401224 - Unaccounted airmen - 24-12-1940

[Henk Welting]

What caused the death of and/or what were the places of death registration for:

P/O (Pilot) Michael F.C. BUCKBARROW - 42557 - killed on active service;
P/O (Obs) Leslie G. BURTON - 78081 - killed on active service;
Sapper Arthur M. COOPER - 1940767 - Royal Engineers attd 25 Sqn (Wittering, Northamptonshire) - not found Flight archives;
LAC Derek J. LING - 937983 - 600 Sqn (Catterick, Yorkshire) - not found Flight archives;
Sgt (WOp/Ag) Frank N. MEDDINGS - 641350 - killed on active service, and
AC2 Harry P. MILNER - 1359467 - not found Flight archives.

Proposed aircraft losses for this day:

Lysander II - R2002 - 231 Sqn - crashed on landing Newtownards.
Maryland I - AR737 - OADF - crashed on take-off Leigh Park, Havant, Hampshire.

Regards and thanks for your help.
Henk.

[Dick]

Hi Henk
Buckbarrow(spelt as Buckbarron in the death register),23, and Burton,26, are registered at Petersfield in Hampshire. It might put them on the Maryland at Havant as it is only about 18 Kms away ,but Portsmouth is much closer to Havant and I would expect the Maryland casualties to have been registered there. Cooper is registered at Cuckfield, Surrey,a long way from Wittering. Ling,28, is registered at Richmond, Surrey(virtually part of S London) and Milner,27,is registered at Uxbridge
Two threads in one day!!!I trust you are not overdoing it!!!
Regards
Dick

[Eddie Fell]

Cuckfield was home to an Emergency Medical Service Hospital (later an RCAF facility) so he may have been admitted and died there if that helps

Cheers

Eddie

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Eddie and Dick for your help.

Dick: You left out Sgt (WOp/Ag) F.N. Meddings - 641350. His name fits perfectly in the Maryland accident and do hope that his place of death registration was Petersfield as well.

Best regards,
Henk.

[Dick]

Hi Henk
Meddings didn't come up using the normal search but I finally found him and he is registered at Petersfield, age 21.
Regards
Dick

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Dick for confirmation Meddings; another one from the list !
Regards,
Henk.

[Henk Welting]

Checking CWGC registers found the name of an airman sofar missing in my files. What was the place of death registration for:
P/O (Pilot) Michael F.C. BUCKBARROW - 42557 - age 23.
Matching to any in message #1 mentioned aircraft losses for this day ?
Regards and thanks for your help.
Henk.

[Henk Welting]

Sorry friends, IGNORE my question on BUCKBARROW. Think getting tired !
Regards,
Henk.

[dennis_burke]

Both LAC D J Ling and AC2 H P Milner are DOAS in separate magazines of Flight. Milners S/N is different in Flight magazine, second last digit being 9.

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Dennis for confirmation DOAS Lac LING and AC2 MILNER.
Regards,
Henk.

[GANGES1966]

Dear henk,
I see you are looking for the men from Thorney Island base that crashed in the Havant area on December 24m 1940.
The area which was once fields is now under the housing estate called Leigh Park and that area was called Prospect Farm.
Two of the men killed were Sergeant Frank Neville Meddings aged 21 and Pilot officer Michael Collier Buckbarrow aged 23.
The site is at the junction of Forestside Road and Whitsbury Avenue.
I am researching more as I type.
I will let you know anything more I find.

Regards,
Robert 'Bob' Hind

[paulmcmillan]

Bob

Unfortunately Henk is no longer with us, he died in 2012

However, any additional info you can provide will be welcome

Paul

[dennis_burke]

Cheers also Robert,

but if you have extra info on the Dec 1940 incident involving those two men PLEASE post it onto the old thread to keep all the info in one thread.

The old thread link is here:
http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?2224-Unaccounted-airmen-24-12-1940
Its still active and you can post there.

Cheers

Dennis

[Martyn A Critchlow]

AC2 Harry P. MILNER - 1359467
Died 'by accident, Ruislip, Middlesex'
Saturday 28 December 1940, Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, West Yorkshire, England

Martyn

[wwrsimon]

Hello

P/O (Pilot) Michael F.C. BUCKBARROW - 42557 and
Sgt (WOp/Ag) Frank N. MEDDINGS - 641350 - the Graves Registration Form for these two men confirm they were with the O.A.D.F.

Unfortunately Burton's entry does not give a unit.

Regards

Simon

[Alex Smart]

Hello,

401224 - Unaccounted Airmen - 24-12-1940

From Henk's List -

UK

COOPER, Arthur Mortimer - Sapper - 1940767 - Royal Engineers Attached to 25 Sqdn RAF.
Enderby (St.John the Baptist) Churchyard, Leicestershire.
Cause of death ?

MILNER, Harry Parkinson - AC2c - 1359467 - RAFVR - attached to FC.
Harrogate Crematorium, Yorkshire.
Killed in an accident at Ruislip Tube Station.

LING, Derek John - Lac - 937983 - RAFVR - 600 Sqdn.
Romsley (St.Kenelm) Churchyard, Worcestershire.
Killed by friendly ground fire at RAF Catterick.

STUBBINGTON, John Henry - AC1c - 901395 - RAFVR - 901 Balloon Sqdn.
Greenwich Cemetery, London.
Duty cook of Sqdn War Hq. Knocked down by a light van, died at the Royal Herbert Hospital.

From CWGC -

KENYA
NIBLOCK - STUART, John Douglas - Lt - 47700 - SAAF.
Nanyuki War Cemetery, Kenya.
Fury I - K5663 - 2 Sqdn - SAAF.

UK
BUCKBARROW, Michael Frederick Collier - P/O - 42557 - RAF.
MEDDINGS, Frank Neville - Sgt - 641350 - RAF.
These two airmen rest at West Thorney (St.Nicholas) Churchyard, Sussex.
BURTON, Leslie Gilbert - P/O - 78081 - RAFVR.
Harborne (St.Peter) Churchyard, Warwickshire.
These three airmen were crew of Maryland I - AR737 - OADF.

HAMILL, John Warren (New Zealander)- F/O - 40909 - RAF.
Wells Cemetery, Somerset.
Hurricane I - P3083 - Hq 5 FP.

HINITT, Clifford Spencer - F/O - 72474 - RAFVR - 26 Sqdn.
Rugby (Clifton Road) Cemetery, Warwickshire.
DH 82 Tiger Moth II - R4784 - 26 Sqdn.

ROBERTSON, Robert Aitken - F/O - 76463 - RAFVR.
Glasgow (Lambhill) Cemetery, Glasgow.
Beaufort I - L9851 - 217 Sqdn.

TENNANT, Harold Wray - F/Lt - 37431 - RAFVR.
Little Stanmore (St.Lawrence) Churchyard, Middlesex.
Hurricane I - V6992 - 306 Sqdn.

Alex

[Andy Marden]

HAMILL, John Warren (New Zealander)- F/O - 40909 - RAF.
Wells Cemetery, Somerset.
Hurricane I - P3083 - Hq 5 FP.

Alex,
Minor typo, as per AIR81/4674 the unit was HQ Service Ferry Pool.
Andy

[Alex Smart]

COOPER, Arthur Mortimer - Sapper - 1940767 - Royal Engineers.
Attached to 25 Sqdn RAF.
Enderby (St.John the Baptist) Churchyard, Leicestershire.
Cause of death ?