Laurie W. Collins, “Sackville House.” 4 Littlefields Lane, Grimsby,

[David Layne]

 Laurie Collins who's wartime address was “Sackville House.” 4 Littlefields Lane, Grimsby was an RAF Air Gunner in 57 Squadron's Wellington R1369 that was shot down July 25th 1941 on operations to  Kiel shot down crashing in the sea near the Frisian Islands.  The aircraft was shot down by Helmut Lent this, was Lent’s 19th victory out of a total of 111 confirmed kills.

Laurie Collins and my father were POWs together and Collins is one of the 50 prisoners named in my father's POW "Wartime Log."  https://wallyswar.wordpress.com/pow-log/

I am attempting to get a wartime photograph of each individual named in the log, so far I have 23.  I am hopeful that through this site I can find a photograph of Laurie Collins and a little more information.  My efforts so far can be seen here.  https://wallyswar.wordpress.com/other-pows/

Regards, David.

[BillyF]

I can`t help you with your enquiry, but I`ve read part of your Wallys log. I`ll read more later !

You`ve done really well and I hope you`re sucessful in your research as it`s important that all these things are preserved.

Will it be available to buy as I`ve a friend who`s really interested in  WW2 but doesn`t have internet access

[David Layne]

Billy thank you for your interest.  It does not seem financially feasible to but my story in book form.

[Spidermonkey]

A possibility on the electoral roll in 1954 at 163 Taybridge Road, Battersea.

[Spidermonkey]

From marriage index, I think Laurie was really Lawrence which might help with searches.

[Kay99]

There is very small tree on Ancestry that lists a Lawrence William Collins b 27 Sept 1921 - Grimsby, and died there in 2001, who could be worth contacting, but he doesn't appear to have logged in for a year

Kay

[BillyF]

Just a thought. I wonder if you would get further help from a thread on the Armed Forces sub board. It can be found under " Some Special Interests "

[Alastair Hennessy]

Laurie was one of my grandfathers best friends. Only two people survived the incident on 25 July 1941 Laurie and my grandfather Norman Hennessy who was the wireless operator and rear air gunner. The others survived the ditching at sea and attempted escape in the life raft but they all drowned. We have a few photos of Laurie. Helmut Lent was attributed with the 'kill' but it has been recently removed from his list (we don't know why). The crash has been investigated and there is doubt wether  R1369 was shot down of just suffered engine failure. The last message from granddad simply states 'engine trouble'. It was complete in the water and recovered by the Germans. You'll need to send contact details to share info.