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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.

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602 squadron
602 Squadron Spitfire IX ML252 F/O. Kelly loss over Normandy

Operation: Patrol

Date: 4th July 1944 (Tuesday)

Unit: No.602 Squadron

Type: Supermarine Spitfire IX

Serial: ML252

Location: Normandy area, France.

Pilot: F/O. James William Kelly 169438 RAVR Age 21. Killed 

REASON FOR LOSS: 

This aircraft failed to return from patrol in the Normandy area - cause not known. Although claims were made by both JG54 and JG26.

  Left: A german sentry stands by the wreck of James's Spitfire, his original burial plot next to his aircraft. (courtesy Bundesarchiv) With insert of memorial described below (courtesy Kate Tame)


        


Memorial dedicated to James Kelly located in Deadmans Copse, Portsdown Hill, near Portsmouth, Hants. (Kate Tame)


The memorial is on the Crookhorn Golf course and permission should be sought from the clubhouse prior to visit.





Burial detail: Banneville-la-Campagne War Cemetery, Calvados, France. Grave: XVII. A. 11. Son of Ronald and Eva May Kelly, of Purbrook, Hampshire, England.

Researched by Aircrew Remembered, researcher and specialist genealogist Kate Tame and dedicated to relatives of this pilot.

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 MWO 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', Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', 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.
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