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Topic: 16 Acre Plantation, Blaxton (Read 1019 times)
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winston
RootsChat Aristocrat
Posts: 2772
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HI Colin
Will you let us know what those records say especially if there is anythign we can check out for you.
Wendy
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Any census information included in this post is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.ukBlakeley in Batley West Yorks Turner in Hanging Heaton West Yorkshire Dann last known area Soothill West Yorks Hirst in Hanging heaton W Yorks Moss in Morley and Leeds Parker in Morley W Yorks Parker in Hull E Yorks Tilburns in Morley W Yorks |
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Colin Cruddace
RootsChat Member
Posts: 242
My Grandparents
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Hi Wendy,
Yes, I'll post the details as soon as I get them.
Regards,
Colin
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dragonq
RootsChat Extra
Posts: 35
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This thread is talking about something very similar to what I am doing, so I hope to make suggestions to Colin and also get some help myself with a very odd Yorkshire connection!
Colin, I know this is a RAAF plane, but if it was flying as part of the RAF, you can get the Operations Records Books for the squadron from the National Archives at Kew. What you would need to do is find the squadron, tell them the day you are interested in, and they will quote to copy the pages referring to that raid. If the records are held in Australia I assume that the War Museum in Canberra can point you in the right direction to the records here. There is also a site http://www.lostbombers.co.uk/ which details bomber losses of the Second World War, but if it is a RAAF plane it may not be included.
Now perhaps someone can help me!
I am researching the loss of Stirling Bomber, LK383 of 149 Squadron, Methwold, which was lost without trace on a mission to Brest in France on the night of 6/7 August 1944. My uncle, John Adolphe Prior was the navigator. The reason I am writing to this thread is that I am trying to trace the other crew members. One of them was a boy called Terry Kilcoyne, aged 20, described as being the son of John and Rowena Kilcoyne of, believe it or not, Blaxton.
Can anyone at the Yorkshire end give me more information about Terry or his family, and especially, suggest if there might be any living relatives? A website is being set up about this plane, initially in French, but I am considering an English one. This was the last Stirling bomber to be lost on a bombing operation during World War II, as the plane was in the process of being phased out.
You can see the website here. If you can read French, it does provide quite a lot of additional information:
http://www.absa39-45.asso.fr/Pertes%20Bretagne/Finistere/7%20aout%201944/7_aout_44.htm
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Prior (Wolverhampton), Nussey (Yorkshire and London), Kilmartin (Co. Galway and Co. Durham), Clothier (Lambeth), Collins (Manchester)
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Colin Cruddace
RootsChat Member
Posts: 242
My Grandparents
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Hi Dragonq,
Thanks for the suggestions. The problem is that he was an Australian pilot flying with a Canadian squadron on RAF missions. After that, he might have been assigned to 3 Flying Instructors School and 20 Operational Training Unit, so I don't know if he was still with the same squadron. I'll have to wait for his service records to see if they give more details.
Have you tried the RAF Museum at Hendon to see if they have details of your aircrew?
Regards,
Colin
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dragonq
RootsChat Extra
Posts: 35
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Colin,
I'm not honestly an expert on this subject, but my advice would be to try and get in touch with some of the people who are specialists in the history of the RAF during the war. In my case, I have received an enormous amount of assistance from an aviation history society in Brittany, which is where the plane went down. Apart from the headache of my having to write in French, which is very much my second language, they have been wonderfully helpful and we have found out all sorts of information which we did not know.
I started from knowing nothing but the type of plane, the date of my uncle's death and his service number, and the fact that the plane was on a mission to Brest when it disappeared. I found the names of the other crew members off the lost bomber website, and then got in touch with the people in Brittany, who have an enormous amount of specialist knowledge. I also borrowed several books about Bomber Command from the local library which gave me a good context to what I was researching. (I can give you the names of some I found helpful if you like.) My understanding is that there were a lot of Canadian squadrons, and that they actually formed a whole group in Bomber Command during the war.
I too have written away (yesterday) for my uncle's service record. (I realise this is actually the logical first step. but I had to get my father to sign the form as next of kin, so I am rather doing things out of order.) However, I did phone the RAF and had a very useful conversation with a woman who explained that there is not a huge amount of information on a lot of them. It tends to be things like contact details, next of kin, form type stuff, postings, training etc. There is nothing about missions on them apparently: I specifically asked this, because I did not want my elderly father to get gory information on a form about how he was killed. To get information about missions, you do have to get the Operations Records Books for the Squadron. As it was an RAF mission, I still think it quite possible that the National Archives would have it, otherwise you may have to go to Canada.
My cousin in the UK had my uncle's log book, which was useful, because it listed his successfully completed missions. (He died on his fifth op, which was pretty average. They did not have long life expectancies.) I am now in the process of getting the ORB information from the National Archives. My cousin did write to the RAF museum, and showed me the correspondence, but they were not awfully helpful. They did however, send her a photocopy from a standard reference work which cites all the Bomber Command losses of World War II. This also cites the crews of the lost planes. Also, they will certainly know the proper place for you to search if it is not in the UK.
Regards
Natalie
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Prior (Wolverhampton), Nussey (Yorkshire and London), Kilmartin (Co. Galway and Co. Durham), Clothier (Lambeth), Collins (Manchester)
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Colin Cruddace
RootsChat Member
Posts: 242
My Grandparents
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Hello all,
As promised, a lot earlier than I expected, here are the circumstances of his death.
Craig was killed whilst with the Bomber Command Instructors' School, based at RAF Finningley - a unit set up to train experienced aircrew as Instructors for Operational Training Units etc.
Wellington LN585
F/L G A Clark (killed)
F/O W G Craig DFC RAAF (killed)
F/O G Lofthouse DFC (injured)
F/Sgt B F Griggs (killed)
Took off from Finningley to practice overshooting on one engine and while doing so (with the starboard motor feathered) crashed off a slow turn to the right and burst into flames, the time of the tragedy being reported as 1600. F/L Clark was cremated in Sheffield, Craig, who had married Olive Mary Craig of Darlington, was buried in the West Cemetery. Lofthouse was treated at Doncaster Royal Infirmary. He received his DFC with 626 Squadron in 1945, whilst Craig had received his with 431 Squadron
details from Bomber Command Losses Volume 8 by Chorley
F/L Clark was reported to be the pilot.
I am very much indebted to dragonq for letting me know about another rootschat list specialising in RAF, where I was given these details.
Thank you all very much,
Colin
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winston
RootsChat Aristocrat
Posts: 2772
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HI Colin
Thanks for the update.
What will you do next now that your two questions have been answered?
What trail will you now follow?
Wendy
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Any census information included in this post is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.ukBlakeley in Batley West Yorks Turner in Hanging Heaton West Yorkshire Dann last known area Soothill West Yorks Hirst in Hanging heaton W Yorks Moss in Morley and Leeds Parker in Morley W Yorks Parker in Hull E Yorks Tilburns in Morley W Yorks |
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Colin Cruddace
RootsChat Member
Posts: 242
My Grandparents
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Thanks Pam,
It was such a surprise to get the details so quickly, especially when I had little hope of finding anything at all.
Best to all,
Colin
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