RCAF Airmen in Blacon Cemetery Chester

[Roundhead]

Hello,


Can anyone provide details of the circumstances of the deaths of the following RCAF airmen buried at Chester's Blacon cemetery.

1. Sgt Victor Charles Cummins R/162693 07.07.43
2. F/O (Pilot) John Robert Dunne J/41844 18.11.44
3. P/O (W/Op A/G) Henry Ferris J/92696 27.10.44
4. W/OI (Pilot) Elwood Awrey Glauser R/87320 14.11.43
5. P/O (Pilot) John Walter Hawkey J/19192 24.01.44
6. P/O (Pilot) William Stanley Heal J/35334 20.02.44
7. W/OI (W/Op A/G) Hugh Joseph McArthur R/93176 06.12.44
8. F/O William Donald Nelson McKessock J/38813 08.06.44

Many thanks,

Rol

[Resmoroh]

Rol, Hi,
None of the Canadians are given a Unit on CWGC. The nearest RAF Station is Hawarden. 41 OTU was at Hawarden during the dates of your casualties. Whether they specialised in Canadians is not known. Alternatively, there might have been a Canadian Military Hospital in/near Chester?
HTH
Peter Davies

[AlanW]

Two from Chorley.....
Cummings, 30 OTU Wellington HE238, from Hixon, took off for Bullseye, emerged from cloud in steep dive and hit ground at Hanging Wicket.
Ferris, 1666 CU Halifax, Wombleton, X Country flight, severe icing, crew baled out but Ferris had not secured harness properly and fell to his death.

[Roundhead]

Thanks Peter.

[Roundhead]

Thanks Alan.

[davew]

Glauser with Beaufighter EL444 at Maryport, Cumb (I had 'Gloucester'?)

Heal with Oxford X6874 at Nantwich (probably)

McKessock with Anson LT116 at Bethesda

regards

DaveW

[alclark]

Dunne was killed in Spitfire AA933 of No.61 OTU at Wynnstay Park, Ruabon.
I don't have a cause of death for Hawkey, his death was registered in West Cheshire.
Heal is confirmed by the ORB as being killed in X6874.
McArthur was registered in the Wigton area of Cumbria, I have him down as 6 OTU as he is mentioned in their ORB as killed during the month in a flying accident but no further details are given.

[Resmoroh]

So, was this (Blacon Cemetery) a 'gathering ground' for RCAF casualties in W/NW England? CWGC will have the answer?
Peter Davies

[davew]

McArthur with Dakota KG639?

DaveW

[alclark]

Peter

Chester was a regional cemetery used from late summer 1943, not just for RCAF, the majority are RAF(VR) but a large minority are RAAF, RNZAF and RCAF. The casualties, for those I have confirmed circumstance for, cover an area from the Breacon Beacons to just into Scotland (from about mid 1944) but generally no further east than the western edge of the Pennines heading south into Cheshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, but not really into Warwickshire or Worcestershire. East of there it tended to be Oxford (Botley) or Harrogate (Stonefall). What I've given is a generalisation but fairly representative of the burials at Chester.