410128 - Unaccounted Airmen - 28-01-1941

**Alex Smart** · 7th January 2023, 00:21

Hello,

410128 - Unaccounted Airmen - 28-01-1941

From Henk's List -

EGYPT
BEISER, Herbert (Israel) - AC2c - 774152 - RAFVR.
BURNS, Robert John Ernest - AC1c - 612798 - RAF.
HERRIOTT, Frederick William - AC1c - 756795 - RAFVR.
HOLMES, Claude Frank - AC2c - 928175 - RAFVR.
LEES, Douglas Hedley - AC2c - 1015482 - RAF.
LEVY-HAARSCHER, Abraham Leopold - AC2c - 775546 - RAFVR.
MITCHELL, Frederick Gordon - Lac - 744015 - RAFVR.
REYNOLDS, James - AC1c - 626937 - RAFVR.
SPITTLE, Arthur George - AC1c - 962728 - RAFVR.
STEVENS, Harold - Sgt - 355929 - RAF.
These ten airmen are commemorated on the Alamein Memorial, Egypt.
They were all killed in an ammunition explosion at HQ No.202 Group at Sidi Mahmoud, near Tobruk.
See AIR 81/4952.

MALTA
CAMERON, Douglas Hunter - Sgt - 517813 - RAF.
MAY, Arthur Harry - Sgt - 365514 - RAF.
REAY, Thomas - Sgt - 751646 - RAFVR.
WARREN, Wilfred - Sgt - 349651 - RAF.
These four airmen rest at the Malta (Capuccini) Naval Cemetery, Malta.
They were serving with 148 Sqdn and were all killed when two bombs fell making a direct hit's on their Sgts Block during an Air Raid.

SOUTH AFRICA
CLUBB, George Wallace - F/Sgt - 95631 - SAAF.
Thaba Tshwane (Old No.1)Military Cemetery, Gauteng, South Africa.
Aged 62 years. Death caused by Epithelioma of the Unirary Bladder and Rectal Abscesses.

UK
DITCH, Arthur Samuel - Sgt - 1377428 - RAFVR - 604 Sqdn.
Seaford Cemetery, Sussex.
Cause of death, acute Appendicitis.
Henk has/had this Airman's death as 28th January 1941.
CWGC has the death as 28th January, 1942.
So which is correct ?

ZIMBABWE
PEDLEY, Roy Charles - Sgt - 922076 - RAFVR
Harare (Pioneer) Cemetery, Zimbabwe.
Harvard - P5957 - 20 SFTS.

From CWGC -

AUSTRALIA
NEWMAN, John Ignatius - P/O - 819 - RAAF.
Toowoomba Cemetery, Queensland, Australia.

RAINBOW,James Manning - Sqdn/Ldr - RAAF.
SKILLMAN, Henry Theodore - F/O - 625 - RAAF.
SAWYER, Bailey Middlebrook - P/O - 1704 - RAAF (Passenger).
These three airmen commemorated on the New South Wales Cremation Memorial, Sydney, Australia.

TYSOE, Charles Richard - AC1c - 5922 - RAAF.
Geelong Western Public Cemetery, Victoria, Australia.

The above five airmen were all Killed when Anson I - A4-5 crashed at Gelnbrook, N.S.W. on a medical flight.

UK
MILLAR,John Forest Morton - F/O - 42051 - RAF.
Edinburgh (Grange)Cemetery, Edinburgh.
Wellington Ic - R1164 - 20 OTU.
See AIR 81/4936.

PEARSON, Thomas Bell - Lac - 1006454 - RAFVR.
Edinburgh (Liberton)Cemetery, Edinburgh.
PRATT, George Freeman - Lac - 1002544 - RAFVR.
Waverton (St.Peter) Churchyard, Cheshire.
COOKE, Basil Roper - Sgt - 580014 - RAF.
Monkton and Prestwick Cemetery, Ayrshire.
These three airmen were crew of Anson I - N4939 - 1 AoNS.
See AIR 81/4948.

Alex

**wwrsimon** · 7th January 2023, 09:09

Alex

DITCH, Arthur Samuel - Sgt - 1377428 - the National Probate Calendar records his date of death as January 28th 1942.

Regards

Simon

**Andy Marden** · 7th January 2023, 12:08

Originally Posted by Alex Smart

PEARSON, Thomas Bell - Lac - 1006454 - RAFVR.
Edinburgh (Liberton)Cemetery, Edinburgh.
PRATT, George Freeman - Lac - 1002544 - RAFVR.
Waverton (St.Peter) Churchyard, Cheshire.
COOKE, Basil Roper - Sgt - 580014 - RAF.
Monkton and Prestwick Cemetery, Ayrshire.
These three airmen were crew of Anson I - N4929 - 1 AoNS.
See AIR 81/4948.

Alex

Alex,
N4929 survived to be SOC in January 1945, so this is another error in a file.
The aircraft involved was N4939. Database amended:
http://www.rafcommands.com/database/...php?uniq=N4939
Andy

**Andy Marden** · 7th January 2023, 12:28

Originally Posted by Alex Smart

MILLAR,John Forest Morton - F/O - 42051 - RAF.
Edinburgh (Grange)Cemetery, Edinburgh.
Wellington Ic - R1164 - 20 OTU.
See AIR 81/4936.

Presumably Millar died of his injuries, as the crash was on 25 January 1941.
Strangely though the description to AIR81/4936 just says "killed". It would normally say "died of injuries" or similar.

**Ross_McNeill** · 7th January 2023, 12:53

Andy,

When the aircraft crash site was found on 25th there were no crew in the wreckage. Millar was initially listed as missing then altered to fatal.

His death certificate states found dead at Box Law on the 28th - Multiple injuries including fractured skull.

So in this case the entry is pedantically correct. His injuries were not directly caused by the aircraft crashing into the ground, nor was he injured and died later in the same event. He abandoned the aircraft and was killed after hitting the ground in a different place and at a slightly different time to the airframe crash between 25th and 28th when discovered dead.

Ross