420120 - Unaccounted airmen - 20-1-1942

[Henk Welting]

What were the places of death registration for:

A - Not found Flight archives:
P/O William R. ELLIS - 100669 - age 38 - 944 (Balloon) Sqn (Hull).

B - Died of wounds or injuries received on active service:
F/Lt (Pilot) Leslie WOOD - 80659 - MBE - age 48.

C - Proposed aircraft losses for this day:
Beaufort I - N1079 - 5 OTU - abandoned Woodvine (Woobine ?) Farm, near Watchfield, Somerset.
Tiger Moth II - N9251 - SF HSF (High Speed Flight ? - for sure not with a Tiger Moth !) - flew into ground near Horsham St.Faith.

Regards and thanks for your help.
Henk.

[Ross_McNeill]

Hi Henk,

F/L R L B Carr is listed on the 1180 as pilot of N1079, no casualties reported.

Took off for dual instruction training. Abandoned in icing coditions at 06:13 hrs near Watchfield after the instructor allowed the pupil to climb into cloud.

Regards
Ross

[Dick]

Hi Henk
Ellis,38, registered at Grimsby,Yorkshire and an area that covered some of the country around Hull along the Humber Estuary where a Hull based balloon could be operated.
Wood ,49 is registered at Norwich, Norfolk for which Horsham St Faith is now the Civil Airport. You are probably right about HSF but note also the SF which means Station Flight, it could have been the High Speed Unit's hack a/c and Wood might have flown it.
Regards
Dick

[dennis_burke]

P/O W R Ellis is listed DOAS in March 12th 1942, Flight Magazine.

[malcolm_raf]

Hi Henk

Grimsby is in Lioncolnshire, not Yorkshire and SF HSF is Station Flight Horsham St Faith.

Malcolm

[Dick]

Thanks Malcolm
I bow to the local knowledge of a native!!. I ought to have realised with Grimsby being on the opposite bank of the Humber. It remains valid though for a Balloon from a Hull unit to be operating over the river from Hull and in the Grimsby registration area, perhaps near Immingham
Thanks Again
Dick

[COL BRUGGY]

Gents,

Wood's unit is quoted in Chorley's BCL9RoH/138, as No.105 Sqn. (Horsham St. Faith).

Col.

[Henk Welting]

Thanks friends for all your valuable responses.
Regards,
Henk.

[malcolm_raf]

Many thanks Dick.

Checking Len Bacon's history of 17 Balloon Centre, Hull 944 Sqn appears to have become non-operational by July 1941 and the balloons covering Grimsby Docks and the waterborne balloons were 'G' Flight, 942/3 Sqn.

Malcolm

[John Larder]

'Sadly the same day (20/1/42) the Tiger Moth crashed. F/L Woods was killed and P/O Olney suffered severe injuries' - Mosquito Thunder No.105 Squadron RAF at War 1942-5 Stuart R. Scott.