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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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74 Squadron Crest
02.02.1945 No. 74 Squadron Spitfire PV291 4D-P Fl/Lt. Hardman

Operation: Attack on HQ

Date: 02nd February 1945 (Friday)

Unit: No. 74 Squadron. 145 Wing. 84 Group. (motto 'Fear No Man')

Type: Spitfire LF.IX

Serial: PV291

Code: 4D-P

Base: B70 - Deurne, Belgium

Location: Geldermalsen, Netherlands

Pilot: Fl/Lt. Frank Hardman NZ/414285 RNZAF Age 26. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off with five others from the squadron to bomb a German army headquarters west of Zaltbomml at 09:35 hrs.

Over the target Fl/Lt. Hardman was hit by the first burst of anti-aircraft fire and crashed just north of the bank of the river Waal, Buried locally by the Dutch and then reinterred after the end of the war.

Burial details:

Fl/Lt. Frank Hardman. Wadenoijen Protestant Churchyard Plot 1. Row A. Grave 2. Born on the 13th October 1918 at Auckland, the son of Ernest and Mary Alice Hardman, of Epsom, Auckland, New Zealand. Prior to service a Tailor cutter for Dominion Clothing Company. A total of 862 flying hours logged and having completed 55 operational sorties.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Weekly News of New Zealand, other sources as quoted below:

KTY 07.08.2019

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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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