William Beet RAF Navigator 1941-1945 Service number 1455973

[queenswood 1]

Looking for any information at all about William Beet who was a good friend of my late uncle- they both trained as Navigators and flew on Lancaster Bombers with 100 Squadron from Grimsby and waltham in 1944. My uncle lost his life on a bombing raid in 1944 but I believe his friend William Beet was transferred to 1656 HCU as a gunnery instructor at the end of his tour.
Any information at all would be great- I believe that he survived the war but know very little about him.

Many thanks

Caroline

[EmmaBeet]

Hi there,

I hope you're well. I was just showing my eight year old daughter some old photos and came across this in a Google Search. William Beet was my grandad.

He survived the war and went on to open a cycle shop in Sheffield with my grandma.

I wonder if the photos might be of interest to you?

Best wishes,

Emma Beet

[Ceeoh]

We had a William (Billy) Beet/s (RAF)  billeted with us in Redcar early in the war.  I have a couple of letters he wrote to my mother after he was re-posted.  I wonder if it is the same one?  I would love to know what happened to him.  Somewhere (I don't know where at this point) I have a photo of myself with him.  I know he was very young 20/21.

[queenswood 1]

Hi Emma and Ceeoh- I am sorry if I have missed replying to both of your posts but we have lost our son recently and life has paused for a while. I would be thrilled to see any photos that you both may have in respect of William/ Billy Beet as I am so keen to find out about the William Beet that was best friend to my uncle Flt sgt Leslie Roots. Leslie was born in 1921 and so the ages would tally. They both flew in Lancasters with 100 squadron from RAF waltham but Leslie and his crew were killed on 18/19th July 1944 when LM620 was shot down over Scholven during a night raid. In fact william beet had flown in the same Lancaster earlier that very day with a different crew. I believe that William Beet was later transferred to one of the HCU units and survived the war but I have very little information on him other than the pair of friends were known collectively as BeetRoots! Please feel free to either post or PM me so that we can further this research. You may both need to put more posts on to be able to send a PM- so very much looking forward to hearing back from you both.

[Ceeoh]

Hello Queenswood, my condolences on the passing of your son, a terrible loss that no parent should experience.
 
I am hoping Emma may have a picture of her William as a young man, I can remember exactly how he looked.
William came into a conversation I was having with my family when I explained how we had young servicemen billeted with us during the war, which gave me pause to put an enquiry on Google - your post was the result.
Unfortunately I am away from home for an indefinite period - blame the virus - so I have no pictures or letters with me - never thought after all these years my hoarding would come in useful.
If Emma has a picture of her William as a young man I would be able to confirm - or not - whether it is my William.
When I return home I will be happy to post on here what I have.
I was only nine years old when "my" William was billeted with us, he made me a brooch out of a three-penny bit (highly illegal!) and I am wearing it in the photograph.
Hope to be able to continue further with this thread.

Regards

Ceeoh

[queenswood 1]

Thank you- I am waiting to hear from Emma and sadly cannot see that I can PM her- I am so excited that finally I may have a break through for my late uncle's close friend! Nil Desperandum- all things finally come out in the wash. Thank you for your kind wishes- yes it is tough but he was 34 and had a wonderfully fulfilling life despite his short years and fulfilled his dream job along with visitng over 11 countries, married and had 3 young children. I will wait hopefully to hear from Emma- and in due time, from you too!!! Thank you for responding to my post x
Caroline