430518 - Unaccounted airwomen and airmen - 18-5-1943

[Henk Welting]

What were the places of death registration for:

A - Died on active service:
ACW2 Clarice L. ALLEN - 475512.

B - Not found in Flight Global:
Major Ernest B. BALLARD - 258 - Royal Artillery attd 655 (AOP) Sqn - see under 'D'.

C - Killed on active service:
ACW1 Helen R. BRAND - 2116411 - 935 (Balloon) Sqn (Filton);
Sgt (Pilot) John J. COOPER - 1214085;
LACW Mary MacASKILL - 2045888 - 953 (Balloon) Sqn (Cardiff - or was this a printing error and should read 935 Sqn like ACW1 Brand and LACW Stannard, both of 935 Sqn Filton ?);
F/Lt (Flying Instr.) Kenneth R. MASON - 66563;
F/O (Flying Instr.) Harold RATHBONE - 112726, and
LACW Betty M. STANNARD - 2068971 - 935 (Balloon) Sqn (Filton).

D - Proposed aircraft losses:
Gladiator II - L8031 - 1624 Flt - crashed on landing Detling.
Tiger Moth II - T6854 - 4 EFTS - crashed on landing Brough.
Tiger Moth II - T7183 - 25 (P)EFTS - flew into ground Longdale Farm, Blidworth, Nottinghamshire (have a Polish airman unaccounted for on this date: F/O [Pilot] Tomasz SZYMONSKI (SZYMANSKI) PAF P.0607 - probably of 102 OTU and buried in the Corstorphine Hill Cemetery, Edinburgh, Scotland, but not listed on a paper of PAF-graves in the UK taken care for by the CWGC.
Tiger Moth II - N9189 - 4 EFTS - crashed on overshoot Bellasize (county not known).
Defiant II - AA569 - 286 Sqn - crashed on take-off Harrowbeer.
Hampden I - AD857 - 7 FPP - crashed in foced landing Sherburn-in-Elmet.
Beaufort II - AW314 - 5 (C)OTU - crashed on landing Long Kesh.
Auster III - NJ986 - 653 (AOP) Sqn - flew into ground Chigwell Row, Essex.
Auster III - NJ988 - 6 FPP - dived into ground Manor Farm Field, 2 miles S of Chedworth.

Regards andthansk for your help.
Henk.

[Resmoroh]

Henk,
Bellasize is in Yorkshire - but which bit in WW2 and/or which bit now I don't know.
HTH
Peter Davies

[Dick]

Hi Henk
Clarice Allen,23, registered at Worcester
Ballard,32, registered at Epping,Essex which is the right area for Chigwell and NJ986
The Balloon Sqn could be 953 as both Brand and Stannard are registered at Cardiff. I couldn't find MacKaskill
Cooper,20, Mason,29, and Rathbone,31 are registered at Howden E Yorkshire.The area was in fact split in 1933 between Howdenshire and Holderness both in E Yorks just N of the River Humber
Regards
Dick

[davew]

Henk,

Bellsize is 4m NE of Goole, I suspect the three casualties recorded at Howden are split between the two TMs N9189 and T8654.

regards

DaveW

[Theletterwriter]

Henk

Although LACW Mary MacASKILL - 2045888 is buried in Kincardine Cemetery Ross and Cromarty, I cannot find her death registed in the Scottish Statutory Records.

I have found some information regarding F/O [Pilot] Tomasz SZYMONSKI. He died in Auchentroig Hospital, Drymen in the County of Stirling, Scotland. He was 42 years old and his cause of death is not recorded as being due to war operations or any trauma caused by an aircraft crash.

Douglas

[dennis_burke]

Mary McAskill is spelled as shown in the Cardiff register.

[Henk Welting]

Thanks friends for all your excellent info. Our "Yorkshire-specialist" for sure will come up with more info on the airmen registered at Howden.
Regards,
Henk.

[James Castle]

Dear Henk
Hampden I - AD857 - 7 FPP - crashed in foced landing Sherburn-in-Elmet.

Hampden & Hereford crash log: AD857 7FPP 18/05/43 U/c collapsed after engine failure at Sherburn-in-Elmet at 11.50hrs while ferrying. Cat B

Hampden File: AD857 106/408/7FPP 18/5/43 Crashed after engine failure Sherburn-in-Elmet Flt Capt JE Martens ATA unhurt Ferry

http://www.sherburn-aero-club.org.uk/
http://wikimapia.org/2249905/Former-RAF-Sherburn-in-Elmet
http://www.airfields-in-yorkshire.co.uk/sherburn/
http://www.oldairfields.fotopic.net/c1356251.html

I hope this is what you were after
Best wishes
James

[Henk Welting]

Thanks James for info on Hampden.
Regards,
Henk.

[Rich Allenby]

Henk, I've been away with work and have just spotted this one!

Hampden AD857, confirm what has been said previously, Cpt J E Martens ATA, was the pilot.

The Tiger Moths at Bellasize / Brough I have little info on, N9189 collided with T7777 and caught fire. T6854 was deemed beyond repair after a heavy landing. Bellasize is on the north side of the Humber. Cooper, Mason and Rathbone would probably fit for the collision as their deaths are in the right area but I cannot confirm who was in what at the moment.

regards Rich

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Rich for your additional info.
Regards,
Henk.

[newmarket]

Interesting the report of Auster NJ 986. The burial report for Captain John Benson AOP 655 ? 56th Heavy Regt R Artillery who is buried in Newmarket, gives his death as at Chigwell Row but CWGC has his death as 14 May 1943, whereas this crash is reported as 18 May 1943. Any idea please ? Originally I wondered if Capt Benson was the one who spun in at Denham (Auster MZ 241) on 11th May, but the local burial register I looked up today clearly states Chigwell Row for his death.

[dennis_burke]

The British Army Roll of Honour on Ancestry.com has the death as 18th as well. You might contact the CWGC and point out this to them, their database is a scan of published pages so there is a small chance that a 14 was scanned as a 18, if the print was in bad condition etc. Use the contact form on their website and if you have a copy of the burial info they will likely want a copy of that.

[Henk Welting]

Gents,
Auster NJ986 was 653 Sqn; Capt John P.G. BENSON was attd 655 Sqn (CWGC). I've on NJ986: Major Ernest B. BALLARD - 258 - attd 653 Sqn., death registered Epping, Essex. Could BENSON have been a passenger on NJ986 ?
Regards,
Henk.

[Henk Welting]

Ballard was also attd 655 Sqn (not 653 Sqn).

[dennis_burke]

Both Ballard and benson registered in Epping, on the same page of the death register.

[newmarket]

The British Army Roll of Honour on Ancestry.com has the death as 18th as well. You might contact the CWGC and point out this to them, their database is a scan of published pages so there is a small chance that a 14 was scanned as a 18, if the print was in bad condition etc. Use the contact form on their website and if you have a copy of the burial info they will likely want a copy of that.

I have started on process of checking out and possibly amended CWGC records for these two. No record I have attaches these two specifically to Auster NJ986 but I do not have Ancestry, only Findmypast

[dennis_burke]

Then you have the very same information that I have, findmypast contains the England and Wales BMD indexes as well as a military section with I believe the the same British Army Roll of Honour.

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/BirthsMarriagesDeaths.jsp

The aricraft is listed as crashing in Chigwell, Essex.
The mens deaths are registered in Epping district, Essex. Epping district contains Chigwell
http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/reg/districts/epping.html

so therefore, a smoking gun in my eyes.

There is a sticky on the board about not usign the quote function, http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?9289-Use-of-Quote-Function
I've only posted twice before on this thread, no need to quote it back to me.

[Ross_McNeill]

Hi Gents,

F1180 for NJ986 states No.653 Sqn

Ballard pilot and gives two killed.

So both the Chigwell casualties on this aircraft.

Regards
Ross

[Ross_McNeill]

F1180 for NJ988 has it assigned to No.6 FPP

Pilot First Officer W A Artindale, Injured.

Regards
Ross

[Tonym]

I have Brand & MacAskill both commemorated by CWGC as 953 Balloon Sqdn. which would suggest an accident or incident or possibly natural causes and just coincidence.

Tony

[Henk Welting]

Tony,
Both killed during air raid on Cardiff - alert 0230 - all clear 0400 hrs.
Henk.

[Ross_McNeill]

Hi Henk,

From the F1180

Tiger Moth II - N9189
Cooper

Tiger Moth - T7777
Rathbone
Mason

Regards
Ross

[balloonman]

Tony,
Both killed during air raid on Cardiff - alert 0230 - all clear 0400 hrs.
Henk.

18TH MAY 1943
02.41 TO 03.35 Enemy aircraft attacked at varying heights from 1000 to 10000 feet dropping flares, incendiary bombs and high explosive bombs. At approximately 03.10 hours site 53/18 received a direct hit from a High Explosive bomb, which killed three W.A.A.F. balloon operators: Mary McAskell, Betty Stannard and Paddy Brand and wounded four others. Terry David, Cpl Lilian Ellis, Marjorie Oates and Betty Reynolds. These were the first war casualties sustained by the Squadron

20TH MAY 1943
The remains of three casualties, left for their respective homes. Each coffin accompanied bya W.A.A.F. Officer and N.C.O.

Peter Garwood www.bbrclub.org

[Tonym]

Peter

Most grateful, thank you

Tony

[balloonman]

I found this information in the ORB of the Squadron.
These were the fits casualties and it had quite an impact on the Squadron.

http://i392.photobucket.com/albums/pp8/Ghostwhisperer_01/MacAskill524.jpg

Headstone

[Tonym]

Thanks Peter

I did have that photo. With so many Scottish lasses in my records I keep an eye on SWMP & SWGP, but thanks for your interest.

Tony

[jonheyworth]

Clarice Lilian Allen 475512 , a batwoman attached to 23 OTU in Bomber Command died in the Worcester Royal Infirmary under anaesthetic during an operation to treat quincy