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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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No. 50 Squadron
21.01.1942 No. 50 Squadron Hampden I AE381 VN-? Sgt. Heron

Operation: Night Cross Country Training Exercise

Date: 21st January 1942 (Wednesday)

Unit: No. 50 Squadron

Type: Handley Page Hampden I

Serial: AE381

Code: VN-?

Base: RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire

Location: Cluther Rocks, Kinder Scout, Derbyshire

Pilot: Sgt. Royal George Heron AUS/404820 RAAF Age 25. Killed

Nav: Sgt. Walter Chantler Williams AUS/407487 RAAF Age 33. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Sydney Albert Peters 1375369 RAFVR Age ? Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. William Thomas Tromans 1152528 RAFVR Age 29. Killed
 
REASON FOR LOSS:

Hampton AE381 took off from RAF Skellingthorpe for a non operational night training exercise. It was a dark night and the weather was extremely poor. 

The aircraft attempted a landing at RAF Ringway but failed and crashed at 20.38hrs at Cluther Rocks on Kinder Scout, Derbyshire.

       

      No. 50 Squadron Hampden 1942                                                                         R.A.F. Skellingthorpe 

                    

                 Sgt. Peters headstone.                                       No 7 Service Training School, McLeod, Alberta. LAC R. G. Heron 5th left 

Burial details:

Sgt. Royal George Heron. Manchester Southern Cemetery. Sec. Q. Grave 204. Sgt. Heron was buried at 10.30am on the 28th January 1942. Son of James and Eva Fanny Heron of Silent Grove, Queensland, Australia. Royal (Roy) was born on 2nd March 1916 in Sarina, Mackay, Queensland. He enlisted on the 6th December 1940 in Brisbane and gained his wings at No. 7 Service Flying Training School, McLeod, Alberta. He is remembered on the Calen Memorial Hall Memorial. Royal's brother James Lee Heron 43825 also served in the R.A.A.F. He survived the war and died 23rd October 2000

Sgt. Walter Chantler Williams. South Shields (Harton) Cemetery, Durham. Sec. K. Grave 4037. Son of John Henry and Lena Williams. Husband of Constance Bertha Williams of Hazlewood Park, South Australia. Walter was born on the 29th November 1908 in South Shields, Durham. He married on 29 April 1933 in Kent Town, South Australia and enlisted in Adelaide on the 12th October 1940. Walter had previously served with the 10th Batn. Comp from 1922 -1929. Walter arrived in Liverpool, UK on the 2nd September 1941 with 13 other R.A.A.F. service personnel

Sgt. Sydney Albert Peters. West Wickham (St. John the Baptist) Churchyard, Kent. At the time of his death Sydney's address was 85 Wickham Chase, West Wickham, Kent. No further details as yet

Sgt. William Thomas Tromans. Cradley Heath (St. Luke) Churchyard. Staffordshire. Spec. Memorial. (Family Headstone). Son of Thomas and Emmie Tromans of Old Hill, Rowley Regis

Researched by: Kate Tame Aircrew Remembered and for all the relatives of the crew

Acknowledgements: W.R. Chorley Bomber Command Losses 1942, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Australian National Archives, Find a Grave, Imperial War Museum, Australian War Museum, Glen Hall of Mackey Historical Society and Museum

Pages of Outstanding Interest
History Airborne Forces •  Soviet Night Witches •  Bomber Command Memories •  Abbreviations •  Gardening Codenames
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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 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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