Sgt Ernest Thomas Rees 524559 MiD

[Galgos]

Just a little more on Ernest Rees, he was mentioned in despatches for "gallant and distinguished service" during the Battle of Britain. I presume he was ground crew but like many had aspirations to fly and was accepted for pilot training. Such a shame that his nine year in the RAF ended so tragically.
Max

[Lyffe]

Max,

I'm being a bit slow on the uptake, but given the number of Rees's in llanelli it would be worth your while putting a letter in the Llanelli Star (http://www.llanellistar.co.uk/contact.html) explaining your interest and asking if anyone knows the family. In the event of a hit it is just possible a photo might be forthcoming (one can but hope). I've done this a few times myself with a reasonable amount of success.

Brian

[Galgos]

Thanks again Brian, yes I had it in mind to write to the local Press, it's how I found the family members of two of the crew of ME453 so I know it can work. I have a poor reproduction of a photograph of Rees but I'm sure his family will have a much better one. I'm going to be developing a website called "RATG Boys" which will document many aspects of the training, mishaps and characters from those far off Rhodesian days.
Max

[Andy Marden]

I've just been through the ORBs in more detail regarding the accident and Ree's fate. The accident itself is listed in the RATG Headquarters ORB, taking place on 14/4/43. The ORB for 28 EFTS Mt Hampden however states:

"14 May 1943 No. 524559 Sgt Rees E. T., a cadet under training with 25C course, was involved in a collision on the aerodrome and subsequently died of his injuries."

So apologies to the CWGC, they were correct with his date of death, it's a coincidence that it's exactly a month after the crash. I intend to follow this up, it's given me a real eagerness to research the training and fate of many of those who went to Rhodesia.....I can see a new website coming up! Incidentally my present website "An Ordinary Crew" is down temporarily due to an as yet unexplained fault with the server over in the US of A. Somewhat frustrating!
Max

This old thread has intrigued me. We seem to have two ORBs offering different dates:
28 EFTS say 14 May 43
RATG say 14 Apr 43

Now it strikes me that it might be more likely for the EFTS to have the accurate date. The RATG would after all only be compiling their ORB using information supplied by the various EFTS.
Also, look at the wording of the EFTS entry:
"14 May 1943 No. 524559 Sgt Rees E. T., a cadet under training with 25C course, was involved in a collision on the aerodrome and subsequently died of his injuries."
To me, that's a really strange way of describing the death of someone who had crashed a month earlier. It says "14 May....was involved in a collision...and subsequently died...". All of this could have happened on the same day and it would still read correctly (maybe he crashed in the morning and died in the evening). If he had crashed on 14 April 1943 surely they would write something like "14 May 1943... Sgt Rees...died of his injuries following a collision...in April" (or something similar).

Also of interest is that I believe that Tiger Moth T7474 was itself struck off charge on 14 May 43 - can anyone confirm this?. As we know, it was not uncommon for an aircraft to be struck off on the same day that it crashed. It would be yet another huge coincidence for it to be struck on the very day he died.

[RecklessRat]

Hi Andy,

This may or may not help with the above, but:-

Ernest Thomas REES
Usual Place of Residence: "Mt. Hampden Air Station, Salisbury"
Occupation: Pupil Pilot, RAF
Date of Death: 14 May 1943
Place of Death: Salisbury Hospital
Cause of Death: Fractured base of skull. Died from head injuries following air accident
Duration of Last Illness: Not stated

From the 'Information of a Death' form on FamilySearch
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61...286&cc=1838530


I would agree that the ORB of his home unit is more likely to be correct.

Incidentally, Col's point raised in post #6 may be explained by the Graves Registration Report on Rees' CWGC entry. Grave 95 contained
735 Cadet Sgt G. Koilakos RHAF
until his grave was exhumed and repatriated on 17 Nov 1983.

His date of death is 13 Apr 43, which fits with the rest of the sequence in Col's post. Note that his equivalent Information of a Death form gives his name as 'George Keelakos'
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61...199&cc=1838530

[Galgos]

I'd appreciate some help from the experts in a small puzzle regarding Sgt E T Rees 524559 from Llanelli, S Wales. Sgt Rees was killed in a flying training accident whilst at 28 EFTS Mt Hampden, S Rhodesia in April 1943, he actually died from his injuries exactly one month after the incident on 14 May.
Rees joined the RAF in 1935, I assume as ground crew and was mentioned in dispatches for gallantry in 1940 during the Battle of Britain. I will be chronicling the flying accident in my website www.rhodesianairtraininggroup.com but I'd like to know the full story of Sgt Rees. I am in touch with a relative who has sent me some material but nothing yet about earlier RAF service. Sgt Rees hadn't told his family that he was undergoing pilot training in case it worried them!
Any leads or thoughts are, as ever, very welcome.
Regards
Max

[Resmoroh]

Max,

Sgt Ernest Thomas Rees 524559 MiD
Births Q4 1915 Rees, Ernest T, (MMS)Pryke, Reg Lambeth 1d 503.
Births Q2 1916 Rees, Ernest T, (MMS)Jones, Reg Newtown 11b 249
(possibly either of the above but I would go for Q4 1915)
20 Mar 1931(possibly!) Enlisted 524559 in Block 505001-549999 RAF Civilians Issued 01-Oct-25 to 30-Apr-38.
14 Mar 1941 Cpl E T Rees Award MiD

Best I can do. HTH
Peter Davies

[Galgos]

Max,

Sgt Ernest Thomas Rees 524559 MiD
Births Q4 1915 Rees, Ernest T, (MMS)Pryke, Reg Lambeth 1d 503.
Births Q2 1916 Rees, Ernest T, (MMS)Jones, Reg Newtown 11b 249
(possibly either of the above but I would go for Q4 1915)
20 Mar 1931(possibly!) Enlisted 524559 in Block 505001-549999 RAF Civilians Issued 01-Oct-25 to 30-Apr-38.
14 Mar 1941 Cpl E T Rees Award MiD

Best I can do. HTH
Peter Davies

Thank you Peter, far better than I’ve done so far. A couple of leads to follow there.

[Jagan]

Merged it with an old thread on the same topic. Updated the title.

[Galgos]

Merged it with an old thread on the same topic. Updated the title.

Thank you! I must admit that I’d forgotten that earlier thread. Senior moments! A little digging with the LT reveals the MiD as 17 March 1941, but no details of where, why or what for.
Regarding his death, I had always assumed the accident occurred on 14 April and he died one month later on 14 May, I can’t see any real reason the change my mind on that. Research with the Llanelli Star showing the first entry would possibly help with a date.
Thanks to all who have contributed so far.
Max