410325 - Unaccounted airmen - 25-3-1941

[Henk Welting]

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

LAC (Pilot u/t) Edward J.M. ATHERTON - 997624 - killed on active service;
Cpl Francis J.A. GANDERTON - 536318 - not found Flight archives;
F/Lt (Pilot) Charles P. HENDERSON - RCAF C1173 - 401 Sqn (Digby, Lincolnshire) - his a/c crashed 1 mile from Digby - not found Flight archives, and
AC2 Charles E. JAMES - 1181893 - not found Flight archives.

Proposed aircraft losses for this day:

Blenheim IV - L8798 - 2 (C)OTU - crashed, no further details.
Master I - N7471 - 5 FTS - crashed in forced landing Hereford.
Rapide - X9448 - 11 SFF - crashed in forced landing near Wigan, Lancashire.

Regards and thanks for your help.
Henk.

[Amrit]

Re: Henderson, Hurricane P3769, crashed Digby.

http://www.ody.ca/~bwalker/RAF_owned_p9999.html

A

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Amrit. Knew about Bill's website but Air Britain has for P3769: 7 OTU/5 OTU/55 OTU/1 AAS - SOC 19.7.45.
Please Bill may I've your comment on this.
Best regards,
Henk.

[Henk Welting]

Air Britain has serial P376"7" being lost with 401 Sqn 1 mile N of Dingy "2-5-1941" !!

Henk.

[Dick]

Hi Henk
Atherton,24, is registered at Bakewell in Derbyshire. The other 2 don't come up and could mean Scotland. Ganderton is on the Runnymede Memorial suggesting no known grave and the circumstances might have meant no Death registration. Warner has the Blenheim L8798 as out of Catfoss and crashing at Prestwick but with no crew details,
regards
Dick

[alclark]

LAC Atherton was killed in 5 FTS Master T8324 when it crashed above Hathersage while flying in low cloud. It is one of the local crash sites I haven't yet found, though the search area is quite large.

March 25th 1941, “Hathersage, Master T8324 crashed, resulting in the death of LAC E.J.M.
Atherton.”

[Dick]

The Bakewell registration looks right for a death at Hathersage
Regards
Dick

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Al and Dave.
Al: Mislead by AB because they list T8324 for 26th March !.
Regards,
Henk.

[Bill Walker]

Henk and Amrit;

Thanks for pointing out a potential problem with my web site. My main computer is in the middle of a mysterious crash right now. I have the database and a lot of the input material backed up on DVDs, but I'm attempting a recovery before going to these backups, maybe on new hardware. Please be patient, I will let you know if I have more info.

Ah computers - can't live with them, can't live without them.

[paulmcmillan]

Bill

Good luck with the data recovery

BTW did you know that the Serials are not ordered correctly on that web page for P3769/P3767 anyway!

Paul

[davew]

ALCLARKE

Peakland Air Crashes locates the Master T8324 at Upper Burbage Bridge, near the Water Gauge on the 26th

but

The plot thickens! CWGC has 25th!

regards

DaveW

[Bill Walker]

Bill

BTW did you know that the Serials are not ordered correctly on that web page for P3769/P3767 anyway!

Paul

Added to my "to do" list.

[alclark]

Just thought I would bring this thread back up.

Could someone look up the page number for Atherton's death registration. I know the volume will be 7b as all the other Derbyshire entiries are in 7b.

The county boundary changes between 1922 and 1935 mean that the crash was not on Burbage Moor. That area was part of Derbyshire but on the 1935 map was shown as being within Yorkshire (the Sheffield registration district).

[Bill Walker]

Alan, thanks for jogging my memory. My website is about to be corrected to show Henderson's aircraft as P3767. I'm sticking with 25 March 1941 for date of crash, that is the date CWGC gives for Henderson's death. Unless anybody knows differently....

[Henk Welting]

Bill, this is how I kept it in my files: 25-3-1941 and P3767 (even where AB has 2-5-1941).
Regards,
Henk.

[dennis_burke]

A/C.2 C. E. James DOAS June 26th 1941 magazine.
There is a Charles E James age 25 listed in Cambridge District, Cambridgeshire in the 2nd Qtr of 1941, might be him ?
I can't find a matching name in Scotland for that year.

F J A Ganderton is listed as "SS Britannia" on the GRO RAF lists.

Athertons page reference is 7b 1753, Bakewell district.

There is a Charles P Henderson age 20 in Sleaford and East Kesteven district, Lincolnshire.
His death certificate from Ontario gives date as 25th march in Digby.

Incidently, he arrived in the UK on the ship Duchess of Atholl with the following RCAF officers: October 1940 ---> Likely date of death, estimate from CWGC
F/O Kenneth A Boomer ----> 22/10/1944
F/O Charles Tom Cantrill -----> 07/06/1942
F/O Hugh John Findlay -----> 14/09/1941
F/O Alfred Lewis Greenwood
F/O Kenneth L Johnston -----> ?? 20/10/1942
F/O Donald J Mc Kenna ----> 08/09/1941
F/O Robert E Morrow
F/O Llewellyn E Price -----> 21/01/1944
F/O Air Comm. Leigh Forbes
F/O Robert John White ---> ?? marching name in 1944 but name is too common.

[Bill Walker]

Thanks Dennis. Henderson travelled with an interesting crowd. Google K.A. Boomer for more information, or check out http://www.acesofww2.com/Canada/aces/boomer.htm .

[jonheyworth]

Charles Edward James 1181893 , attached to Bomber Command at RAF Leeming, died in hospital in Cambridge of pulmonary tuberculosis