John Francis NICHOLS. Died on RAF bombing raid to Nurnberg 28/8/1943

[brookeratheber]

John Francis Nichols was the pilot of my Uncle's Stirling aircraft that crashed on a raid to Nurnberg on 28th August 1943

I am looking to trace any living relatives or others that may know more about him

I can't find any record on Ancestry or Genes Reunited websites. I believe he was British but don't know D.O.B, next of kin or where he came from.

But I know he existed! See Commonwealth War Graves site http://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2102614/NICHOLS,%20JOHN%20FRANCIS

Can you find him?

Thanks!

Paul

[Girl Guide]

According to the Forces War Records website he was British and was in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

His service number was 1318759 and he was in the 620 Squadron.

There is no other family type information provided as far as I can see.

Have you considered obtaining his death certificate?  I'm not sure how much information is contained in war death certs.

The reference is in the GRO War Death R.A.F. All Ranks (1939 to 1948)  Volume 11 Page 61

The other alternative is to get in touch with the RAF, explain what you are trying to do and see if they can help you at all.

[brookeratheber]

Many thanks

Paul

[nanny jan]

Hi,

Family details, date of birth etc. will be found on his service record which is still with MOD.   Here is how to apply for a copy:

https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records/overview


Nanny Jan

[brookeratheber]

Hi Nanny Jan

Many thanks!

Paul

[Daisypetal]

Hi,

There is a tree on Ancestry that has info and photos of John Francis NICHOLS also a photo of a Stephen G COYNE who died with him. This tree has some private relatives of the NICHOLS family on it so they could still be living, I think it would be worth contacting the tree owner to see if she has anymore information that could help you.

I found that the easiest way to find this tree was to use his full name and his death date in the search.

Regards,
Daisy

[barryd]

John Francis Nichols was the Pilot of the Stirling that crashed that day. Other members of the crew were

S. G. Coyne
S. Bond
J. P. Donnelly
N.S. Mitchell possibly more

The above were buried in Durnbach War Cemetery.
620 Squadron flew Stirlings. Most probably he took off from RAF Chedburgh, Suffolk.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No._620_Squadron_RAF

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chedburgh

[Em2]

Hello:

If you haven't already had a look at this website, it is good for giving details of each Sqn's activities.  http://www.aircrewremembered.com/homepage.html

Also, my husband's grandfather was killed on Nov 5, 1945 on his way home from Italy.  While researching another family member, it became clear that the UK did not mass mail the war medals out as they had done in WWI.  Each veterans had to apply for them.  Now, the UK didn't strike the medals until 1948 so anyone killed prior to that would not have received their medals unless they family asked for them post 1948.

Last summer, my husband's grandfather had his medals issued that had been waiting in a vault for over 70 years.  The MOD told us that they are getting on average 200 applications PER MONTH for WWII medals to be issued for the FIRST time. 

I would suggest if you are a relative of this man, to make the inquiries about his medals.  They usually take about 12 weeks to come in. 

Cheers

[brookeratheber]

Many thanks Daisy, Barryd & Em2

I have been looking on Ancestry for days, with all permutations of Nichols, Nicholls, Nickols..... and found nothing

Now there he is!  A result!  Thanks guys n gals!

Paul