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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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502 squadron badge
23/24.11.1940 No 502 Squadron Whitley V P5090 YG-L Sgt. Barnfather

Operation: Convoy Escort

Date: 23/24th November 1940 (Saturday/Sunday)

Unit: No. 502 Squadron (Coastal Command)

Type: Whitley V

Serial: P5090

Code: YG-L

Base: RAF Limavady, Northern Ireland.

Location: Fathen Glinne, Balquidder, Stirlingshire

Pilot: Sgt. William John Barnfather 754627 RAFVR Age ? Killed

Pilot 2: Sgt. John James Westoby 741729 RAFVR Age 21. Killed

Obs: P/O. John Whitsed 758109 RAFVR Age ? Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. James Gerrard Curtis 943020 RAFVR Age 22. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt Jack Perfect 942632 RAFVR Age 19. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. William Stanley Hamilton RAFVR Survived/Injured

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off at 20.00 hrs from RAF Limavady on a convoy escort patrol over the Atlantic. 

The weather was extremely poor on the return trip and it would seem that they became lost. The aircraft eventually crashing into the hills of Balquidder, Stirlingshire.

                 

       

       

Crew graves at Grandsable (own photographs)

Burial details:

Sgt. William John Barnfather. Grandsable Cemetery. Sec. 1. Coll. Grave 12. Son of Thomas and Jane Barnfather; husband of Vera Barnfather, of Haltwhistle, Northumberland, England.

Sgt. John James Westoby. Grandsable Cemetery. Sec. 1. Coll. Grave 12. Son of John James and Ethel Theresa Westoby, England.

P/O. John Whitsed. Grandsable Cemetery. Sec. 1. Coll. Grave 12. No additional information as yet.

Sgt. James Gerrard Curtis. Grandsable Cemetery. Sec. 1. Coll. Grave 12. Son of James and Evelyn Curtis.

Sgt Jack Perfect. Grandsable Cemetery. Sec. 1. Coll. Grave 12. Son of Joseph Edward and Marjorie Perfect, of Wakefield, Yorkshire, England

Researched for relatives of the crew with thanks to Ross Mcneill - 'Coastal Command Losses', The Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

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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 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.
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