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Research in Other Countries => South Africa => Topic started by: Nicola_G on Thursday 02 August 12 17:59 BST (UK)
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I'm trying to trace the family of
Squadron Leader Francis Harold ROBERTSON
Age: About 23
Parents: Percy and Alice ROBERTSON
Last known address: Bulawayo Zimbabwe
Particulars: Squadron Leader in the RAF Squadron 106. Buried at the village of Opeinde. Arrived from Durban in Southampton on 14th April 1939
I've been unable, so far, yo find any UK links, but am not sure how to go about searching for someone in South Africa, particularly Zimbabwe, given that at the time this person travelled it would have be Rhodesia
Many thanks
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Hi there,
On this forum page is a link to using the Rhodesian Death Registers from 1890 - 1977 which are found on Family Search.
They may be worth a try for information.
Good luck
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Hi I found this on Mags Kriel letters from Zimbabwe website.
My mom subscribes to your Bulawayo mirror and I am typing from her computer. I was hoping you could put her death notice in as she was born and grew up in Bulawayo Her name is Lynne Greeff nee Robertson and she was born on 17 June 1935. I think she was born in Hillside but lived most of her growing up years in the Suburbs. She attended the Bulawayo Convent from baby school to the end. She moved to Cape Town in 1960 to get married but missed Bulawayo most of her life.
She had three daughters who love and miss her. Should someone have known her when she was young and know any stories about her I would love to hear from them.
My email is ... ( email removed by mod)
MOIR KINGSLEY
Perhaps you could email Moir and ask her if Francis was any relation or you could email Mags and ask her to place a notice on her weekly online paper.This appeared last year July on the website.You can also try this link http://www.lind.org.zw/genweb/find_a_person.htm
Regards Derek
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Hi there,
On this forum page is a link to using the Rhodesian Death Registers from 1890 - 1977 which are found on Family Search.
They may be worth a try for information.
Good luck
That's fantastic, I've just found a record for him DR 66/89. What does that refer to? And where do I find it?
Many thanks
Nicola
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Hi there,
On this forum page is a link to using the Rhodesian Death Registers from 1890 - 1977 which are found on Family Search.
They may be worth a try for information.
Good luck
That's fantastic, I've just found a record for him DR 66/89. What does that refer to? And where do I find it?
Many thanks
Nicola
I've now managed to find the death records & looked in 66/89, but it was some body else. Any chance someone could point me in the right direction
Many thanks
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Its OK, no panic, I've found it now, I got confused by the page number for the internet & the page number for the actual document
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Its looking like he was born in the UK. I've found a birth record & father's name for him on Ancestry but can't access it. His father was William Herbert ROBERTSON
Looks like he was born/baptised Liverpool/Lancashire around 1906 or before.
I checked the death record and he was 28 and his mother's name was Alice - the UK record gives it as Margaret Alice.
There's also a Mary Agnes Robertson mentioned, but he wasn't married so am presuming this was his sister or aunt.
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The Protestant cemetery in Opeinde contains three Commonwealth war graves. All dated 27-7-1942.
These are the graves of:
Sergeant (Flt. Engr.) Joseph John Cooper, 778188, RAF, age 21
Sergeant (W.Op./Air Gnr.) Maurice John Dembrey, RAF, age 26
Squadron Leader (Pilot) Francis Harold Robertson DFC, 42264, RAF, age 27.
Service Number: 42264
Son of Percy and Alice Robertson, of Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia. On July 26, 1942 at 2330 departed from Coningsby air base, the Lancaster R5748, with the mission: a bombing raid over the city of Hamburg in Germany. The aircraft was shot down over Friesland by the German night fighter Lt. Lothar Linke, 11./NJG1, after that it crashed in Opeinde at 0205. In the crash, four crew members got killed, one of them was Francis Harold Robertson.Awarded a DFC for his actions.
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Its looking like he was born in the UK. I've found a birth record & father's name for him on Ancestry but can't access it. His father was William Herbert ROBERTSON
Looks like he was born/baptised Liverpool/Lancashire around 1906 or before.
I checked the death record and he was 28 and his mother's name was Alice - the UK record gives it as Margaret Alice.
There's also a Mary Agnes Robertson mentioned, but he wasn't married so am presuming this was his sister or aunt.
Nope this is right, his father was Percy ROBERTSON, so ignore this
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Hi, I know this is delayed but my great uncle Sgt JJ Cooper died next to the man you are enquiring about. He was from Rhodesia as well, having been born in Cape Town. He was the Flight Engineer, second to the pilot Robertson and would have been his right hand man.
I recently saw the excavated parts of the Lancaster bomber in the UK and discovered a lot of interesting information. When visiting the squadron 106 museum I came across a photgraph of Guy Gibson standing next to Squadron Leader Francis Roberston. It's a famous photo. If you type "Guy Gibson 1000" into Google the photo will come up of a large group of men with two bombers in the background, the man laughing just right of centre with the flying cap on is the man you are looking for ;) They were close friends and Guy Gibson mentioned the loss of "Robbo" in his book "Enemy Coast Ahead". Guy Gibson went on to form the Dam busters and I have no doubt in my Robertson would have been part of it as they trained together.
I also have a photograph of two german soldiers standing next to the wreckage of the bomber the following morning after the crash. I also have a handwritten letter from the last surviving member of the crew now aged 95 describing the last moments of the flight.
Apparently the Hydraulic system failed rendering the guns obsolete and unable to open the bomb bay doors, they turned back and were shot down. It was the maiden flight of this particular Lancaster as Avro Lancasters were brand new aircraft being introduced.
Here is some more info:
My Great uncle JJ Cooper was a Sergeant in Squadron 106 (Aircarft Marking Code ZN) & Flight Engineer in the RAF, and flew in an Avro Lancaster in bombing raids over Cologne, Essen, Bremen and Hamburg during the summer of 1942. He Died July 27th 1942 alongside a few members of his crew, although a few survived and became POW's, as for the picture of the three graves in Holland, These are the graves of Sgnt Joseph John Cooper, Sgt Maurice John Dembrey (W.Op./Air Gnr.) & Sqd. Ldr Francis Harold Robertson DFC. (Pilot) They were all members of 106th Squadron based at RAF Coningsby, an airbase which opened in 1940, and is in Lincolnshire, about 14 miles North-East of Sleaford. Today the site is still in use by the RAF and is home to the Battle of Britain Museum and the Memorial Flight with the only flying Lancaster left in the UK and out of two in the world. 106th Squadron served at RAF Coningsby from 23 Feb 1941 to 1 Oct 1942 (Joe was killed in July) Most of his his crew were killed in action over Holland on the 26th of July 1942. He was a flight engineer and sat next to the pilot and was in charge of keeping the plane in the air mechanically and controlling fuel to the engines. Now the interesting bit is that his Wing Commander (of Squadron 106) during 1942 was a man called "Guy Gibson" who in 1943 picked some men from Squadron 106 and formed Squadron 617 and then became the famous Dam Busters, who flew from the same airbase at Coningsby in Lincolnshire, He was awarded the Victoria Cross. - Coningsby aircraft flew in the famous Thousand Bomber' raid on Cologne in May 1942 which Joe would have been part of, although his target was Hamburg.
The pilot from this aircraft was SL Francis Harold Robertson DFC (Mentioned as "Robbo" in the book ”Enemy coast ahead” by Guy Gibson as they were very close friends)
Avro Lancaster And Manchester Bomber Losses.Legend: + = Killed; pow = prisoner of war.Where an aircraft was lost during a night raid the date of loss is indicated by the "later date." For example: the night of 13/14 March 1941 = 14 MarAircrew LossesSerial No: R5748Classification: Shot DownDate: 27 July 1942 Night/Day Raid: NightTarget/Tasking: HamburgCrew Names: S/L F.H. Robertson, DFGC +; Sgt. J.J Cooper +; Sgt. J.C. Henry, RAAF pow; P/O W.A.J.Fuller +; Sgt. M.J. Dembrey +; P/O H.F.C. Humphries, RCAF pow; Sgt. R. Stoker powType: LancasterService History: 106 Sqn del'd 23-7-42 ZN-RSOC/Crash Site: Zwartveen, Holland
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Hello if you are still looking for the family of Sgt Robertson I can help. Please PM me
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Hi, I’m trying to get in contact with family members of Sgt. Joseph John Cooper !
I live in Friesland not far from the site where his body was found in the early morning of 27 juli 1942.