AR banner
Search Tips Advanced Search
Back to Top

• Kracker Archive
• Allied Losses
• Archiwum Polish
• Paradie Canadian
• RCAF
• RAAF
• RNZAF
• USA
• Searchable Lists

Info LogoAdd to or correct this story with a few clicks.
Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
Check our Research databases: Database List
.
We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via the Helpdesk.
105 squadron badge
12.05.1940 105 Squadron Fairey Battle K9485 Plt Off. Tom Hurst

Operation: St. Hubert, France

Date: 12th May 1940 (Sunday)

Unit No: 105 Squadron, Advanced Air Striking Force (AASF), Bomber Command

Type: Fairey Battle I

Serial. K9485

Code: GB:?

Base: Villeneuve-les-Vertus, France

Location: Hauters-le-Christ, Bouillon, Luxembourg

Pilot: Plt Off. Tom Hurst 33388 RAF Age 22. KiA

Nav: Sgt. William John Anning 525720 RAF Age 26. KiA

WOp/Air Gnr: LAC. Clifford Ronald Wells 551357 RAF Age 19. KiA

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off at 14:30 from Villeneuve-les-Vertus to attack St. Hubert. This aircraft is believed to have been hit by ground fire and crashing at Hauters-le-Christ during the attack on a bridge near where they were buried at Bouillon at 15:05 hrs.

The wreckage of Battle I K9485 on a hill side near Bouillon, Luxembourg.

Short video describing the crew and loss of Battle I K9485 GB:? (Courtesy of Tom Bowen, Michael Beckers and Peter Schlebaum)

Burial details:


Plt Off. Tom Hurst. Bouillon Communal Cemetery, North-West part. Grave Inscription: “DESTROYED A GERMAN CONVOY AT BOUILLON 12TH MAY 1940 BUT WAS SHOT DOWN”. Born on the 17th May 1919 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Son of Edgar James and Elizabeth Hurst of Purley, Surrey, England.

Awarded King's Gold Medal, RAF College, Cranwell in 1938.

Sgt. William John Anning. Bouillon Communal Cemetery, North-West part. Grave Inscription: “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN, HE LAID DOWN HIS LIFE FOR OTHERS”. Born on the 6th September 1913 in Okehampton, Devon. Son of Monague William and Eleanor (née Stanbury). Husband of Vera Jessie (née Cooper) Anning of Heavitree, Exeter, England.

LAC. Clifford Ronald Wells. Bouillon Communal Cemetery, North-West part. Grave Inscription: “HE DIED FOR US”.Born in the 2nd Qtr of 1920 in Reading, Berkshire. Son of William Albert and Harriet Holloway (née Earley) Wells of Reading, Berkshire, England.

Researched by Michael Beckers for relatives of the crew with thanks for additional information to Peter Cornwell - 'Battle of France Then and Now'. Thanks to Tom Bowen for the link to the video (Jul 2025).

Other sources listed below:

RS 23.07.2024 – Updated and video link added

Pages of Outstanding Interest
History Airborne Forces •  Soviet Night Witches •  Bomber Command Memories •  Abbreviations •  Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained •  USA Flygirls •  Axis Awards Descriptions •  'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination  •  Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis •  SOE Heroine Nancy Wake •  Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and Captain François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Andrew Mielnik: Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Polish graves: https://niebieskaeskadra.pl/, PoW Museum Żagań, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
Click any image to enlarge it

 Click to add your info via ticket on Helpdesk •Click to let us know via ticket on Helpdesk• Click to explore the entire site
If you would like to comment on this page, please do so via our Helpdesk. Use the Submit a Ticket option to send your comments. After review, our Editors will publish your comment below with your first name, but not your email address.

A word from the Editor: your contribution is important. We welcome your comments and information. Thanks in advance.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2026 Last Modified: 23 July 2025, 12:10

Monitor Additions/Changes?Click to be informed of changes to this page. Create account for first monitor only, thereafter very fast. Click to close without creating monitor