info on RAF bomb aimer Shot down over Burma

[Acia man]

A friend at work was telling me about his dad who was shot down over Burma and survived the war as a POW.

He has no idea what SQN or date etc.

What RAF aircraft were flying at the time over Burma, Mossy perhaps?

The only other info i have is his dads name as being

George Richardson and that he was a Bomb Aimer

he survived the war but has since died.

I realise the info is very basic but can we possible narrow down sqn or aircraft perhaps that was operating over Burma perhaps

going to try and get copies of his personal records

cheers

[Kevin Mears]

Unsung Heroes of the Royal Air Force (Far East Prisoners of War) by Les and Pam Stubbs has two George Richardsons.

1063744 Born 25/11/1914. 242 Squadron (Hurricanes) Held Java, Singapore, Thailand (Hintok), Singapore.

1368234 Born 12/7/1919. RAF Seletar. Held Java, Sumatra (Pangkalan Bali), Singapore.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Kevin Mears

[dfuller52]

I tried to find him in the Children & Families of the Far East Prisoners of War database but nothing turned up. You might want to try another search yourself with some different spellings or other such tricks:

http://www.cofepowdb.org.uk/cdb2/Index.jsp

[Kevin Mears]

If the OP can find a date of birth it would eliminate the two I found or indeed confirm it is one of them.

This man may well have been aircrew but I remember looking into the relative of a colleague who died in the Great War as a Colonel in a Cavalry Regiment. He turned out to have been a gunner in the Field Artillery and I had immense problems convincing her of the truth. In the end, it was newspaper cuttings I unearthed that finally convinced the family.

Regards,

Kevin Mears.

[Acia man]

cheers for that info,

you are right it will be a case of verifing his role through official channels, my gran thought her brother was a rear gunner in a Lancaster until i found out he had only been on Halifax's

I will be able to check the date of birth for him in the morning.

cheers for the help most appreciated

[Matt Poole]

I'm at work and don't have my files handy, but I am familiar with Rangoon Jail prisoners in Burma. I know there was an RAF 159 Sqn rear gunner, R/184955 F/Sgt Harry Frederick Richardson from Canada, but he was seriously injured in his Liberator's Bay of Bengal ditching (BZ978 "W" for "Winnie") on 6 Oct 1944. Captured, he died in the prison on 28 Oct. Obviously not your friend's father...

Here's another, courtesy of Chindit/Rangoon Jail researcher Steve Fogden and found as a camp roster in a downloadable Excel spreadsheet at http://www.pegasusarchive.org/pow/frames.htm :

+++++++++++++++++++++
RAF 607 Sqdn. 753090 W.O Richardson John H

Mentioned in two books: Return via Rangoon and Operation Rangoon Jail. Learned Japanese, used this to pacify the guards on many occasions. Carried off many impersonations in camp entertainment. Also buried Hobson.

+++++++++++++++++++++

This reference to Hobson must concern the tragic death of Brigadier Clive Hobson, the only prisoner killed when 400-plus men force-marched from Rangoon Jail in late April 1945 were attacked near Pegu by Hurricanes soon after their Japanese captors had unburdened themselves of the lot in an attempt to evade the rapidly advancing Allied forces. Hobson, the ranking Allied officer in Rangoon Jail, had soon before addressed his men, exclaiming "We are free! We are free!", or similar words. If John H. Richardson helped to bury Brig. Hobson, then I'd guess Richardson was a survivor and soon was in Allied hands.

However, 607 was a Hurricane, then Spitfire, squadron in Burma. No separate bomb aimers on these fighters...

Will look for more when I can.

Cheers,

Matt

[Graham Boak]

The reference to Java suggests an early date, and hence Blenheims are the likeliest suspect. Hudsons might be added.

However, that's a bit early for Bombaimer as a specific role: the Blenheim would have an Observer or navigator who did the bomb-aiming as part of his duties. Blenheims continued in use for some time. For a more dedicated bomb-aimer, then Wellingtons are the likeliest type, then the later B-24s.

[Acia man]

I suppose any of the info could be at fault from my friend due to the amount of time that has passed and info gets mixed up over time.

Hes hoping to speak with his mum this weekend and look at what bits she has kept to add any light.

cheers for the pointers and hopefully i can get abit more info to help with narrowing down his career.

neil

[Matt Poole]

I can't find a George Richardson in my Rangoon POW info. Hopefully one of the two names Kevin provided, from "Unsung Heroes of the RAF", will prove to be Acia Man's friend's father.

Cheers,

Matt