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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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142 Squadron Crest
19.05.1940 No. 142 Squadron Battle I L5226 QT-Q Sgt. Godsell

Operation: Laon France

Date: 19th May 1940

Unit: No. 142 Squadron

Type: Fairey Battle MkI

Serial: L5226

Code: QT-Q

Base: Faux-Villecerf

Location: Dagny-Lambercy, France

Pilot: Sgt. Alfred James Godsell 518260 RAF PoW No: 13109 Camp: Stalag Kopernikus - 357

Obs: Sgt. B.A. Hopgood 523148 RAF injured - confined in hospital due injuries and was repatriated 02nd February 1945 aboard 'Letitia'.

Air/Gnr: LAC. William Donald Boyle 618097 RAF Age 19. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

The aircraft had taken off from it's base at Faux-Villecerf on the 19th May to attack targets in the Laon area.

It is believed that during this attack that the aircraft was hit by ground fire and crashed near Dagny-Lambercy at 10:45 hrs.

Above: photographs taken by LAC William Boyle during an earlier ground attack operation from L5226.


Two of the crew survived and spent the rest of the war as PoW, LAC Boyle lost his life and now rests in Dagny-Lambercy Churchyard.

Burial details:

LAC. William D. Boyle. Dagny-Lambercy Churchyard. Son of William Darnell Boyle, and of Caroline Isabel Boyle, of Chippenham, Wiltshire.

Researched by Michel Beckers for Aircrew Remembered - March 2017. With thanks to Steve Barling for ground attack photographs and Pierre Vandervelden for grave photograph, others from the Michel Beckers collection.

MB 31.03.2017

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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 MWO 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', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, 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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