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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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Glider Pilot Regiment
04.04.1944 Glider Pilot Regiment A.A.C. 2nd Wing Airspeed Horsa I LG999 Lieutenant Eastman

Mission: Training Exercise

Date: 4th April 1944 (Tuesday)

Unit: Glider Pilot Regiment Army Air Corps. 2nd Wing

Type: Airspeed Horsa I

Serial: LG999

Code: ?

Base: RAF Keevil, Trowbridge, Wiltshire

Location: Warnford, Hampshire

Pilot: Staff Sergeant Henry Thomas Joel. 2058248. The Glider Pilot Regiment. Age 22. Killed

Pilot: Sergeant William Geoffrey Walker. 2581834. The Glider Pilot Regiment. Age 24. Killed

Passengers:

All the passengers served with No. 3 Platoon 'A' Company, 7th (Airborne) Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers.

Lieutenant Leslie Albert Eastman. 284937. Age 26. Killed
Lance Sergeant Henry James V. Read. 4751147. Age 27. Killed
Lance Corporal David Provan. 14213409. Age 29. Killed
Lance Corporal John Murdoch Dirom. 3189248. Age 22. Killed
Lance Corporal Roy Murray Stewart. 3056450. Age 37. Killed
Corporal Robert Fowler Foley. 3193060. Age 24. Killed
Corporal Thomas MacGregor. 3187776. Age 28. Killed
Private Benjamin Philip Bamforth. 14351878. Age 20. Killed
Private William Henry Battye. 4613955. Age 25. Killed
Private George Frederick Jones. 14377951. Age 34. Killed
Private William Love. 3314631. Age 23. Killed
Private Joseph Lucas. 4751048. Age 27. Killed
Private George Mole. 14620742. Age 18. Killed
Private Charles Myles. 991164. Age 28. Killed
Private William McMillan. 14210673. Age 37. Killed
Private Thomas McNamara. 14211483. Age 21. Killed
Private William McWhirter. 3190876. Age 22. Killed
Private James Ramsay MacPherson. 14211484. Age 21. Killed
Private John Park. 14202004. Age 21. Killed
Private Thomas Harper Reid. Age 26. Killed
Private Frank Stapleton. 5571917. Age 24. Killed
Private John William Steel. 3323987. Age 29. Killed
Private Robert Donald Wells. 1645311. Age ? Killed
Private Kenneth William Scott-Browne. 14645622. Age 23. Killed



Left to Right: S/Sgt. Joel, L/Cpl Dirom, Pte. Bamforth (Courtesy Hugh Waterhouse)

Pte. Stapleton

Burial details:

(Left) Pilot: Staff Sergeant Henry Thomas Joel. Great Burstead (St. Mary Magdalene) Churchyard, Essex. Grave 969. Son of William Henry and Dorothy Joel of Billericay

Sergeant William Geoffrey Walker. Liverpool (Anfield) Cemetery, Lancashire. Sec. 3. C. of E. Grave 883. Son of William Edgar and Annie Walker of Liverpool

Lieutenant Leslie Albert Eastman. Bristol (Greenbank) Cemetery, Gloucestershire. Screen Wall. TT. 542. Son of Albert Edward and Ethel Ada Eastman of Fishponds, Bristol
Lance Sergeant Henry James V. Read. Tottenham Cemetery, Middlesex. Risley Sec. Grave 1333. Son of James Arthur and Mary Jane Read of Tottenham. Husband of Kathleen Agnes Read of Stepney, London
Lance Corporal David Provan. Larbert Cemetery, Stirlingshire. Sec. 1. Grave 250. Son of Thomas Provan and of Margaret Penman Provan of Falkirk
Lance Corporal John Murdoch Dirom. Lowestoft (Kirkley) Cemetery, Suffolk. Sec. K. Grave 203. Son of John and Agnes Murdoch. Husband of Joyce Mary Key Dirom of Pakefield
Lance Corporal Roy Murray Stewart. Colinton Parish Churchyard, Southern Extension. Sec. T. Grave 16. Son of John and Georgina M. C. Stewart of Edinburgh. Husband of Helen Smith Rankine Stewart of Kelty, Fife
Corporal Robert Fowler Foley. Edinburgh (Saughton) Cemetery. Sec. G. Grave 268. Son of I. Foley and Agnes Fowler Foley of Edinburgh
Corporal Thomas MacGregor. Nairn Cemetery. Nairnshire. Sec. D7. Grave 369. Son of Murdo and Agnes MacGregor of Nairn

Private Benjamin Philip Bamforth. Walkley (St. Mary) Church Cemetery, Yorkshire. Son of Ben and Minnie Bamforth of Walkley, Sheffield. Husband of Edna May Bamforth of Sheffield
Private William Henry Battye. Wakefield Cemetery, Yorkshire. Sec. C. Grave 1141. Husband of Elizabeth Ann Battye of Flushdyke, Ossett
Private George Frederick Jones. Durrington Cemetery, Wiltshire. Grave 786. Son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Jones. Husband of E. M. Jones of Broad Clyst, Devon
Private William Love. Glasgow (Cardonald) Cemetery. Sec. A. Grave 1634. Son of James McDowall Love and Margaret Gilmour Love of Glasgow. Husband of Annie Martin Love of Glasgow
Private Joseph Lucas. Durrington Cemetery, Wiltshire. Grave 785. Son of Charles and Sarah Lucas
Private George Mole. Durrington Cemetery, Wiltshire. Grave 787. Son of William Frederick and Janet Campbell Berry Mole of Glasgow

Private Charles Myles. Edinburgh (Seafield) Cemetery. Sec. P. Grave 326. Son of Charles and Wilhelmina Myles of Leith, Edinburgh
Private William McMillan. St. Ninians (Bannockburn) Parish Burial Ground, Stirlingshire. Compt. C. 21. Grave 1. Son of Alexander and Jane McMillan. Husband of Mary McMillan of Cowie
Private Thomas McNamara. Dundee Eastern Necropolis. Sec. D. D. Grave 367. Son of William and Margaret McNamara of Dundee
Private William McWhirter. Ruthwell Parish Churchyard, Dumfriesshire. North Extn. Lair 93. Son of Charles and Jemima McWhirter of Ruthwell
Private James Ramsay MacPherson. St. Andrews Eastern Cemetery, Fifeshire. Sec. S. Grave 17. Son of James Ramsay MacPherson and Jessie Davidson MacPherson of St. Andrews
Private John Park. Blackburn Cemetery, Lancashire. Sec. C. R. C. Grave 1680. Son of John and Agnes Park of Blackburn
Private Thomas Happer Reid. Dumfries (St. Michael's) Cemetery. Sec. 14. Grave 6. Son of John Craig Reid and Agnes Adrian Reid of Dumfries



Graves of 3 members of King's Own Scottish Borders buried at Durrington Cemetery, Wiltshire (courtesy Cathy Sedgwick - February 2016)

Private Frank Stapleton. Bexley Heath Cemetery, Kent. Sec. E. Grave 435. Son of George and Ellen Stapleton of Bexleyheath
Private John William Steel. Sunderland (Southwick) Cemetery, Durham. Sec. U. Grave 9915. Son of James and Eliza Steel of Southwick, Sunderland
Private Robert Donald Wells. Mangotsfield (Downend) Cemetery. Sec. D. Grave 933. Son of William Henry and Muriel Evelyn Wells. Husband of Joan Elizabeth Wells of Kingswood, Bristol
Private Kenneth William Scott-Browne. Swindon (Radnor Street) Cemetery. Plot. C. Grave 4251. Son of Kenneth and Evelyn Scott-Browne. Husband of Elsie Scott-Browne of Swindon

Researched by Kate Tame OF Aircrew Remembered and for all the relatives of the crew. Acknowledgements: Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Find a Grave, Airborne Assault ParaData, Australian War Museum

RS 28.02.2020 - Inclusion of grave marker for Pte. Bamforth

Pages of Outstanding Interest
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CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained •  USA Flygirls •  Axis Awards Descriptions •  'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
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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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