Help with six casualties

[Albion]

Hello everyone,

Help appreciated with any of the following. Have posted a couple of the names previously but feel it is time to investigate anew. Aside from CWGC information I have little to go on. I have tried a couple of the on-line genealogy databases this week to little effect.

26/11/39 590640 SKELTON Kenneth Olford RAF Sergeant

(possible link with crash of 49 Sqn. Hampden into hangar at Waddington on 23rd November, not named in Chorley Vol.1).

5/8/41 1091646 WOODS Harold H RAFVR AC2

26/3/43 2208669 PILGRIM Ivan RAFVR AC2

18/10/43 946877 STEVENS Harold Aubrey RAFVR Corporal

20/7/44 2053183 DANNATT Gwendoline Joan WAAF LAC

22/12/44 1775218 FOSTER Arthur William RAFVR LAC 2731 Sqn. RAF Regt.


New information or fresh links to follow would be greatly appreciated,

regards,
Dave.

[Henk Welting]

I've Cpl STEVENS on Defiant AA380 of 44 MU. Stalled on approach and flew into ground, Edzell.

Henk.

[Albion]

Henk,

Ever reliable for providing me with something! Many thanks from a cold Lincolnshire,

regards,

Dave.

[Dick]

Hi Dave
These are possible death registrations for your casualties
Skelton,24, registered at Lincoln but in the 1st Qtr 1941, possibly a bit late but could have been delayed until after an Investigation
I couldn't find Harold H Woods on CWGC but there was a Harold Woods, and a similar name is registered at Scunthorpe 3rd Qtr 1941,age 35. CWGC gives no age but records burial at Barrow-upon-Humber.
Ivan Pilgrim,27, also registered at Scunthorpe 1st Qtr 1943
Gwendoline Dannatt,21, registered at Westminster,3rd Qtr 1944, the right sort of place and period to have been a V1 victim
Arthur Foster,20,registered at St Neots, Cambridgeshire
HTH
Regards
Dick

[Albion]

Dick,

Thank you very much for taking the time to look up that information. I think I must be missing something fundamental because on the genealogy sites I accessed I couldn't find the names!

Where is the best/easiest place to look? If I can find the right references from GRO indexes the death certificates would be invaluable.

Anyway, intriguing stuff, thanks again,

Dave.

[Dick]

Hi Dave
I use Ancestry.co.uk for which I pay an annual fee although they do have a pay per view facility. The cost is justified for me because my wife has used the site a lot for Family History research, I just tag along!!. For the registers what you can access is a download of the National Registers that used to be held in Book form in the GRO in London. They have now been ,or are being, moved to Kew but there are several sites that give access to the digitised form ,although none of them is free of charge. The reference numbers are what you would need to obtain the certificates from the Central repository which I think is Stockport, but that costs money as well. The GRO Website will tell you how to go about it if you don't know already.
Regards
Dick

[Albion]

Dick,

Thanks for the feedback. I did look on that site but was;
(a) too unskilled to use the searches properly,
(b) in too much of a hurry,
(c) all of the above.

Will have to dig out the 'plastic' and take a more serene course through record-land.
Regards,

Dave.

[Davebrigg]

hi
I am also interested in Kenneth Olford Skelton of Barton. He was a pupil at Brigg Grammar school and is commemorated on their war memorial (Now Sir John Nelthorpe school) The school records name him as Kenneth Offord Skelton, attending 1928-31 and living in Barrow. Harold Aubrey Stevens was also a pupil, attending from 1928-33. Both boys were probably boarders. If you were able to discover the circumstances of their deaths the school would appreciate any info.


Thanks
Dave

[Albion]

Dave,

Happy to help out SJN (even though I'm a Vale Old Boy!)

Sgt K O Skelton RAF 590640 Died: 26/11/39

As per Death Certificate;
Death registered 24/2/40. "Injuries to the base of the brain caused by being knocked down on a road by a motor car. Acquittal of manslaughter. Certificate on Inquest adjourned and not resumed received (sic) from Reynolds Scorer Deputy Coroner for County of Lincoln (South District)."

Cpl H A Stevens RAFVR 946877 Died: 18/10/43

As per Henk's input;
Defiant TT MkI AA380 44 Maintenance Unit
Stalled and crashed on approach (Edzell) after test flight.
Pilot Officer D J R Ritchie also killed.

Regards,
Dave.

[David Pilgrim]

I can help you with Ivan Pilgrim. Ivan was my father, he died in Scunthorpe hospital on 27th March 43 from Pneumonia, following a relatively short illness. He married my mother [Phylis Pilgrim nee Lunn] in the March of the previous year at West Butterwick Parish church and set up home at the top of the High street in West Butterwick, Lincs. The house is now called "Pilgrim House".

I was born on 12th March 1943 but I don't think I ever met him. Ivan's twin sister Aline lived in West Butterwick all her life and died about 12 years ago. His wife Phylis married again in 1948 and became Phylis Wilson and had a ne family which lives in Tasmania and Cambridge UK.

If any one has any further information about him I would be delighted to know - my mother kept little of his and never discussed him.

Regards
david Pilgrim