Hello There , I'm searching for family members or close relatives of ; Sergeant W. Op. (Air) Alfred Arthuir Snook 1380349, 218 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who died on 02 May 1944 Age 22 (Poix-De-Picardie Churchyard ) Son of Alfred Edward and Elizabeth Matilda Snook, of Redfield, Bristol. Is there anyone who can help ? Thanks in advance , Luc
Hello There , I'm searching for family members or close relatives of ; Sergeant W. Op. (Air) Alfred Arthuir Snook 1380349, 218 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who died on 02 May 1944 Age 22 (Poix-De-Picardie Churchyard ) Son of Alfred Edward and Elizabeth Matilda Snook, of Redfield, Bristol. Is there anyone who can help ? Thanks in advance , Luc Hello Luc, the following comes from the publication - RAF Bomber Command Losses Vol.5 - W R. Chorley 1-2 May 1944 218 Squadron Stirling III EF504 HA-P Op. Chambly Took off from Woolfox Lodge at 2214 hours tasked to destroy the railway and stores depot. The aircraft came down in the vicinity of Poix-de-la-Somme, where those who died rest in local churchyard. Crew. F/O. I I. Jones + Sgt. E W. Wright. Evaded F/O. S D. Taylor RCAF. Evaded F/S. R H. Osborne RAAF + Sgt. A A. Snook + P/O. R E S. Twining + WO2. M R. Bell RCAF + The Chambly raid of 1-2 May 1944 Chambly: 120 aircraft - 96 Lancasters, 16 Stirlings, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 3 and 8 Groups. 3 Lancasters and 2 Stirlings lost. Chambly, to the north of Paris was the main railway stores and repair depot for the Northern French system which the Allied bombers were trying to put out of action. The local report (provided by the office of the present Chief Engineer at Chambly) shows that the raid was extremely successful. Approximately 500 high-explosive bombs fell inside the railway depot area and serious damage was caused to all departments. The depot was completely out of action for 10 days. Source - The Bomber Command War Diaries - M. Middlebrook / C. Everitt
Thank you for the additional information Peter . In the meantime have found someone on Forces Reunited . A certain Elisabeth wrote the following .; Alfred Snook & Robert Twining I am doing a bit of research for my dad into a relative who died in World War Two. Alfred Arthur Snook died on 2nd May 1944 after his Stirling aircraft was shot down. My Grandfather, who was Alfie’s cousin and best friend, took part in a seance in the 90’s and information came through that the rest of the crew escaped the aircraft, however Alfie lost his life as he went back to help the Gunner pilot, who through this site I have confirmed was Pilot Officer Robert Twining. The ’spirit’ also reported that the two were buried next to each other at Poix de la Somme churchyard. (From left to right, Bell, Jones, Osborne, Snook, Twining). Through this site and others I have confirmed this story. This may be a long shot - but I would greatly appreciate it if anybody who was stationed at RAF Woolfox Lodge prior to May 1944 who may have known either of these two individuals could contact me or provide me with a small piece regarding them. I know that two of the seven crew survived and evaded capture; Sgt E W Wright the Flight Engineer and Flight Officer S. D Taylor the Navigator. Amazingly both men found their way to Fréteval camp and were liberated by the American Army and returned to England. I know that Wright was involved in an incident in Nov 1944 and disappeared following a training flight. It’s a long shot, but I’m looking for either Mr Samuel D Taylor himself, relatives of any of the men involved in the incident or anyone from 218 squadron, stationed at Woolfox Lodge. I hope someone can help me! Thank you x Last edited by Elizabeth Elam I hope I can contact Mss Elam Once again thanks !
