Operation: R.D.F. Enemy Investigation



Date: 30/31st August 1943 (Monday/Tuesday)



Unit: No. 162 Squadron



Type: Wellington 1C



Serial No: HF835


Base: RAF LG-91 (El-Iman, Egypt) / LG-139 (Gambut, Libya) (1)



Location: Mediterranean Sea - near Corfu.



Pilot: Fl/Lt. John Mario Joseph Fryer 60765 RAFVR Age 29. Killed


Pilot 2: F/O. Victor Patterson Upton 126669 RAFVR Age 28. Missing


Specialist Op: F/O. John Lloyd Shattock 134520 RAFVR Age 24. Missing

Air/Bmr: Sgt. Ronald Douglas Botting 1334434 RAFVR Age 20. Missing


W/Op/Air/Gnr: W/O.1 Ivor James Burkitt R/81477 RCAF Age 21. Missing


W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Cyril Mitchell Veale RAFVR 1334963 Age 21. Killed



W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. James Williamson Stuart Anderson RAFVR 1552291 Age 22. Missing



Air/Gnr: Sgt. George Ross Ford 1332763 RAFVR Age 21. Missing


(Crew positions not confirmed - are you able to assist?)

Reason For Loss:

Moved from L.G-91 (1) at 14.00 hrs. landing at LG-139, R.A.F. Gambut at 16.30 hrs. ready for the planned operation over Corfu later that day. Took off from RAF Gambut at 19.43 hrs. The operation was described as R.D.F. (2) enemy investigation.

Above and below, what is though to show some of the members of the crew. Sgt Veale is shown in upper photograph, rear row, middle. (courtesy Peter Mudie and his wife)

Sgt. Veale and right the commemorative scroll. (courtesy Peter Mudie and his wife)

No 162 Squadron was formed at Kabrit, Egypt, on 4th January 1942, and was primarily employed on radio jamming and bomber support in the Middle East and Levant using, in the main, Wellington aircraft before being disbanded on 25th September 1944.

(1) L.G. - Landing Ground. LG-91 being 40 miles east of Alamein and 15/20 miles south of Alexandria near El-Iman. L.G-139 being Gambut.
(2) R.D.F. - Radio Direction Finding.

The Air Force panels at the Alamein Memorial commemorate more than 3,000 airman of the commonwealth as missing. At the El Alamein War Cemetery, 815 are buried as unknown.


Fl/Lt. John Mario Joseph Fryer. El Alamein War Cemetery. Grave XXVIII.J.4. Son of Hilary and Winifred Fryer, husband of Doris Fryer, of Wimbledon, Surrey.

F/O. Victor Patterson Upton. Alamein Memorial. Column 269. Further information: Son of Percival Harry and Edith Eleanor Upton, husband of Mavis Mary Upton, of Barnehurst, Kent, England. B.A., Hons. His brother, Lt. Godfrey Lewis Upton, serving with the 5th Btn. Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment also fell (between 03rd/04th September 1942) - buried at the El Alamein War Cemetery. Grave XX.B.11-13.

F/O. John Lloyd Shattock. Alamein Memorial. Column 269. Further information: Son of Harold and Nancy Shattock, of Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex, England. Born in London on 25th January 1919, remaining there until 1934, when the family moved to Letchworth. Pre-war he worked in the research section of the Post Office and on the day he was lost was acting as Special Wireless Operator on a search for enemy radar (RDF).

Sgt. Ronald Douglas Botting. Alamein Memorial. Column 270. Son of William George and Elsie Botting, of Wallington, Surrey, England.

W/O.1 Ivor James Burkitt. Alamein Memorial. Column 272. From New Denver, British Columbia, Canada. NoK details currently not available - are you able to assist completion of these and any other information?

Sgt. Cyril Mitchell Veale. El Alamein War Cemetery. Grave XXIX.J.22. Further information: Adopted son of George and Elizabeth Veale (née Evans), of Cwmpark, Treorchy, Glamorgan, Wales. Born in 1922.

Sgt. James Williamson Stuart Anderson. El Alamein War Cemetery. Grave XXIX.J.14. Son of Alexander and Mary Dalrymple Stuart Anderson, of Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland.

Sgt. George Ross Ford. Alamein Memorial. Column 270. Son of Edwin William and Mary Ford, of Colchester, Essex, England.

Photographs and information kindly submitted by Peter Mudie on behalf of his wife, niece of Sgt. Cyril Mitchell Veale. Special thanks to John Rees for additional information on F/O. Sharrock - May 2016.

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