Thread: Vickers Wellington IC sn DV697

I don't really know if I've got much to add - none of the casualty or personnel files for the two Aussies have been loaded up for viewing yet. What info is still being looked for??

FRASER, James Munro Mearns - (Sergeant); Service Number - 419177 AUS

WOODS, JACK WILLIAM – (Sergeant); Service Number – 410584 AUS

FERGUSON, IAN WOODMAN – (Sergeant); Service Number – 1322786 RAF (Son of Mark H. G. Ferguson and Agnes Muriel Ferguson, of Swindon, Wiltshire)

MOORBY, FRANK PRESTON – (Pilot Officer); Service Number – 151848 RAF (Son of Henry Preston Moorby and Jessie Moorby, of Barton-under-Needwood; husband of Mary Kathleen Moorby)

All above KIA - 26 Sep 1943 (Casualty - Repatriation; Aircraft - Wellington DV 697; Place - Bosworth, England; Date - 25 September 1943)


LEWIS – (Sergeant); Service Number – 159217 RAF (Not on CWGC - must have survived the war)

On the contrary Dave, you've given me a service number for Lewis! Since it now seems likely he survived the war, I would like to trace him; where from ....etc.
By the way Dave, what was the source for the Lewis name?
Regards,

If there is any Australian involvement in an aircraft crash then chances are there will be at least one file on it held by our National Archives. I used the names provided for the Aussies to get their service numbers from the ww2nominalroll website (I could have gotten their numbers from the pictures Spidge provided, but I realised that a bit later).

I then entered their service numbers to the NAA site (as described to berkyboy on the RAAF shipping details thread) and got hits for their casualty & personnel files. Although none of the files have been digitised so they can be read online the casualty files carry "Item notes" which normally list all other names involved in an incident.

From there I used the service numbers of the RAF crew to compare to the CWGC listings (using the hut six resource) and as the number for Sergeant Lewis didn't produce a hit I assume he survived the war. Unfortunately the item notes didn't give first names, but that info might be on the actual files along with copies of crash incident reports (normally found on these sorts of files).

Getting files digitised is a relatively easy process and takes a few weeks and costs under $20 to get organised. If there is any info of great importance being searched for I will do this myself, but as I'm normally looking at umpteen RAAF personnel at a time I don't invest the money unless I think I really need to do so as a last resort.

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I've said it before and I'll keep saying it until someone slaps me but I reckon Australia has the most user friendly online official research resources in the world. Nearly everything is free to use and the search functions are brilliant. The next best overseas is the CWGC, but only if the person you are researching was killed. The IWM is pretty good, but only if you get really lucky and find a photo of the person you are looking for.

I just got service file records sent to me from the UK and NZ - it took months to organise after filling in forms that serve no great purpose except to slow things down. The data is only available to be provided as a photocopy instead of loaded to the internet like here in Aus - which means there could be multiple people each getting a photocopy instead of it being digitised once for people anywhere in the world to read.

Anyway, I hope this info is of help.

cheers


Dave

Thanks Dave. I did as advised and I have to agree with you - The NA of Australia is the best I have seen to date.

Much of the info available online from the NA and the AWM websites make us, in most cases the envy of people in other countries.

Our online databases are user friendly and second to none.

Something I've just realised - a Wellington IC had a crew of 6, yet here we just have 5 - wonder who was the 6th?

The following is extracted from the December 2010 issue of the Bosworth Bugle:

HTML Code:

AIRCRASH MEMORIALS
During World War II, two aircraft, a Miles Master trainer and a Vickers Wellington,
crashed close to Husbands Bosworth aerodrome, in the grounds of Bosworth Hall.
Husbands Bosworth & District branch of the Royal British Legion, with the support of the Parish Council has decided to commemorate, with permanent memorials, those who lost their lives in these accidents and, indeed, all those who served at RAF Husbands Bosworth during the war.
Plinths and memorial plaques are to be erected at the sites of these accidents and an unveiling ceremony will take place on Saturday, December 4th. Two of the crew members of the Wellington who died were Australian, two were RAF and the aircraft was paid for by the people of Trinidad. A eucalyptus tree will be planted at the site of the Wellington crash, donated by the Royal Australian Air Force as a memorial to their countrymen who died.
Coffee, to welcome our guests, will be served at 10.00am at the Church Hall, Honeypot Lane. The unveiling ceremonies will take place at the crash sites at about 11.00am. The Royal British Legion chaplain will perform a dedication service and the Last Post will be played. Afterwards there will be a finger buffet and light refreshments in the Church Hall to which everyone is invited to attend. There will be a display of historical information relating to the RAF activities at Husbands Bosworth in wartime from the Historical Society’s archive collection. This exhibition will also feature recent pictures of some of the wartime buildings that still remain today.
The crash sites are fairly close together but are in open agricultural land, part of which is cultivated. Therefore those attending the unveiling are advised to wear appropriate all-weather attire and robust footwear! A limited amount of transport will be provided to the sites and 4x4 motor vehicle access is possible nearby.

Well done Husbands Bosworth