410420 - Unaccounted airmen - 20-4-1941

[Henk Welting]

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

F/Lt (Pilot/Instr.) Richard G. BURKE - AFC - 70912;
LAC (Pilot u/t) Ronald D. BURT - 1380000;
F/O (Pilot/Instr.) John J. CAMPBELL - DFC - 43184;
AC1 Leslie HANLON - 613386;
Cpl Stanley O. HILL - 341235;
P/O (Pilot/Instr.) Denis N. McCARTHY - 81342;
AC2 John G. PAUL - 1102556 - 110 Sqn (Wattisham, Suffolk';
LAC (Pilot u/t) James SCHOLES - 1265363, and
S/Ldr Charles F. SNOWDON-GAMBLE - 72943.

Proposed aircraft losses for this day:

Oxford I - V3437 - 2 CFS - crashed on take-off at night Fulbeck.
Tiger Moth II - N6607 - 9 EFTS - flew into ground 1 mile NW of Napton-on-the-Hill, Warwickshire.
Tiger Moth II - R5194 - 9 EFTS - broke up in air Harborough Magna, Warwickshire.
Tiger Moth II - T5367 - 13 EFTS - abandoned Longthorpe near Peterborough.

Regards and thanks for your help.
Henk.

[Dick]

Hi Henk
Burke,34, is registered at Southam,the right area for N6607,there are 2 John J Campbells. One age 27 is registered at Grantham, Lincolnshire and the other age 25, is registered at Leicester. CWGC has one age 29, buried at Cranwell and if he died nearby he would be the one registered at Grantham. Hill,39, is registered at Wandsworth, S London,could have been a victim of the Air Raid that went through the night 19/20/Apr/41.McCarthy,25, and Scholes,27, are both registered at Rugby,which would be right for Harborough Magna.
Burt didn't come up on the register or on CWGC. Paul didn't come up and could be in Scotland, his family was there and he is buried there. Snowdon-Gamble is on CWGC but didn't come up on the death register.
Regards
Dick

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Dick for this excellent help.
LAC (Pilot u/t) Ronald Douglas BURT - 1380000, age 20, is known CWGC and lies buried Knighton (St.Mary Magdalene) Churchyard, with date of death 20-4-1941.
Regards,
Henk.

[Dick]

Hi Henk
I found Burt, it was my error when I wrote down the name. He is registered at Warwick which is reasonably close to Napton-on-the-Hill and would work if Burt survived the accident and was taken to Warwick to hospital but died of injuries. If he had been killed in the accident he would be registered at Southam.
Regards
Dick

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Dick. Will amend my files.
Regards,
Henk.

[Dick]

Hi Henk
With suitable inspiration, I found Snowdon-Gamble, he is on the register as Gamble with the S simply recorded as an initial. His registration was at Formby, Lancashire which covers part of Liverpool and I note he was cremated in Liverpool.
Regards
Dick

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Dick for your perseverance and the info on Snowdon-Gamble.
Enjoy the weekend,
Henk.

[RockHound]

Hi Henk,

John Graham PAUL, No 1102556, age 26, is registered at Bridge of Weir (west of Glasgow). Cause of death is given as fracture of base of skull and dislocation of the neck. He died at home in Bridge of Weir.

Regards,

David

[Henk Welting]

Thanks David for additional info on PAUL.
Regards,
Henk.

[dennis_burke]

LAC (Pilot u/t) Ronald D. BURT - 1380000; Warwick ;DIED OF WOUNDS OR INJURIES RECEIVED ON ACTIVE SERVICE.— June 12th magazine

F/O John J. CAMPBELL - DFC - 43184; - There is a KOAS listing for a "Campbell, P/O. J. J., D.F.C.;" in the May 22nd magazine. Neither Grantham or Leicester boroughs seem to have civilian casualties that date or around then.

AC1 Leslie HANLON - 613386; There is a 21 yr old Leslie Hanlon registered in the Eglin district, Moray, Scotland in 1941, DOAS in May 22 magazine

Cpl Stanley O. HILL - 341235; Wandsworth ; DIED OF WOUNDS OR INJURIES RECEIVED ON ACTIVE SERVICE.— June 19th magazine

KOAS WHILE ENGAGED ON NON OPERATIONAL FLYING DUTIES OR ON THE GROUND THROUGH ENEMY ACTION -- June 12th magazine, these four men:
F/Lt (Pilot/Instr.) Richard G. BURKE - 70912; Southam
P/O (Pilot/Instr.) Denis N. McCARTHY - 81342; Rugby ;
AC2 John G. PAUL - 1102556 - There is a matching name aged 26 in Bridge of Weir district, Renfrew, Scotland; DOAS June 12th magazine
LAC (Pilot u/t) James SCHOLES - 1265363, Rugby

S/Ldr Charles F. SNOWDON-GAMBLE - 72943. Formby, Lancashire DOAS May 22nd magazine

[Henk Welting]

Looking for unit and cause of death of:
Sgt George CUTHBERT - 937504, who died/was killed 20-4-1941 and his name commemorated on Column 242 of the Alamein Memorial.
Listed by CWGC as 35 Sqn (what may be incorrect); on GRO List: 38 Sqn; not found in Flight archives.
Regards and thanks for your help.
Henk.

[dennis_burke]

PKEVIOUSLY REPORTED MISSING, NOW PRESUMED KILLED IN ACTION
Flight magazine NOVEMBER 13TH, 1941
Cas Comm 88

he was first posted missing in FLight magazine june 12 1941, back when they published serial numbers.
Sgt. G. Cuthbert, 937504;

33 Squadron lost some pilots that day, whats the chance of CWGC and GRO being wrong??

[Henk Welting]

33 Sqn could be but have only one Hurricane lost for this sqn: V7852 damaged by Bf 109s and abandoned near Athens; F/Lt W.J. WOODS - 39605, buried Phaleron WC.
Only serial left was Hurricane P5174 listed by Air Britain as "lost ME; NFD".
David Gunby couldn't find this airman with 38 sqn.
Regards,
Henk.

[Ross_McNeill]

F1180 for Tiger Moth N6607 lists Burke as one of the two fatalities in the crash.

P/O McCarthy as one of the two fatalities onboard Tiger Moth R5194

Ross

[malcolm_raf]

Hi Ross

Scholes was registered in Rugby as was McCarthy so I suspect he was the pupil in R5194

Burke was registered in Southam, Warwickshire and Burt who died injuries was registered in Warwick so I suspect he was in N6607

Malcolm

[Ross_McNeill]

Hi Malcolm,

Seems a good match for the losses.

As with all the registration coincidence just needs a concrete confirmation to attach without doubt.

The next stage in evolution for all the possibles in the Unaccounted series posts.

Regards
Ross

[wwrsimon]

Hello

F/O (Pilot/Instr.) John J. CAMPBELL - DFC - 43184 - the Graves Registration Report Form lists his unit as 2 C.F.S., which links him to Oxford I V3437. The findagrave website has the following:

From Bomber County Aviation Resource
Shortly after take-off the aircraft dived straight in to the ground. It is believed the pilot overbanked and lost control of his aircraft. P/O J.J. Campbell was killed in the incident.

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=119906512&ref=acom

AC1 Leslie HANLON - 613386 - the Graves Registration Report Form lists his unit as 20 O.T.U. The Liverpool Echo of April 24th 1941 carried the following announcement:

HANLON, April 20, suddenly in hospital, aged 21 years, LESLIE (A.C.1, R.A.F.), the dearly loved son of Eleanor and George Hanlon.

Cpl Stanley O. HILL - 341235 - Stanley Owen Nourse Hill - the National Probate Calendar records that he died at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton.

LAC (Pilot u/t) Ronald D. BURT - 1380000 and
LAC (Pilot u/t) James SCHOLES - 1265363 - their respective Graves Registration Report Forms list their unit as 9 E.F.T.S.

Regards

Simon

[jonheyworth]

UPGRADE to Leslie Hanlon 613386, attached to 20 OTU as an aircraft hand GD, he died in Grays hospital Elgin of an embolism caused by pulmonary pneumonia

[jonheyworth]

James Mervyn Essery 977284, attached to HQ Middle East, he became dangerously ill on 15th April and was admitted to the British military hospital at Wadi Sadina where he died at 23:10 hours of toxameia , typhoid fever and exhaustion

[jonheyworth]

Stanley Owen Hill 341235 , attached to Number 1 Signals Depot, was seriously injured in an air raid , dying of his wounds in Queen Mary's hospital, Roehampton

[jonheyworth]

Charles Frederick Snowdon-Gamble 72943 | attached to HQ Number 15 Group | died at Blundell Sands of a coronary thrombosis