1499180 Sgt GH Saxton, 9 Sqdn, MIA/KIA 13/14.05.43

Good morning - It's a bit of a long-shot, but I'm hoping for some clues to unravelling a minor mystery relating to a name on a war memorial.

I work at a College in Sussex and have started to research the ten names on our memorial to ex-students and staff who gave their lives in the Second World War. I have identified 8 so far, but two currently elude me. One is "D. Mitchell", and predictably the difficulty lies in the fact that there are a number of possible candidates (Army and Air Force); the other is perhaps a more achievable challenge though. He is named as "H.G. Saxton", but CWGC has nobody of that name listed; it does, however, show three men with the initials G.H. Saxton. One was Driver Geoffrey Hurndall Saxton, RASC; another was Sapper George Henry Saxton, RE. The third was RAFVR, hence my enquiry on this forum. He was:

1499180 Sgt (pilot) George Henry Saxton, 9 Sqdn. His Lancaster MkIII ED-589 WS-P was shot down over Holland by a night-fighter en route to Pilsen on the night of 13/14 May 1943 with the loss of all the crew, two of whom are buried in Holland and the rest, including George Saxton, are commemorated at Runnymede.

In order to discover if this is our man or not, I think I need to find some biographical information - even just his place of birth/residence, for example, would help (I have found one unsubstantiated suggestion he was born in Carlisle, but nothing else). Does anybody have any clues, guidance or information which might help?

Many thanks, Pat

Hello Pat,

1499180 Sgt (pilot) George Henry Saxton is shown on a family tree as being born in Carlisle, as were both his parents, his mother's maiden name was Ward. This matches with a birth registration in Carlisle in Q4 1915.

Driver Geoffrey H Saxton is shown on the Army RoH as born in London W and residing in Essex.
Sapper George H Saxon is also show on this list, born and residing in Nottingham.

Not sure this actually helps you. It may help if we know the location of the college. Would the students have been local or is it a boarding school?

Martyn

Hi Pat
Regrettably does not tie your man to Sussex but there are several pages about George Saxton and his short period with 9 Sqn in "Luck of a Lancaster" by Gordon Thorburn.
This includes copy of the ORB for the night they were lost.
Also says he was the son of Mr and Mrs Robert Saxton of Carlisle, and born in June 1915, so well above the average age for aircrew.
regards Peter

Pat, Hi,
Can't find a Saxton in (or near) Carlisle in the 1911 Census - or is it me?
HTH
Peter Davies

Thanks for the responses, I appreciate your help!

Pre-war my college was the county Agricultural School for Sussex, located in Plumpton East Sussex. Most of the students and staff lived either locally or on-site (partly to accommodate livestock routines), but not all of course. Currently, I'm trying to find anything I can about these men and trawl through it looking for any clue which might tie one of them to the local area, or farming, or teaching - for example, Sgt Saxton's "advanced"(!) age might hint at a teaching post - that sort of thing (actually, I'll follow this up if I can, now I think about it). Will look at the 1911 Census again too, thanks.

Thank you again for your efforts, it's very kind of you.

Cheers,
Pat

It may be a pure coincidence but there was a Henry G Saxton at Tablehurst Farm, Forest Row from at least 1927 through the 1930's. This information is from adverts in newspapers of the period (from British Newspaper Archive). In 1947 there is a sale, by order of H G Saxton (so it might eliminate him as a war casualty), of the herd, equipment and tools etc.
Can not match him up with a birth, marriage or death in the area though.

Martyn

Thank you for this Martin, nice detective work! I'll see if I can follow it up; as it happens, I've been to Tablehurst Farm but I don't think it was still owned by a Saxton at that time. Sounds like he packed in a dairy outfit in 1947 which wasn't unusual post-war (or more recently). If the Forest Row Henry G Saxton isn't our Plumpton man it might be that his initials are the source of the confusion with GH Saxton... or he had a son/nephew/grandson...

Cheers, Pat

FreeBmd possibilities deaths in ww2 timeframe


Deaths Dec 1940 (>99%)

Saxton Harry G 73 Maidenhead 2c 1177 - Poss based on aged Henry George below


Deaths Sep 1941 (>99%)

Saxton Howard G 49 Bournemouth 2b 1300 =-- see Howard George below

Births Dec 1867 (>99%)
Saxton Henry George Rochford 4a 199


Births Mar 1892 (>99%)
Saxton Howard George Kensington 1a 145


Births Jun 1904 (>99%)

Saxton Harry Godley Worksop

Thank you for the information about the book. I’ve ordered it and can’t wait to read it. George’s brother Albert was my Grandfather. I’m looking to find out as much information about my Great Uncle George as I can.

Hi, apologies for missing your post! Did George have any connection with Plumpton College in East Sussex, do you know?

All the best, Pat