commonwealth War Graves Commission; Dennis Newton, First Impact. Maryborough, 1997; W R Chorley, RAF Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War Vol1, 1939-40.); www. Aircrewremembrancesociety.
    Cameron Crew Old Graves Middle English Airman (Large).jpg Cameron Crew Old Graves Middle English Airman 2.jpg Cameron aircraft Blenheim IV.jpg Cameron_Ivan_McLeod.JPG 2.jpg Cameron Crew Hammond.jpg Cameron Crew Fullerton.jpg Reichswald Forest (3).JPG
     
    Last edited: Sep 26, 2019
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  11. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 2ND AUSTRALIAN TO BE KILLED IN ACTION IN WW2 AND ONE OF FIVE 144SQ RAF AIRCRAFT TO BE LOST ON THIS OPERATION.
    29th September 1939 - 144 Sqn - Air Forces Memorial to the Missing, Runnymede, Surrey, UK.

    The second Australian to be killed in action in the RAF in Europe was Tasmanian, Flying Officer John Tulloch Burrill Sadler 24, of 144sq RAF. The FIRST being Wing Commander Ivan McLeod Cameron RAF, 110sq, (another Australian serving with the RAF), the previous day over Germany by Feldwebel Klaus Faber, of l/JG I, Luftwaffe.

    Flying Officer Sadler, the son of Bertie Tulloch Sadler and Emily Sadler, of East Devonport, Tasmania, was serving with the RAF and was the pilot of a Handley Page Hampden bomber, serial L4121, (PL-0) who, along with four other aircraft took off from RAF Hemswell at 0640 on 29 September 1939. They were all intercepted by German fighter aircraft and none returned.

    Flying Officer Sadler’s aircraft was shot down into the sea between the German islands of Heligoland & Wangerooge at about 1000hrs, by Me109 flown by Oblt Gunther Specht of 1./ ZG26.[Dennis Newton, First Impact, Maryborough, 1997, p.49]

    From the Advocate Burnie Tasmania: 9/12/1939 (KILLED IN ACTION).
    Sympathy was expressed generally yesterday with Mr. and Mrs. B. T. Sadler and their sons of "Rannoch," East Devonport, in the publication of the death of Flying Officer Jack Sadler, who was reported missing following one of the early raids on the German naval base at Wilhelmshaven. The date of the death is given as September 29. His family was hoping against hope that the earlier news of his being missing would be followed by an assurance of his having escaped death, and that at worst he was a prisoner of war. He was one of six 144sq aircraft who participated in the raid and all were lost.

    John Tulloch Burrill Sadler was born on July 5, 1916, and was the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Sadler. He was educated at the Launceston Church Grammar School, and joined the Royal Australian Air Force as air cadet at Point Cook in July 1937. He graduated as pilot officer in July, 1937, and went to England for five years' service with the Royal Air Force. He was promoted to the rank of flying officer in February, 1939, and obtained a first class navigator's certificate. With his squadron he took part in the review in Paris in commemoration of Bastille Day on July 14, 1939, and was a pilot in the first long-distance flight to the south of France later in the month.

    Crew Details:
    RAF 40061 Flying Officer John Tulloch Burrill Sadler, 24 RAF Killed. †
    RAF 580680 Sgt William Henry Stephens 20 RAF Killed. †
    RAF 523342 AC1 James White Cumming 22 RAF Killed. †
    RAF 580200 Sgt R.L. Galloway (POW 5760, L6 - Heydekrug) (Survived)

    Flying Officer Sadler has no known grave and is commemorated on panel (1) of the Runnymede Memorial in Surrey, England.

    RAF 40061 Flying Officer John Tulloch Burrill Sadler.
    Aged 24, Son of Bertie Tulloch Sadler and Emily Sadler, of East Devonport, Tasmania, Australia.

    RAF 580680 Sgt William Henry Stephens.
    Aged 20, Son of William Henry and Ellen Stephens.

    RAF 523342 AC1 James White Cumming.
    Aged 22, Son of James White Cumming and Lily Cumming, of Hamilton, Lanarkshire.


    SADLER, John Tulloch Burrill Carrick Memorial Family Plot.jpg Sadler_JTB Runnymede Panel 1 Edged.jpg Sadler.jpg Runnymede Photo.jpg RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL, SURREY, UK.
     
    Last edited: Sep 26, 2019
  12. CL1

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

    From my photo collection

    Aircraftman 1st Class CUMMING, JAMES WHITE
    Service Number 523342

    Died 29/09/1939

    Aged 22

    144 Sqdn.
    Royal Air Force

    Son of James White Cumming and Lily Cumming, of Hamilton, Lanarkshire.
    Commemorated at RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

    Location: Surrey, United Kingdom
    Number of casualties: 20275

    Cemetery/memorial reference: Panel 2.

    upload_2019-9-26_10-45-40.png
     
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  13. CL1

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

    From my photo collection
    Flying Officer SADLER, JOHN TULLOCH BURRILL
    Service Number 40061

    Died 29/09/1939

    Aged 24

    144 Sqdn.
    Royal Air Force

    Son of Bertie Tulloch Sadler and Emily Sadler, of East Devonport, Tasmania, Australia.
    Commemorated at RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

    Location: Surrey, United Kingdom
    Number of casualties: 20275

    Cemetery/memorial reference: Panel 1.
    upload_2019-9-26_10-47-57.png
     
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  14. CL1

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

    From my photo collection.

    Sergeant STEPHENS, WILLIAM HENRY
    Service Number 580680

    Died 29/09/1939

    Aged 20

    144 Sqdn.
    Royal Air Force

    Son of William Henry and Ellen Stephens.
    Commemorated at RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

    Location: Surrey, United Kingdom
    Number of casualties: 20275

    Cemetery/memorial reference: Panel 2.

    upload_2019-9-26_10-51-28.png
     
  15. alieneyes

    alieneyes Senior Member

    http://aircrewremembered.com/sadler-john.html
     
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  16. CL1

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

    Taken 15th October 2019 it has been cleaned up.

    upload_2019-10-15_19-45-38.png
     
  17. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    Looks much better Clive.

    Cheers

    Geoff
     
  18. JamesAppleby

    JamesAppleby New Member



    Wow thank you so much for paying this tribute. Thats cousin Jimmy! He was my Grandads cousin, more like his only brother. His death was taken really hard in my family. He is a legend in my family. Thank you for showing love and respect X i have only started finding sources about him the last couple days and ive got to say it makes me very proud and i wish he could see he hasnt been forgotten.
     
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  19. spidge

    spidge RAAF RESEARCHER

    Thanks James,

    I have added his grave photo.

    Cheers Geoff/Spidge
     
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  20. ChazB

    ChazB New Member

    My grandfather Sidney Begg served in the RAF and wrote a book of his memoirs including pictures and I stumbled across this picture of Sergeant F B Reid's gravesite. It seems to be the original grave site as I understand from a search of the CWGS that he was reburied in Nov 1942.

    Unfortunately my grandfather didn't mention anything in his book about why he has the picture of the grave or who it is stood near it. He was an electrician and worked on aircraft throughout North Africa and Italy during the war. I sadly did not get the chance to ask him about the details whilst he was alive.

    I hope this info helps.
     

    Attached Files:

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