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.
raf crest
26.04.1941 No. 54 O.T.U. Defiant I N1568 Sgt. Crozier

Operation: Night flying exercise.

Date: 26th April 1941

Unit: No. 54 O.T.U. (Operational Training Unit)

Type: Boulton Paul Defiant I

Serial. N1568

Code: ?

Base: R.A.F. Church Fenton

Location: Thorp Arch, near Wetherby, Yorkshire.

Pilot: Sgt. Frederick Charles Eric Crozier 908262R.A.F.V.R. Age 20.  Killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. George Bell 802438 R.A.F. Age 29.  Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from R.A.F. Church Fenton at 01.00 hrs. Shortly afterwards at 02.00 hrs they were involved in combat with a Ju 88 night fighter flown by Lt Pfeiffer of NJG2. 

During evasive action at low level, the Defiant hit a tree, crashed and exploded killing both airmen instantly. 

            

Fl/Sgt George Bell with letter to his family (reproduced for web page)

                                          

A memorial plaque dedicated to the two fallen on the 29.04.2007 can be found at Thorp Arch Church. It was erected by the brother of the pilot and the family of Fl/Sgt. Bell on April 29th 2007.

Burial detail:

Sgt.Frederick Charles Eric Crozier. Standon (St.Mary) Churchyard. Son of Frederick William and Adelaide Bertha Crozier, of Standon, England.

Fl/Sgt. George Bell. Paisley (Hawkshead) Cemetery. Sec. S. Grave 1222. Son of Daniel and Charlotte Bell, of Paisley; husband of Mary Bell (nee Lawe), of Paisley, Scotland.

With thanks to the C.W.G.C.

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: 02 July 2019, 13:41

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