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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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83 Squadron Crest
07/08.02.1945 83 Squadron Lancaster III PB181 OL-C Fl/Lt. Anthony Peter Weber


Operation: Ladbergen, Germany

Date: 7/8 February 1945 (Wednesday/Thursday

Unit: 83 Squadron - Motto: "Strike to Defend"

Squadron Badge: An attire, sable. The red deer's antler is in reference to the squadron's association with Scotland. The attire has six points commemorating an outstanding occasion in the First World War when six DFCs were awarded for one extremely valuable reconnaissance operation -successfully completed by six individuals in three aircraft during 14/15th June 1918. They were the only Allied aircraft in the air in weather which had grounded all others. The antler in black affords reference to night flying and the three top points stand for the crown of success met with by the squadron.

Type: Avro Lancaster III

Serial: PB181

Code: OL-C

Base: RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire

Location: Best, Noord Brabant, Netherlands

Pilot: Fl/Lt. Anthony Peter (Tony) Weber 109535 RAFVR Age 27 - Injured returned to unit (1)

Fl/Eng: Fl/Sgt. Gordon Summers 1851198 RAFVR Age 28 - Killed (2)

Nav: Fl/Sgt. Ernest Stanley (Stan) Thorn 1801024 RAFVR Age 21 - Killed (3)

Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. Gilbert Hugh Lonsdale 1487790 RAFVR Age 21 - Killed (4)

Air/Bmr: Fl/Sgt. John Dennis Lauther 1578136 RAFVR Age 21 - Killed (5)

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Lionel Frank Frederick Scull 1602122 RAFVR Age 22 - Killed (6)

Air/Gnr (MU): Fl/Sgt. Reginald John Harris (Reggie) Jackson 1853612 RAFVR - Killed (7)

Air/Gnr (R): Fl/Sgt James William (Jimmy) Stazaker 1149349 RAFVR Age 23 - Killed (8)



We appeal to anyone with further information and/or photographs to please contact us via our Helpdesk



In May 2021 Aircrew Remembered was contacted by Peter Weber, the son of Fl/Lt. Tony Weber. Peter kindly provided substantial personal information about his father which has now been incorporated into the original story of July 2020 by Roy Wilcock. Roy would like to thank Peter for his courtesy and patience in dealing with his many subsequent requests for further details.



INTRODUCTION

Tony Weber was born in 1918 at Wandsworth, London, into an affluent family with interests in the printing industry. They family lived at Westcliff-on-Sea, an ideal location given that the extended Weber family had, several years earlier, taken to sailing with Tony's great grandfather Louis (Ludwig) Weber, grandfather Major William Valentine Weber (later Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Essex), and his father Gustavus Weber all owning sizeable boats.

The Weber family motor yacht in the twenties, named ‘MUSME', a former Royal Navy motor launch, spent the summers in the UK (Burnham-on-Crouch/Cowes) and winters in the Med (Marseilles/Cannes). In the days before airline services, family members used to commute to and from the yacht on whatever passenger ships they could find which were going their way. Thus by the time he was 10 years old, Tony Weber was a seasoned seagoer, thus spawning a lifetime's enthusiasm for sailing.




Tony had his first flying lesson at Southend Flying Club on 19 October 1937, taking his certificate on an Avro Cadet - Genet Major 140 on 29 May 1938. His log book records that he made his last flight there on Saturday 26 August 1939 - 8 days later, war was declared on Germany.




The precise date that Tony joined the RAFVR is not known, but his log book reveals that by October 1939 he was undergoing Service Training at RAF Carlisle and later at RAF Little Rissington in Gloucestershire.

On completion of the course, in November 1940, he was posted to the Central Flying School at RAF Upavon in Wiltshire on an Instructors Course Cat. B, flying Tutors and Oxfords. Following graduation he was posted to 6 Service Flying Training School at Little Rissington instructing cat Q and A2, a post in which he remained until September 1942 during which time he attended a course at 1 Blind Approach School at RAF Watchfield, Oxfordshire and on 7 October 1941, 905315 Sgt. Anthony Peter Weber was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on probation (emergency) as promulgated in the London Gazette of 25 November 1941.

Tony's next posting was as an Instructor on Standard Beam Approach at 1517 Flight at RAF Wattisham in Suffolk, where, on 7 October 1942, he was promoted to Flying Officer on probation (war subs) (London Gazette 6 November 1942)

In May/June 1943 he was back at Little Rissington, instructing at 6 Advanced Flying Unit, following which he was posted once more to 7 Flying Instructor School RAF Upavon where he was now to instruct instructors.

On 7 October 1943 he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant (war subs) (London Gazette 13 October 1943).

By 1943, the success of pilot training and the better than expected operational losses resulted in a surfeit of trained pilots and consequently, a reduction in training numbers was deemed necessary. As a result, on January 1944 he was posted to 29 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RAF Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire for night bomber training on Wellingtons.

It was here that Tony's crew was formed according to the time honoured ritual of self-selection, somewhat imaginatively called 'crewing up'. His crew were all NCOs and all of them some five or six years his junior. The navigator, was erstwhile Junior Office Clerk, Stan Thorn, a 20 year old Cockney, from Brentwood, whilst air bomber John Lauther, also 20, was another Londoner, from Hendon. Frank Scull, a 21 year old Bristolian, was the wireless operator, and completing the crew was rear gunner Jimmy Stazaker, also 21, from Stone in Staffordshire. Jimmy had worked on a Poultry Farm before enlisting and was the only child of Postman James Stazaker and his wife Esther.

The five crew members were to spend the next six weeks or so at OTU, learning the rudiments of flying the Vickers Wellington bomber, including high level bombing, cross country and fighter affiliation etc., their training culminating in a Nickel Operation (leaflet dropping) to Lille in France on 22 March and the course finally concluding on 27 March.

Frank Scull is known to have married his fiancée Joyce Packer in the first quarter of 1944 and since a period of leave was usual after completing training at OTU it is possible that the nuptials were celebrated somewhere between 28 and 31 March.



The crew's next posting, in May 1944, was to 1660 Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Swinderby in Nottinghamshire for training on the four engine Stirling bomber, followed in July by a spell at No. 5 Lancaster Finishing School at RAF Syerston in Lincolnshire.

Four engine heavy bombers flew with a seven man crew so at Swinderby the crew was necessarily augmented by the addition of flight engineer Gordon Summers and air gunner Reggie Jackson. Gordon Summers was 28 and like Frank Scull a Bristolian and prior to enlisting had worked in the aircraft industry. Little is known of Reggie Jackson except that he was possibly born in the London area and had later been adopted by John Frederick and Alice May Jackson.

After completing Lancaster training at Syerston the crew were posted to 57 Squadron at RAF East Kirby in Lincolnshire on 13 July 1944 for operational flying.

A week after arriving at East Kirby, on the night of 20/21 July and in order to gain operational experience, Tony Weber was detailed to fly as second pilot, colloquially known as 2nd dickey, with Fl/Lt. O. Thomas and his crew on a raid to bomb the Courtrai Marshalling Yards. All went well and four nights later, 24/25 July, Anthony Weber had the privilege of leading his crew into battle, a raid on the oil storage tanks at Donges near St. Nazaire. All 8, 57 Squadron Lancasters despatched, returned safely.

The following night the crew was one of 12 detailed for an eight and a half hour round trip to bomb Stuttgart. They were part of a mixed force of 550 bombers despatched and although 12 failed to return none of the casualties were 57 Squadron aircraft.

On the night of 28/29 July they were off to Stuttgart again, one of 15 ordered from 57 Squadron as part of a force of 494 Lancasters and 2. Mosquitoes.

39 Lancasters failed to return and 57 Squadron did not get off lightly this time as two of their aircraft were among the losses.

Day raids on 30 July to Aunay sur Odon in support of military operations and on 31 July to Rilly-la-Montage, against a railway tunnel being used as a flying bomb store, brought the month to an end.

The first week of August saw the crew take part in 4 operations over France against flying bomb storage and installation sites, but flew no further operations until the night of 20/21 August, a gardening operation, i.e. laying mines, at Brest. Having to abort the operation with technical problems they returned early with their mines intact and were forced to land at RAF Predannack on the Lizard peninsular in Cornwall.

The aborted mining operation proved to be their last with 57 Squadron and on 25 August, having accepted an offer to join the Pathfinder Force (PFF), the crew was posted to the PFF Navigation Training Unit (NTU) at RAF Warboys in Huntingdonshire.

The crew joined 83 Squadron at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire on 6 September 1944 when the ORB recorded:

'The Squadron is graced by the presence of several new crews, which have started training in earnest, so we should soon be filling in those ugly gaps.'

They undertook their first training exercise, a cross country, on 8 September and in the days that followed, further exercises in fighter affiliation, special radar tests, high level bombing and standard beam approach air tests etc.

Gordon Summers is recorded as being ill from 13 September, not returning to duty until 25 September during which period the crew flew two operations with spare bod flight engineers: 19/20 September to Mönchengladbach and 23/24 September a raid on the Dortmund Ems Canal at Munster.

Operations resumed with Gordon as flight engineer and by the end of December the crew had undertaken a further 11 operations although one, on 10 December to the Urft Dam was recalled due to bad weather over the target. Frank Scull missed an operation to Brunswick on 14/15 October for reasons unknown, his place being taken by spare bod, Fl/Sgt. W. S. Wilson.

It was during this period that the Weber crew first flew Lancaster PB181 - on 4/5 December to Heilbronn and again two days later to Giessen.



The crew had successfully negotiated all operations so far and as 1944 gave way to 1945 the seven were surely hoping that their luck would hold whilst daring to contemplate an early end to the war.

New Year's Day brought a raid on the Gravenhorst Canal which they completed despite an unserviceable D/R (Distance Reading) Compass and starboard generator. Flying PB478, they were part of Flare Force III which on this occasion was not required and they duly returned with their load plus a flak hole in the port wing.

On 6 January Tony Weber captained a scratch crew to bomb Houffalize in Belgian Luxembourg. The following day, for a raid on Munich, it was almost back to normal except for Fl/Sgt. H. Ellis in the flight engineer's seat vice Gordon Summers and an additional air bomber in the shape of 21 year old Mancunian, Gilbert Lonsdale.

Snow prevented further operations until 13 January but the Weber crew were not required again until three days later on 16 January, when they were detailed for a raid on the synthetic oil plant at Brüx in Western Czechoslovakia. John Lauther did not fly on this operation, the two air bombers being Gilbert Lonsdale and Sqn Ldr. Brewer. All aircraft returned safely.

There were no further operations in January as snow once more hampered activities, although limited exercises were possible and the ORB records that on 19 January 'F/L. Weber passed out as a blind marker'.

Operations recommenced on 1 February but the Weber crew was not called upon until 7 February when the target was to be the Dortmund Ems Canal at Ladbergen in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: it was also Tony Weber's 27th birthday.

The ORB records that

'Knowledge of pending operations came early today, and most of the day was spent in getting the Squadron fighting fit, ready for the operation, which took place to the Dortmund Ems Canal: and from this operation F/L. Weber and crew failed to return.'

83 Squadron were to provide 2 crews as Primary Blind Markers, 4 crew as Flare Force 1, 3 crews as Flare Force 2 and 2 crews as Flare Force 3. The Weber crew was detailed as one of the a Flare Force 3 crews.




REASON FOR LOSS

Take off commenced at 2051 hours with PB181 third in line and away at 20.58. By 21.26 all were airborne and heading south towards Reading before turning slightly east to cross the south coast at Beachy Head.

As the bomber force, comprising 177 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitoes, made its way over France, Belgium and the Netherlands , cloud gradually thickened and by the time they reached the target area, was 9-9/10ths with tops 9-10000 feet.



The purpose of the attack was to nullify repair work being carried out damage inflicted by previous bombing raids. H hour was planned for 2349 and the first of the Primary Blind Markers of 83 Squadron bombed 1 minute early at 23.48.

However, the heavy cloud over the target hampered the marking and the later Bomber Command Night Raid Report records that:

'The master bomber assessed the markers as fairly accurate. Most crew bombed through cloud gaps, the rest attacking the glow. Results could not be observed owing to the presence of delay fusings.

Later reconnaissance

No damage was caused to the canal the craters being concentrated in the adjacent fields.'

It seems that Tony Weber and his crew in PB181 duly bombed the target and turned for home about midnight. At about 0030 hours Lancaster PB181 is thought to have collided with Lancaster ND961 of 97 Squadron, captained by Lt. Charles William McGregor 31794V SAAF, near Best (Noord-Brabant) in the Netherlands.

As a result of the collision the cockpit roof of PB181 was ripped off, Tony Weber thrown out, and briefly rendered unconscious. Coming to, he managed to deploy his parachute and landed about 4 miles North West of Eindhoven. He was the only member of either crew to survive, the other fifteen crew members perishing in the ensuing crashes, PB181 at Het Lisseven in Best and ND961 at Zandstraat in Son with wreckage being scattered over a wide area.



Tony's son, Peter Weber, was able to provide the following additional details of the incident and his father's escape from the stricken Lancaster.

From letters he sent to relatives of his dead crew members, he seemed convinced that they were hit from above by the other Lanc which was going the same way and descending. He remembered nothing else, waking up under the ‘chute.

Injuries sustained suggest he de-planed the hard way - up through the glass roof. Multiple shards of glass were embedded in his forehead, left wrist and hand when he was picked up by a bunch of Canadians. These guys were ace and quickly organised a ride back to the UK for him. He spent about six weeks in the military hospital at Wroughton [Wiltshire]. Allegedly, his dad (Gustavus) kept him supplied with crates of Guinness to hide under the bed.


Following investigations at the crash site by members of the RCAF and RAF the remains of all the crews were recovered and those of ND961 were all interred at Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery.

With regard to the remains of the Weber crew, Gordon Summers, Stan Thorn and Gilbert Lonsdale were buried at Nederweert War Cemetery, Limburg whilst those of John Lauther, Frank Scull, Reggie Jackson and Jimmy Stazaker were buried at Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands. However, it proved impossible for the remains of Frank Scull and Jimmy Stazaker to be individually identified so they were necessarily laid to rest in a joint grave.

On 8 February 2020, the 75th Anniversary of the crash, a monument in memory of the 15 airmen who lost their lives was unveiled in the grounds of the Wings of Liberation Museum situated between Best and Son at Sonseweg 39, 5681 BH Best, Netherlands.


TONY MAKES IT BACK

The precise date of Tony Weber's return to RAF Coningsby is not recorded in the Squadron ORB but on the night of 17/18 April 1945, he was back in action as captain of a scratch crew, one of 11 detailed for a raid on Cham.

'90 Lancasters and 11 Mosquitoes of 5 Group attacked the railway yards in this small town deep in south-eastern Germany. The attack was completely successful, with tacks torn up and rolling stock destroyed. No aircraft lost.' (Courtesy Middlebrook and Everitt's Bomber Command War Diaries)


Peter Weber continues:

Entries in his logbook show that he flew 24 hours in April 1945, all between the 10th and 19th but Cham on 17 April (8hrs 15 mins) is the only op recorded. All on Lancasters until 19 April when he flew Base - Leeming - Base (2hrs 45 mins) in an unnamed Airspeed Oxford.

May 1945 looks like it was quite busy too - another 21 hours on Lancasters and 3 in an Oxford. Entries on 8, 9 and 10 May all show EXODUS - RHEINE - DUNSFOLD. Operation Exodus was an Allied operation to repatriate Allied prisoners of war from Europe to Britain at the end of the war.

Flying tailed off a bit after that. June 1945, 16hrs; July, 14 hrs; August, 8 hrs; Sept, 6 hrs; Oct 4 hrs. November shows a 19 flying hour entry on the 6th TIBENHAM (Norfolk) - POMIGLIANO (Naples) - BARI -TIBENHAM - BASE with 20 passengers in Lancaster ‘F’. Hell of a duty day. Single pilot too. The CAA /FAA would go spare if we tried that these days!

December 1945, 2 hrs and January 1946, 9 hrs all on Lancasters.

He was finally demobilised in January 1946 but his flying days were far from over.


POST WAR PILOT

The continuing story of Tony Weber as recalled by his son Peter Weber

In 1946 Tony returned to work at the Punch & Ticket Co Ltd., the family printing business and his love of flying led him to renew his 'A' Licence in May 1948.

By the mid 1950s however, he was seeking a change of direction and chose a career in flying.

Following training for commercial flying at Southend Municipal Flying School his new career began in August 1956 with Air Charter Ltd as second officer on the Bristol 170 out of Southend and the Avro Tudor Super Trader IV out of Stanstead.

By October 1958 he was flying as First Officer on the Bristol 170 out of Southend and by June 1959 he was Captain.

By October 1960 he was also flying the DC4/Caravair out of Southend.

In 1959, Air Charter became part of the Airwork group and inn 1960, Airwork joined with Hunting-Clan to form British United Airways.

In May 1968 Tony began flying as Captain of BAC111/200 airliners out of Gatwick continuing until his retirement in 1973. .

Tony had flown 14000 hours during his flying career.

Australia. Where do we start?

Tony visited Australia several times as crew on the Avro Tudor and DC4 in the mid to late fifties. These were a series of military charters carrying all sorts of cargoes between Stansted and Adelaide: the Woomera and Christmas Island testing sites were active around then. Sometimes the payload was general stuff, in which case the route was planned east about, taking advantage of the many RAF stations where RR Merlin back-up was plentiful and willingly given. Occasionally, some of the load was marked SECRET* so the chaps had to go west about via Canada/USA. No attempt was made to 'slip’ crews down-route. They departed Stansted as a crew and all stayed together with the aeroplane until returning about a fortnight later. More than once, a crew member was required to sleep aboard for security reasons.

While delayed en-route for some reason, Tony spotted that one of the wooden crates did not have 'secret’ stamped on it. He and the engineer attacked it with a screwdriver - it contained a brand new Seagull outboard motor.

In the mid sixties, he and his wife Kathy paid some visits down under ‘on vacation’. I suspect that was when retirement plans were being discussed because while there, he 'bought a bit of dirt’ as the Aussies might say. High up on Mount Tambourine (around 2000’ AMSL [above mean sea level]) overlooking Surfers Paradise Queensland, it was quite a big site and had a burned out bungalow on it.

Moving forward, after retiring from BCAL in the summer of 1973, he and Kathy bought a Commer ‘Auto-Sleeper’ motor caravan and had it shipped from Liverpool to New York. They flew over to collect it and spent several months touring USA visiting friends and relatives. At LAX they loaded it onto another cargo ship and collected it again at Sydney NSW. After cruising around OZ for several months they decided to settle in Queensland and set about building a new bungalow on the mountain.

Ever the businessman, Tony planted a large quantity of avocados in the yard (field). A couple of years later, when these were just beginning to bear fruit, he accepted an offer too good to refuse and they moved down to the coast, to a delightful little place called Paradise Point. Another building project but with lots of unrestricted river/canal frontage, it offered magnificent boating possibilities of which he and Kathy soon took advantage. They lived there until passing away, Kathy in 2001 and Tony in 2003.







BIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS OF THE CREW



(1) Fl/Lt. Anthony Peter Weber was born on 7 February 1918 at Wandsworth, London the son of Gustavus Ernest Weber (a Company Director) and Freda Elise Weber nee Carle. He had two siblings, Patricia V. Weber born 1925 and William G. Weber born 1928

In 1939 he married Ivy Kathleen Lintott at Southend on Sea and afterwards lived at 82 Burnham Road, Leigh on Sea. At that time Anthony Weber was the Manager of a Printing Works. The couple went on to have three children together, Nanette L. Weber born at Newton Abbot, Devon in 1940, Peter V. Weber born at Hammersmith, London in 1942, Anthony A. Weber born at Southend, Essex in 1946 and Suzanne L. Weber born at Southend, Essex in 1946

905315 Sgt. Anthony Peter Weber was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on probation (emergency) on 7 October 1941 (London Gazette 25 November 1941). He was promoted to Flying Officer on probation (war subs) on 1 October 1942 (London Gazette 6 November 1942 and further promoted to Flight Lieutenant (war subs) on 7 October 1943 (London Gazette 15 October 1943)

Anthony Peter Weber died on 29 July 2003 aged 85 At Southport, Queensland, Australia



(2) Fl/Sgt. Gordon (B) Summers was born on 19 October 1916 at Bristol, the son of Arthur Summers (an Aluminium Press Stamp Operator) and Estella Summers nee Bessant. He had one sibling Dennis A. Summers born 1932.

In 1939 the family lived at Pendennis Road Mangotsfield Bristol.

Prior to joining the air force Gordon Summers was employed as an Aircraft ... (further details illegible in record)

In 1941 he married Doris E. Brown at Bristol.


(3) Fl/Sgt. Ernest Stanley Thorn was born on 19 August 1923 at Hackney, London the son of Ernest Thomas Thorn (a Despatch Manager - Drapery Store) and Ellen Thorn nee Chapman of Harringay, Middlesex. He had one sibling: Edith May Thorn born 1915.

In 1939 Ernest Stanley Thorn was a Junior Office Clerk and lived at Belle Vue, Hanging Hill Lane, Brentwood, Essex.


(4) Fl/Sgt. Gilbert Hugh Lonsdale was born in 1923 at Chorlton, Lancashire the son of Henry Hugh Lonsdale (a Draughtsman) and Edith Lonsdale nee Jones. He had one sibling: Edith Dorothy Lonsdale born 1917.

In 1939 his parents lived at 61 Wellington Road Fallowfield, Manchester.


(5) Fl/Sgt. John Dennis Lauther was born in 1923 at Hendon, London the son of William Anderson Lauther (a Commercial Manager) and Irene Beatrice Lauther nee McDowell. He had two siblings: Muriel Grace Lauther born 1920 and William E. Lauther born 1924.

In 1939 the family lived at Church Street, Willingdon, Sussex and later at 5 Rush-out Avenue, Kenton, Harrow in Middlesex.



(6) Fl/Sgt. Lionel Frank Frederick Scull was born in 1922 at Bristol the son of Frank Scull (a Newsagent Salesman) and Evelyn R. Scull nee Bird. He had three siblings: Jean E. Scull born 1930, Brian J. Scull born 1931 and Robert S. Scull born 1939

In 1939 the family lived at 18 Hanover Street Bristol

He married Joyce Packer at Bristol in 1944 and they had a daughter, Lorraine Joyce Scull (1944-1999)









(7) Fl/Sgt. Reginald John Harris Jackson - if tyou have any information please contact our helpdesk




(8) Fl/Sgt James William Stazaker was born in 1922 at Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire the only child of James William (a Postman) Stazaker and Esther Stazaker nee Mason.

Prior to enlisting he was employed by Shell's Poultry Farm at Tittensor.

He enlisted in the RAFVR in 1941

In 1939 the family lived at Boat Yard Cottages, Stone and later at Barlaston, Staffordshire.












BURIAL DETAILS, MEMORIALS AND EPITAPHS




(2) Fl/Sgt. Gordon Summers was buried at Nederweert War Cemetery, Limburg, Netherlands - Grave ref: I.F.7.

No epitaph


(3) Fl/Sgt. Ernest Stanley Thorn was buried at Nederweert War Cemetery, Limburg, Netherlands - Grave ref: I.F.5.

His epitaph reads:

God has willed

We walk without you

For a little while,

Stan. darling


(4) Fl/Sgt. Gilbert Hugh Lonsdale was buried at Nederweert War Cemetery, Limburg, Netherlands - Grave ref: I.F.6.

His epitaph reads:

We dreamed great things

For you

God intervened

And so our dream came true


(5) Fl/Sgt. John Dennis Lauther was buried at Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands - Grave ref: Plot RR. Grave 24

His epitaph reads:

Proud

And happy memories, John


(6) Fl/Sgt. Lionel Frank Frederick Scull was buried at Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands - Grave ref: Plot RR. Joint Grave 82


(7) Fl/Sgt. Reginald John Harris Jackson was buried at Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands - Grave ref: Plot RR. Grave 81


(8) Fl/Sgt. James William Stazaker was buried at Eindhoven (Woensel) General Cemetery, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands - Grave ref: Plot RR. Joint Grave 82

His epitaph reads

Memories

Of our dear son Jimmy

May we be worthy

Of his supreme sacrifice





Researched by Aircrew Remembered researcher Roy Wilcock for Philip Hurd, cousin of Frank Scull, Peter Weber, son of Fl/Lt. Tony Weber and all the relatives and friends of the members of this crew - July 2020

With thanks to the sources quoted below.


RW 24.07.2020

RW 18.06.2021 - Substantial further information and photographs added - courtesy Peter Weber.

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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', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, 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.
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