430721 - Unaccounted airmen - 21-7-1943

[Henk Welting]

What were the places of death registration for:

A - Died on active service:
LAC John H. ARTHUR - 817074;
LAC Robert C. COOPER - 1497774, and
W/O William A. POCOCK - 335622.

B - Killed on active service:
F/Sgt (Pilot) Philip L. CLEMENS - 1314943.

C - Not found in Flight Global:
AC2 Frederick J.O. WHEELER - 1336753.

D - Proposed aircraft losses:
Master I - T8269 - 5 (P)AFU - flew into ground Broomhall Grange Farm, Cheswardine Road, near Market Drayton, Shropshire.
Oxford I - P1889 - 11 (P)AFU - collided with Oxford V4222 in cloud, Gailey Cross Roads, 3 miles S of Penkridge, Staffordshire (already as a casualty on this a/c: Sgt [Pilot] H. DICKINSON - RCAF R/157281).
Spitfire IIA - P7620 - 58 OTU - crashed in forced landing Black Hall Farm, 4 miles NW of Stirling.
Mosquito III - HJ892 - 60 OTU - dived into ground Catherton Farm, Cleobury Mortimer, Shropshire (already as a casualty on this a/c: F/O [Pilot] C.N. WILCOX - RCAF J/9496 [from USA]).

E - Also looking for info on cause of death of following airmen:

P/O (Pilot) Graham ROGERS - 141888 - 71 OTU - killed on active service, buried Moascar War Cem., Egypt, and

F/Lt Sydney W. TAYLOR - 105970 - 38 Wing - commemorated on Panel 121 of the Runnymede Memorial.

Regards and thanks for your help.
Henk.

[John Larder]

Could Taylor be connected to the loss of Halifax DG391 of 295 Sq.

[malcolm_raf]

Hi Henk

LAC John H. ARTHUR - 817074 - not Eng/Wales
LAC Robert C. COOPER - 1497774 - Nuneaton, Warwickshire
W/O William A. POCOCK - 335622 - Epping, Essex
F/Sgt (Pilot) Philip L. CLEMENS - 1314943 - Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire
AC2 Frederick J.O. WHEELER - 1336753 - Willesden, Middlesex

Dickinson was registered in Cannock
Wilcox was registered in Bridgnorth

So neither of the above seem to be linked to the other five.

I have nothing on Rogers or Taylor

Malcolm

[Theletterwriter]

Henk

LAC John Hall ARTHUR - 817074 aged 27 District of Leswalt, County of Wigtownshire, Scotland.

Douglas

[thorne83]

Hi Henk,

can confirm Clements as solo pilot of Master T8269, Wilcox as solo pilot of Mosquito HJ892 and Dickinson solo pilot of Oxford P1889.

Cheers,

Tom

[malcolm_raf]

Hi John

Taylor was not on DG391 according to 'Though without Anger'

Malcolm

[Henk Welting]

Thanks friends for all this excellent support.
Regards,
Henk.

[dennis_burke]

Taylor appears in Flight casualty lists as Acting Fl/Lt , missing in December 2nd magazine and PREVIOUSLY REPORTED MISSING, NOW PRESUMED KILLED IN ACTION in July 27th magazine.

[Ross_McNeill]

Arthur died from abcess on appendix which burst during treatment in RAF hospital.

Regards
Ross

[alclark]

Just to add to what Ross has said, the RAF Hospital was Lochnaw which is about 3km from the village of Leswalt.

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Ross & All for additional info on Arthur.

Henk.

[Ross_McNeill]

Hi Henk,

From the ORB it seems that Wilcox was flying solo. No other name or casualty mentioned for this crash.

Regards
Ross

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Ross for confirmation WILCOX only occupant on HJ892.
Regards,
Henk.

[Ross_McNeill]

Hi Henk,

A negative report but one where you can eliminate a unit.

No.58 OTU
"The cause of the other two accidents is unknown, but one of them, which occurred near Stirling on 2nd July resulted in the death of Sgt J Weeden, an Australian pupil pilot of course 36. There were no further fatalities, and in the other thirteen accidents, the pilots escaped virtually unscathed."

Regards
Ross

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Ross. For AUS413054 F/Sgt Jeffry WEEDEN - RAAF - "2nd" July 1943 - I've P8694 hit high ground during unauthorised low flying Drip Farm near West Haugh, Stirlingshire.
Regards,
Henk.

[Ross_McNeill]

Hi Henk,

F1180 has Rogers as the sole casualty on Harvard EX110

Looks like AB date of 31st is incorrect.

Regards
Ross

[phill jones]

Spitfire P7620 ,58 OTU , Black Hall Farm 4 Mls NW of Stirling , at 12.15hrs ,Cat E, E/f , Forced landed In field wheels up, and turned over , Pilot F/O HD Price 48373

phill jones

[wwrsimon]

Hello

AC2 Frederick J.O. WHEELER - 1336753 - the Middlesex Chronicle of July 31st 1943 reported the following:

Former Airman's Funeral
After a long and painful illness, Mr. Frederick John Oliver Wheeler, of "Riverside," Talbot Road, Isleworth, passed away on July 21st at the age of 22 years. Eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. R. J. Wheeler and educated at Bulstrode Senior School, "Freddie" was a dental mechanic, apprenticed to his father's business, and joined the R.A.F. soon after the outbreak of war. He was subsequently invalided out of the service.

Regards

Simon

[jonheyworth]

Robert Chisholm Cooper 1497774 was killed when he walked into a revolving airscrew when removing the accumulator plug, he was taken to hospital but died of a lacerated brain and fractured skull without regaining consciousness

[jonheyworth]

CORRECTION to Arthur Brown R 199996, attached to RCAF station Prince Rupert, he did NOT die in a car accident in England, he was killed in an automobile accident on leave at near Pike RIver at Stanbridge East, Quebec, when the car he was travelling in overturned on a bend in fog following a visit to a hotel

[jonheyworth]

Joyce Sanchez Field 2132671, a batwoman, died in the Military wing of Doncaster Royal Infirmary in the course of an appendicitis operation

[jonheyworth]

Joyce Sanchez Field 2132671attached to RAF Gravesend

[jonheyworth]

Frederick James Codling 1428025 attached to 4347 AA Flight murdered Arnold Greenleaves Onley 118358 attached to the RAF Regiment at Kalla Djerda, Algeria .

Disciplined by F/L Onley for being 45 minutes late on duty, his punishment consisted of walking to a mountain top , signalling from the top with a red flag and on hearing a rifle shot , returning to his tent where’d he’d been confined to camp for 7 days with an hours drill from 1800 hours to 1900 Hours each day . On the second day of walking to the mountain top Codling failed to complete the duty and returned to the camp reporting to F/L Onley at the orderly tent that he’d been threatened by a pack of 12 dogs at a native village . He was shouted at and told off by him and ordered to get his sten gun and complete the task shooting the dogs if necessary . Passing the orderly tent he fired the entire magazine at F/L Onley in two long bursts hitting him in the thigh and pelvis . 24 bullet holes were counted in the tent .

Admitted to the 72nd general hospital at midnight on 8 May and described as a “ very difficult and hasty tempered patient “ by the Lt. Colonel in charge of the hospital , He was operated upon and seemed to be progressing well but died at 17:55 hours on 16 May .

A post mortem revealed death from the pelvic bullet wound with a rupture of the prostatic urethra , pelvic cellulitis and general peritonitis .

Tried by court martial , Codling was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death . His appeal failed and three days after, he was executed by firing squad . The only RAF Airmen to be executed in this way and not by civil authority in the entire war

[jonheyworth]

William Arthur Pocock 335622 , was admitted ill to St Margaret's hospital, Epping on 27 May , where he died of heart failure