Operation: Calais

Date: 24/25th September 1940 (Tuesday/Wednesday)

Unit: No. 107 Squadron 2 Group (motto: Nous y serons - 'We shall be there')

Type: Blenheim IV

Serial: T1883

Code: OM-?

Base: RAF Wattisham, Suffolk

Location: Guemps, France

Pilot: P/O. Winton Selwood Shann 43711 RAF Age 23. Killed

Obs: P/O. Arthur Frederick Etherington 78460 RAFVR Age 20. Killed

W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. William Henry Powell 902976 RAFVR Age ? Killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off late in the evening from RAF Wattisham in Suffolk to attack invasion barges that had gathered at Calais. Shot down it is thought by anti-aircraft fire and crashed in the village of Guemps where the crew are buried.

Burial details:

P/O/ Winton Selwood Shann. Guemps Churchyard. Joint grave 2-3. Son of Charles Raynor Shann and of Nellie Ellis Shann (née Clarke), of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand. Grave inscription reads: 'My Much Loved Son. Lived Nobly - Died Bravely In The Battle For Britain'. Trained at No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School RNZAF Station Taieri 1939. Total of 240 flying hours logged and having completed 6 operational sorties.

P/O. Arthur Frederick Etherington. Guemps Churchyard. Joint grave 2-3. Son of George Ernest and Emily Susannah Etherington, of Barnes, Surrey, England. Grave inscription reads: 'Beloved Youngest Son. He Chose To Live And Dare In The Air'.

Sgt. William Henry Powell. Guemps Churchyard. Grave 1. No further details are you able to assist?

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:

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
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