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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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RAF Crest

Operation: Ferry Flight

Date: 24th December 1940 (Tuesday - Christmas Eve)

Unit: No. HQ Service Ferry Pool. 41 Group

Type: Hurricane I

Serial: P3083

Code: -

Base: RAF Kemble, Gloucestershire

Location: Rodney Stoke, Somerset.

Pilot: F/O. John Warren Hamill 40909 RAF Age 24. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Assigned to ferry the Hurricane from 20 Maintenance Unit at Aston Down to 247 Squadron at Roborough near Plymouth in Devon.

Late in the morning was heard circling in cloud and rain over the Mendip Hills. The engine was heard to throttle back and then open up time and time again.

It is thought that the pilot was trying to make a landfall and when he saw the hills immediately in front he pulled up steeply, stalled and entered into a spin before crashing near the location shown.

Burial details:

F/O. John Warren Hamill. Wells Cemetery. Sec H Row D Grave 2. Born at Hamilton, Waikato on the 16th March 1916. Theatre manager of the Open House in Oamaru prior to service. Accepted for a short service commission in March 1938 and embarked on the RMS Rangitata for the UK on the 07th April 1938. Awarded his wings on the 16th May 1938. Son of John Edward and Ruth Myrtle Hamill (née Smith), of Rotorua, Auckland, New Zealand. 400 flying hours logged, a former Battle of Britain pilot.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to Jenifer Lemaire and to the extensive research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland Library Heritage Collection, AWMM, Weekly News of New Zealand, other sources as quoted below:

KTY 16-02-2021

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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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Last Modified: 25 March 2021, 21:09

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