Operation: Lorient

Date: 15/16th January 1943 (Friday/Saturday)

Unit: No. 427 Squadron

Type: Wellington III

Serial: BK364

Code: ZL-G

Base: RAF Croft, Yorkshire

Location: Target area, France

Pilot: Sq/Ldr. Mark Arthur Letherington Williams 40584 RAFVR Age ? Killed

Obs: P/O. Edgar Richard Charlesworth 126892 RAFVR Age 32. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: P/O. Alfred Raymond Eckton 127283 RAFVR Age 21. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Henry Duncan Munro 1381934 RAFVR Age 22. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Walter Henry Pates 1152080 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from RAF Croft in Yorkshire at 17:02 hrs to bomb the U-Boat base in the French port - the second day running that this target had been hit. The bombing this night was far more accurate than the previous one with over 800 buildings destroyed - most of the inhabitants had fled the town after the first operation.

No details on how this Wellington was shot down, but thought to have been in the target area.

Crew graves - taken by our Kate Tame and available to relatives at a higher resolution free of charge.

Burial details:

Sq/Ldr. Mark Arthur Letherington Williams. Guidel Communal Cemetery. Row 2. Collective grave 15-18. Son of Graham Morgan Letherington and Mary Gwynne Williams of Westminster, London, England.

P/O. Edgar Richard Charlesworth. Guidel Communal Cemetery. Row 2. Collective grave 15-18. Son of Percy and Sarah Charlesworth of Meliden, Flintshire, Wales. Edgar was training to be an accountant prior to service. Formerly a Captain in the Kings Regiment, Liverpool before joining the RAF.

P/O. Alfred Raymond Eckton. Guidel Communal Cemetery. Row 2. Collective grave 15-18. Son of Alfred Walter Eckton and Edith Maud Eckton, of Longfleet, Poole, Dorsetshire, England.

Sgt. Henry Duncan Munro. Guidel Communal Cemetery. Row 2. Collective grave 15-18. Son of Henry and Kate Munro and husband of Dorothy L. Munro of Tottenham, Middlesex, England. Grave inscription reads: “We Grieve To Part With Those We Love May We One Day Meet Above With No Doubt Or Fear.”

Sgt. Walter Henry Pates. Guidel Communal Cemetery. Row 2. Grave 14. Son of Walter and Dorothy Pates of Manor Park, Slough, Buckinghamshire, England. Grave inscription reads: “ He That Over Cometh Shall Inherit All Things I Will Be His God And He Shall Be My Son.”

Researched for Aircrew Remembered by Linda Ibrom - June 2017. Photographs and information on P/O. Charlesworth to his nephew, Alan R. Charlesworth