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
11.10.1941 No. 12 FTS Airspeed Oxford AB767 Sgt. Thomas D. Graham

Operation: Pilot training

Date: 11th October 1941 (Saturday)

Unit: 12 FTS (Flying Training School)

Type: Airspeed Oxford II

Serial: AB767

Base: RAF Spittlegate (Grantham)

Location: Dysart Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire

Pilot: Sgt. Thomas Daye Graham 1101590 RAFVR Age 19. Killed

Pilot U/T: Cpl. Samuel John Edwards 655962 RAF Age 29. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

On a pilot training flight (night) from RAF Spittlegate, Grantham. During the flight, a Ju88C-4 flown by Fw. Hans Hahn started to attack the unarmed Oxford.

Bringing his aircraft into an attack position, he either misjudged his distance, or the crew of the Oxford tried a manoeuvre to escape the attack. He collided with AB767 - both aircraft crashed, killing both the crews. The Ju-88C ‘R4+NL’ (Wn: 0851) crashed near the village of Barrowby, with the Oxford crashing on Dysart Road, in Grantham.

Fw. Hans Hahn was an ace at this time with a total of 12 abschüsse.

The other two crew members were also killed in the crash, Unteroffizier Ernst Wilhelm Meissler and Unteroffizier Helmuth Scheidt.

Right: Luftwaffe ace Fw. Hans Hahn (courtesy Tom Kracker) See Kracker Archive on this site.

Burial details:

Sgt. Thomas Daye Graham. New Kilpatrick Cemetery. Sec D. Grave 507. Son of John and Elizabeth Graham, of Bearsden, Glasgow, Scotland.

Cpl. Samuel John Edwards. Downend Christ Churchyard. Son of Edward Gray Edwards and Lily Maud Edwards, husband of Vera Edwards, of Fishponds, Bristol, England.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Mark Hudson for grave photo and bringing this loss to our attention. Also to Scottish War Graves for photograph of the grave of the pilot. Tom Kracker - 'Kracker Luftwaffe Archives'. Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

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 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.
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 - 2024 Last Modified: 24 February 2021, 19:14

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