R A Cruikshank - 7 Squadron Stirling crew help needed.

[Davenport7]

All,

I am trying to obtain information on a particular crew of 7 Squadron.

The pilot was R A Cruikshank DFC & Bar. Other crew members listed below:

R S Havery
K F Wilkinson
G W Smith
S A Hives
J McIntyre
E Barrett

Unfortunatley all of the above died on the 2/3rd May 1941, when there Stirling (N6012) was circling Oakington to approach to land when their plane was attacked by a lone Ju88 and Cruikshank attempted to bring the bomber low but hit trees and the plane crashed at Dry Drayton, SW of Oakington.

**Assistance required**

Now my Grandfather Leslie Ernest James Davenport was with Squadron 7 and he always spoke about his previous crew he went on missions with had all been killed after a Ju88 had attacked the Stirling on the way into landing.

Now I would like to find out the following:

Cruikshanks earlier raids (pre may 1941) / operational records
List of the crews on them raids
Any pictures of Cruikshank and his crews

I would love to see if there are any pictures of my grandfather with this crew or whether this was his previous crew that he always spoke about.

I did attempt to go to Kew Archives but could not find anything pre June 1941 for Squadron 7 in the AIR records.

Can anyone assist me with my research??

Ian

[AlanW]

Ian,
When you say you could'nt find anything for 7sqdn pre June 41, did you mean you could'nt find anything on the crew mentioned, or you coud'nt find the ORB for pre June 41,as the ORB for 7sqdn from Aug 1923 to Dec 41 is held there under ref AIR27/98.
Not all the crew were killed, Sgt E Barrett survived, but injured.

[COL BRUGGY]

Hello Ian,

From Bill Chorley's 'Amendments and Additions':

1941/049 7/N6012

MG-D Sgt K F Wilkinson should read K F Wilson

http://rafinfo.org.uk/BCWW2L/

See also: BCL2/44. Cruickshank (note spelling), crash-landed Stirling I N6009 at Stambourne on 20/21-4-1941. No crew injuries.

For Barrett, read Barratt. Barratt died from his injuries on 4-5-1941.

Col.

[HughAHalliday]

CRUICKSHANK, Raymond Alfred, A/F/L, DFC (33364, Royal Air Force) - No.149 Squadron - Bar to Distinguished Flying Cross - awarded as per London Gazette dated 22 October 1940. Public Record Office Air 2/9467 has citation.

"This officer has been continuously engaged in operations since the outbreak of war, and since April has proved himself an outstanding captain of aircraft. In recent night raids, he has pressed forward in spite of unfavourable weather conditions and on all but one occasion has managed to reach and bomb his target with great success, although this has often meant flying at low altitude in the face of severe anti-aircraft fire. On these occasions Flight Lieutenant Cruickshank's skilful avoiding action has prevented casualty [sic, "casualties ?] to his crew or serious damage to his aircraft."

[Oggie2620]

Hi

7 Sqn have a long and illustrious history and operated from 1 May 1914 and you might like to look at http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/h7.html for 2nd world war. They are currently operating Chinooks out of Odiham (so no doubt they are in Afghan).

They were operating Stirling I at the point you are interested and carried on using those till Jul 43. They then moved on to Stirling III and then onto Lancaster I. They were at Oakington from 29 Oct 43 to 24 Jul 1945 which is a very long time considering most squadrons move several times during that period. There are loads of 7 Sqn aircraft photos around so keep looking and maybe you will find one with that particular crew in it..

Dee

[simonhaslett]

Today I came across the grave of R A Cruickshank in Newport, Wales. I'm not related to him but was interested in his story and Googled his name to find out.
He was obviously a skilled and brave man who gave his life for his country alongside his crewmates and many others during WW2.
I will lay some flowers on May 2nd in his honour.

RIP.