Sgt John Abbott 1436652 Fayid Cemetery

[Home Front Museum]

Hi again,

I am trying to find the squadron that Air Gunner, Sergeant John Abbott , s/n 1436652, belonged to and then ultimately find out about the crash that cost him his life. He died 23-09-1943 and is buried Fayid War Cemetery. According to CWGC, the only other RAF burial at Fayid recorded with the same date of death is a pilot, Sergeant Donald Ivor Goodfellow – possibly connected? The obituary in the local paper states that Abbott was “in a plane only half a mile from ‘home’ when it crashed”.

Any help or pointers would be very much appreciated, thanks in advance, Adrian.

[wwrsimon]

H.F.M.

The RAF Deaths Overseas database has him with 70 O.T.U.

Regards

Simon

[dennis_burke]

There is a large number of images, newspaper cuttings about Donald Ivor Goodfellow on a family tree on ancestry.com. Copies of the original telegrams receive by their family and a lot of photos of the burial and grave.

He was a twin, and it seems he and his twin brother, Peter, flew together.
There is a large newspaper story, my eyes are too tired to try decipher it but it reads in part:

"Donald and the fourth crwe member were killed instantly, Peter and Sergeant Thompson of Tottenham were rescued, badly burned but alive."

Brother was Sgt P A Goodfellow 1317805
I beleive all four are listed on RAF Casualty list No 313 in Flight magazine

Making the fourth man possibly Sgt L W Thompson. That name appears in the wounded list published with the Goodfellow & Abbott death. P A Goodfellow does not appear in that casualty list however

[COL BRUGGY]

Hello,

Possibly:

Martin Baltimore III AG921 - 70 OTU - Stalled at low altitude and crashed 1m W of Shandur*. Destroyed by fire 23-9-1943.

* 70 OTU was based at Shandur, Egypt.

See:
Royal Air Force Aircraft AA100 to AZ999.
Halley,James J.
Tunbridge Wells:Air-Britain (Historians),2000 (2nd.ed.)
p.53.

Col.

[Home Front Museum]

Col, Simon and Dennis - thank you so much for your speedy responses and help identifying Sgt John Abbott, your help, as ever, is much appreciated. Adrian