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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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10 Squadron Crest
28/29.06.1944 No. 10 Squadron Halifax LW717 ZA-W P/O. Martin Livesey

Operation: Blainville

Date: 28/29th June 1944 (Wednesday/Thursday)

Unit: No. 10 Squadron

Type: Halifax III

Serial: LW717

Code: ZA-W

Base: RAF Melbourne, Yorkshire

Location: Near Feigneux, France

Pilot: P/O. Martin Livesey 175822 RAFVR Age 23. Killed

Fl/Eng: Sgt. John Randolph Sissons 1622340 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

Nav: Fl/Sgt. Alfred Gordon Rhodes 1585767 RAFVR Age ? Killed

Air/Bmr: P/O. Thomas Govan Evans J/86832 RCAF Age 21. Killed (1)

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. Leonard William Hughes 1442941 RAFVR Age 22. Killed

Air/Gnr: Fl/Sgt. William Tudberry AUS/429161 RAAF Age 20. Killed

Air/Gnr: Sgt. Kenneth Ernest Chandler 1162631 RAFVR Age 24. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Leaving RAF Melbourne at 22:13 hrs. part of a group made up of 202 Halifaxes and a further 28 Pathfinder Lancasters to attack railway yards at both Blainville and Metz. Both targets were hit.

Crew L-R: Fl/Sgt. Alfred Gordon "Dusty" Rhodes, Fl/Sgt. William Tudberry, Sgt. Kenneth Ernest Chandler, P/O. Martin Livesey, P/O. Thomas Govan "Dusty" Evans, Fl/Sgt. Leonard William Hughes, Sgt. John Randolph Sissons. (courtesy Trevor Hughes nephew of Fl/Sgt. Leonard Hughes) Front ground crew - no names available as yet.

Possibly shot down by Uffz. Heinz Siebert (2) of 2./NJG5 at 00.40 hrs. crashing near Feigneux (Oise), 5km NE of Crepy-en-Valois.

Pentney War Memorial Stone (courtesy Ken Kemp)

Sgt Robert Reginald Kemp also shown on this stone was killed when the Wellington LN660 KJ-O from 11 OTU that he was a member of the crew collided with a 90 Squadron Stirling III EH989 WP-P. All 15 crew members from both aircraft were killed. Also shown 24 year old Pte. Kenneth Thomas William Towler 7612920 of the RAOC attached to the Royal Horse Artillery.


(1) Evans Hill north of Shannon Lake renamed after P/O. Thomas Govan Evans in 1995


(2) The first of 10 claims by Uffz. Siebert, survived the war despite being wounded on the 16th March 1945 in a crash landing at Bayreuth returning from an operation. No further details of what happened to him after this. (See Kracker Archive on this site)

Burial details:

P/O. Martin Livesey. Feigneux Communal Cemetery. Grave Mil.row G.1. From Barnsley, Yorkshire, England. Next of kin details not available - can you assist?

Fl/Eng: Sgt. John Randolph Sissons. Feigneux Communal Cemetery. Grave Mil. row G.2. Son of George Randolph and Winifred Margaret Sissons of Hull, England.

Fl/Sgt. Alfred Gordon Rhodes. Feigneux Communal Cemetery. Grave Mil. row G.3. Next of kin details not available - can you assist?

P/O. Thomas Govan Evans. Feigneux Communal Cemetery. Grave Mil. row G.6. From Winnipeg, Mantitoba, Canada. Next of kin details not available - can you assist?

Fl/Sgt. Leonard William Hughes. Feigneux Communal Cemetery. Grave Mil. row G.4. Son of Florence Hughes of Pentney, Norfolk. Also remembered on a war memorial stone in his home village of Pentney, Norfolk, England.

Fl/Sgt. William Tudberrys. Feigneux Communal Cemetery. Grave Mil. row G.3. Son of George William and Lily Tudberry of Willoughby, New South Wales, Australia. Born on 25th October 1923 in Clifton, Queensland, Australia. Enlisted in Sydney, Australia.

Sgt. Kenneth Ernest Chandler. Feigneux Communal Cemetery. Grave Mil. row G.7. Son of Ernest Albert and Ethel Chandler of Derby and husband of Hilda Chandler of Littleover, Derby, England.

Researched by Aircrew Remembered, researcher and specialist genealogist Linda Ibrom for relatives of this crew. Special thanks to Ken Kemp for Pentney War Memorial stone photo. Also to Trevor Hughes who sent in the crew photograph - March 2017.

KTY/LI 30.06.2015. Updated with crew photo 30.03.2017

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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 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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