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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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18
02nd June 1941 18 Squadron Blenheim IV L9192 Fl/Lt. Mead

Operation: Kiel

Date: 02nd June 1941 (Monday)

Unit: No. 18 Squadron (motto: Animo et fide - 'With courage and faith'). 2 Group

Type: Blenheim IV

Serial: L9192

Code: WV-Q

Base: RAF Oulton, Norfolk

Location: North Sea

Pilot: Fl/Lt. Ian Alan Mead 33157 RAFVR Age 24. Missing - believed killed

Obs: Sgt. Cyril Clifford Gordon Ashcroft 916414 RAFVR Age 29 . Missing - believed killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. William Frank Richards 751431 RAFVR Age 33

REASON FOR LOSS:

The aircraft took off from RAF Oulton at 19:02 hrs for a daylight operation in the Kiel Canal area.

The aircraft was believed to have been shot down 160km west of Texel by Ofw. Karl Munz (1) of 2./JG52.

The other aircraft lost during the operation from 139 squadron, flying Blenheim IV V6239 pilot Sgt. Frank Boroski (2) R/67510 RCAF was lost without trace with both his other crew.

(1) Ofw. Karl Munz (Shown left) became one of the highest aces of the Luftwaffe wit 60 victories. Born on the 29th April 1915 at Gottwollshausen, survived the war passing away on the 3 December, 1992 age 77. (Kracker Archive)


(2) Boroski Lake northwest of North Knife Lake in Manitoba, Canada was named after Sgt. Frank Boroski in 1979.

Burial details:

Fl/Lt. Ian Alan Mead. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 29. Attended Portsmouth Grammar School 1927 - 1934. Son of Robert and Muriel Mead and wife of Doreen Winnie Mead, of Bembridge, Isle of Wight.

Sgt. Cyril Clifford Gordon Ashcroft. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 38. Son of Henry Parkinson Ashcroft and Alice Ashcroft; husband of Edith Grace Ellen Ashcroft, of Barnet, Hertfordshire

Sgt. William Frank Richards. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 51. Son of William and Jane Richards and husband of Margaret Frances Richards, of Bexley, Kent.

139 Squadron crew:

Sgt. Frank Boroski. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 60. From Rockwood, Manitoba, Canada - next of kin details not available - are you able to assist?

Sgt. Leonard Arthur Slade. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 52. Son of Arthur and Mary Elisabeth Slade, of Greenford, Middlesex. (A Chartered Accountant)

Sgt. Alec Ball. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 39. Son of Harry Ball, and of Emily Ball, of King's Norton, Birmingham.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Portsmouth Grammar School, other sources as quoted below:

KTY 21-06-2021

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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 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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