430414 - Unaccounted airmen - 14-4-1943

[Henk Welting]

What were the places of death registration for:

A - Died on active service:
W/Cdr (Flight: S/Ldr) Eric C. CORKE - 70141 - age 41;
Cpl Bernard HARWOOD - 615218;
Cpl Charles E. HOLMES - 1437869 - age 33;
LAC Donald C. KNATCHBULL - 1258656, and
Sgt Robert H.M. THOMAS - 505394.

B - Killed on active service:
LAC (Pilot u/t) Robert A. COZENS - 1320723.

C - Proposed aircraft losses:
Beaufighter I - T4632 - 51 OTU - crashed on overshoot Cranfield.
Beaufighter II - V8206 - 54 OTU - abandoned during night Drydens Farm, near Selkirk.
Blenheim I - L1508 - 12 (P)AFU - crashed on approach at night on railway 1 mile S of Grantham, Lincolnshire.
Botha I - L6266 - 11 RS - overshot landing Hooton Park.
Magister I - T9682 - CF Woodley - crashed in forced landing Woodley Stratfield Saye, Berkshire.
Master I - T8687 - RAFC - crashed on take-off near Slate House Farm, Ancaster, Lincolnshire.
Tiger Moth II - DE667 - 1 Sqn - crashed in forced landing Capel, near Tonbridge, Kent.

D - Also looking for cause of death of:
Sgt Harry BATEMAN - 657523 - 221 Sqn (Luqa, Malta) - reported "Missing believed killed in action' , commemorated on the Malta Air Forces Memorial, and reported in Casualty Communiqué 247, Flight 1-7-1943 page 25 (can't find a matching Wellington serial number - also refer to Sgt R. HENDERSON - 1379032 in thread for 15-4-1943).

Regards and thanks for your help.
Henk.

[Dick]

Hi Henk
Corke,41, registered at Manchester
Harwood,22,registered at Christchurch, Hampshire
Holmes,33, registered at Epping, Essex
Knatchbull,22, registered at Romford, Essex
Thomas,44, registered at Sunderland, then Co Durham
Regards
Dick

[davew]

Henk

Cozens at Sleaford, T8687?

regards
DaveW

[Henk Welting]

Thanks Dick & Dave.
Dick: Who was on Blenheim L1508 ?
Regards,
Henk.

[Dick]

Sorry Henk
I took a note from Warner on L1508 and forgot to post it. The solo pilot ,who was injured ,is given as F/O W Sprinkle
Regards
Dick

[wwrsimon]

Hello

W/Cdr (Flight: S/Ldr) Eric C. CORKE - 70141 - the National Probate Calendar records that he died at Christies Hospital, Wimslow Road, Withington, Manchester.

LAC Donald C. KNATCHBULL - 1258656 - the National Probate Calendar records that he died at Rush Green Emergency Hospital, Romford.

Regards

Simon

[jonheyworth]

UPGRADE to John Alfred Zakem R 171111, he died of broncho pneumonia

[jonheyworth]

Robert Henry Malcolm Thomas 505394 , attached to 62 OTU , was admitted dangerously ill to Sunderland Royal Infirmary on 13 April in a uraemia coma, where he died the following day of a cereberal heamorhage

[markpeelgb]

1437869 Corporal Charles Edward (or Edwards) HOLMES

The death of Corporal Holmes on 14 April 1943 was reported in the Diss Express on 16 April using terms--'suddenly' and 'while on [active] service'--normally used for non-combat deaths. A family tree on Ancestry reports that he 'died on the parade ground during training', a cause of death for which these terms would certainly have been used.

[jonheyworth]

Eric Charles Corke 70141, attached to Number 14 EFTS, an acting Wing Commander with effect from 1 June 1942, relinquished on 16 December 1942, was admitted seriously ill to Christie's hospital & Holt radium institute, Manchester, on 10 December 1942 suffering with sarcoma metastasis. He became dangerously ill on 17 March 1943 and died of lymphosarcoma