Operation: Ferry Flight

Date: 17th September 1942 (Thursday)

Unit: Air Transport Auxiliary (motto: Aetheris Avidi - "Eager for the Air" Unofficial: Anything To Anywhere) (1)

Type: Spitfire Vb

Serial: EP893

Code: -

Base: RAF Hawarden, Flintshire, Wales (2)

Location: Saighton, Fleetshire, Wales

Pilot: First Officer Cyril Walter Morris ATA Age 30. Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Killed when he lost control in cloud (which was 10/10ths at 1,000ft) and his Spitfire Vb EP893 dived into the ground

Burial and further details:

Cremated at Golders Green Crematoriun at 11:45. Hrs. on Monday the 21st September 1942, Funeral Directors, J.H Kenyons Ltd, and dispatched to the Rector at Stoke Church as requested by his wife.

First Officer Cyril Walter Morris Churchyard (St. Michael) Block C. Row 4. Grave. Born 30th April 1912 in. Mansfield, England.. Prior to service worked as a Builder and Contractor.

Husband of Lorna Grace Morris (née Hill, later Bushell - married 19th January 1936 - died 1997, age 83) of 240 Walsgrave Rd, Stoke, Coventry, England. Father of daughter Josephine (born 1939). Lorraine remarried married Charles J Bussell;

Above/: Stoke Churchyard (St. Michael) there are 27 servicemen buried and listed as Commonwealth war casualties.

AC1. Charles Henry Baker 852052 RAF (A) 91 Balloon squadron 09th 22 December 1940 Age 41. Son of Fred and Ellen Baker, of Coventry; husband of Olive Mary Baker, of Stoke, Coventry. killed instantly late on Sunday night when was struck by a car driven by Bernard G. Lovell, 51, Common Lane, Kenilworth, special constable. The accident happened Warwick Road and Lovell said at the inquest on Thursday he had been on duty all night and was driving away from the city.. The night was very dark. A verdict of Accidental death was recorded, and death was due to fractured base of the skull.

AC2 Wallace Arthur Banister 1191327 RAFVR 913 Balloon Squadron 06th Machr 1941 Age 35. Son of Arthur Stoner Banister and Flora May Banister. Husband of Evelyn Banister of Brighouse, Yorkshire. Farther of Nigel Banister. He died at Markfield Sanatorium, Leics.

Cpl. Clifford George Kendall Easey 935489 RAFVR 913 Balloon Sqdn 26th July1942 Son of George William and Lily Easey, Of Coventry. Freeman Of the City of Coventry.

Sgt. John Napier “Jack” Hall 743002 RAFVR 35 squadron. 13th January 1942 Killed in the first Halifax aircraft crash in North Yorkshire, England. Handley Page Halifax L9487 caught fire and went down at Baldersby St. James, Thirsk. The airmen who perished in this accident were- Pilot - RAF Flight Lieutenant Michael Thomas Gibson Henry DFC, Second Pilot - RAFVR Pilot Officer Leslie Joseph McDonald, Observer - RAFVR Sergeant John Napier Hall, Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - RAF Sergeant Anthony Charles Henry Reid Russell, Wireless Operator / Air Gunner - RAF Sergeant William Charles Browne ('Laddie') Jessi DFM and Flight Engineer - RAF Sergeant Francis Leslie Plowman.

F/O. Arthur James Hughes 134310 RAFVR 68 squadron 30 May 1944 Age 24.Battle of Britain pilot. Killed whilst flying in Spitfire IX MH455. It crashed near Shoreham whilst he was attempting to abandon it following radiator problems during a Ramrod against a radar site. Son of Reginald John and Elizabeth Mary Amelia Hughes; husband of Esther Dora Hughes, of Stoke, Coventry.

First Officer Cyril Walter Morris Churchyard (St. Michael) Block C. Row 4. Grave. Born 30th April 1912 in. Mansfield, England.. Prior to service worked as a Builder and Contractor. Husband of Lorna Grace Morris (née Hill, later Bushell - married 19th January 1936 - died 1997, age 83) of 240 Walsgrave Rd, Stoke, Coventry, England. Father of daughter Josephine (born 1939). Lorraine remarried married Charles J Bussell;

Sgt Ronald Eric Plant 748027 RAFVR 603 squadron 21 Nov 1940 Age 21. Son of Ernest Davies and Rose Ellen (née Winter) Davies]* but raised by his aunt Florence Martha Plant and her husband Robert Jackson Plant. Based at RAF Hornchurch. He died when his Spitfire P7387) collided with a German bomber (He111H-2; wn:3145; A1+GM) of 4 Staffel, Kampfgeschwader 53, and crashed near Buckland Farm, Norton. The bomber crashed west of Faversham, Kent, the bomb load subsequently detonating in a series of explosions which killed Sub-Officer Fireman Arthur Thomas Beaumont and fatally injured Leading Fireman Claude Sherlock Davy who were trying to control the fire started by the crash. The entire crew of the bomber, including: Flugzeugfuührer [pilot] Gefreiter Artur Hagspiel, Beobachter [observer] Gefreiter Wilhelm Stieger, Bordmechaniker [flight engineer] Gefreiter Rudolf Hubert Deutsch, Bordfunkker [wireless operator] Obergefreiter Bruno Volkmann and Bordschütze [air gunner] Obergefreiter Hugo Löffler all died.

Captain Deryck Henry Neri Sherren MiD.179666 Royal Corps of Signals 29th January 1945 Age 32. Son of Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Sherren, husband of Sylvia Lillah Sherren, of Stoke, Coventry.

Sgt. John Grant Turnbull 742828 RAFVR 03rd Jun 1941 Age 23. 11 Operational Training Unit. Took off from Bassingbourn in Wellington Ic on a night training exercise.Aircraft went out of control and crashed one mile west of the Bassingbourn aerodrome while attempting to land after a night op. Son of John Taylor Turnbull and Margaret Grahame Turnbull, of Coventry.

Fl/Sgt. Victor Stuart Dodd 940286 RAFVR 58 Squadron12th May 1941 Age 20. RAF Station Linton-On-Ouse was attacked for 2 hrs. 11 mins by two enemy aircraft on 12th May 1941. 1 aircraft machine gunned aerodrome and searchlights and several bombs and containers of incendiaries were dropped. Son of Archibald Wallace Dodd and Mary Charlotte Dodd, of Coventry

Above L-R: Fl/Sgt. Victor Dodd. Sgt. John Hal, Sgt John Harris, F/O. Arthur Hughes, First Officer Cyril Morris. Fl/Sgt Jack Proctor and Sgt. John Turnbull and Sgt. Cecil Parkinson.Above L-R: Fl/Sgt. Victor Dodd.

Sgt. Robert Michael Lewis 5111565 Intelligence Corps 02nd Apr 1941 age 21. Son Of Robert and Ellen Elizabeth Lewis, of Coventry. No details on cause of early death

Sgt.William Edward Preston 1066100 Royal Artillery 15 Sep 1941 Age 33. Son of William Edward and Margaret Mary Preston, husband of Annie Ada Preston, of Coventry. No details on cause of early death.

Sgt. Phillip Walker 552294 RAF 18th Oct 1941 Age 19. Killed whilst with 27 Operational Training Unit flying Wellington Ic X9821 During the exercise, the weather deteriorated. At about 02.00 whilst banking to port, about 1 mile from the airfield, the bomber flew into the ground and skidded across several fields adjacent to Sludgey Lane in Fradley, before bursting into flames. All of the four crew members lost their lives.

Private Albert William “Bert” Humphreys 4559 Royal Warwickshire Regiment, B Coy. 13th Battalion. 13 Aug 1915 Age 18. Son of John Thomas and Mary Humphreys, of 151, North St., Stoke. Enlisted August, 1914. Died from Appendicitis.

Chief Petty Officer Airman. William Jack Eales FX669238's Royal Navy H.M.S. Heron FAA 758 squadron 27 Mar 1945 Age 22. Son of Edward Stanley and Emma Ellen Eales, of Stoke, Coventry. No details found on his death.

L/Cpl Oliver Gwilliam Royal Warwickshire Regiment 5105087 Royal Warwickshire Regiment 21 May 1943 Age 37. Son of Richard Harry a shoe maker and Mary An Gwilliam, (née Mason) of Coventry; husband Of Gertrude Eleanor Gwilliam, of Stoke, Coventry. Oliver married Gertrude Eleanor North in 1934, in Surrey. They had a son, Alan R. Gwilliam, born in 1934. No details on how he died at the young age of 37.

Fl/Sgt John Reuben “Jack” Harris 741471 RAFV (W/Op/Air Gunner 09th May 1941 Age 19. He was a single man. Before the war he was employed as a painter and decorator by Clarke and Sons, of Coventry. Son Of William and Fanny Proctor, of Coventry; husband of Audrey Louise Proctor, Of Stoke, Coventry. Eldest son of Arthur and Annie Harris of 15, Mellowdew Rd, Coventry.

Fl/Sgt Jack Proctor 741471 RAFVR 14 Apr 1941 Age 24. Born on 9th December 1916. Former Battle of Britain pilot with 602 squadron. Proctor was killed in a flying accident on 18th April 1941 while serving as an instructor at 5 FTS Sealand. He was fatally injured whilst flying in Master I N7823 which flew into the ground near RAF Ternhill after the rudder failed. His student 23 year old,

LAC. Fred Tayloe 1006784 RAFVR of Radcliffe, Lancashire. Son Of William and Fanny Proctor, of Coventry; husband of Audrey Louise Proctor, Of Stoke, Coventry.

Trooper William Charles Noel Snell 556179 30 Nov 1945 Age 26. Royal Armoured Corps, Warwickshire Yeomanry. Son of William and Beatrice Snell; husband of Amy Sutton Snell, of Stoke, Coventry.

L/Cpl Victor George Stigant 12 Apr 1941 Age 21 Home Guard 15th Warwickshire Battalion. Victor was in a house that was hit by a bomb during an air raid, he died from his injuries at 1, Canadian General Hospital, Marston Green, Coleshill, Warwickshire. Son of Harold and Edith Stigant, husband of Phyllis May Stigant, of Leytonstone, Essex.Victor married Phyllis M. Pratt in 1940 in Coventry, Warwickshire.

Sgt. Leonard Thomas Winte 748949 RAFVR 16 Nov 194 Age 22 25 Squadron Blenheim L6679 Broke up in a dive over Ingatestone in Essex during a night patrol on 16th November 1940. The aircraft had encountered icing in cloud and came down at Ramsey Tyrells, Stock, Essex All 3 crew killed, Son of George Brookes Winter and Ethel Susannah Winter, of Coventry.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this pilot with thanks to the National Archive, Kew.

(1) he Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a British civilian organisation established at the outset of the Second World War with headquarters at White Waltham Airfield in Berkshire. Its primary function was to transport new, repaired and damaged military aircraft between factories, assembly plants, transatlantic delivery points, maintenance units (MUs), scrapyards and active service squadrons and airfields, excluding naval aircraft carriers. Additionally, it operated service personnel on urgent duty and provided some air ambulance services. Notably, approximately 10% of its pilots were women and from 1943 they received equal pay to their male colleagues, a first for the British government. A total of 174 pilots were killed flying for the ATA during the war.

The organisation commenced operations on 15 February 1940. On 16 May 1940 RAF Maintenance Command took control through its No. 41 Group. Subsequently, on 22 July 1941, the ATA was placed under the control of Lord Beaverbrook's Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP). Although control shifted between organisations, administration was carried out throughout the war by staff led by Commodore Gerard d'Erlanger, initially at British Airways Ltd and subsequently, after its merger in 1940, at the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).

The ATA recruited pilots deemed unsuitable for either the Royal Air Force or the Fleet Air Arm on the grounds of age, fitness or sex. A unique feature of the ATA was that physical disabilities were disregarded if the pilot was capable of performing the job. Consequently, there were one-armed, one-legged, short-sighted and one-eyed pilots, colloquially referred to as "Ancient and Tattered Airmen"

(2) Above: An oblique aerial view of RAF Hawarden, Flintshire, from the north-north-west. The Vickers Armstrongs shadow factory is visible on the right with completed Wellingtons parked in front of the Vickers Flight Shed to its left. The hangars on the eastern and southern edges of the airfield were occupied by No. 48 Maintenance Unit and No. 57 Operational Training Unit. In the foreground Wellingtons and other aircraft are staked out in adjoining fields to alleviate overcrowding on the airfield while the concrete runways and taxiways are being constructed.

Other sources as quoted below:

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