AR banner
Search Tips Advanced Search
Back to Top

• Kracker Archive
• Allied Losses
• Archiwum Polish
• Paradie Canadian
• RCAF
• RAAF
• RNZAF
• USA
• Paul McGuiness RAAF Archive
• Searchable Lists

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.
Check our Research databases: Database List
.
We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via the Helpdesk.
836 Naval Air Squadron (NAS)
07.03.1943 836 Naval Air Squadron Swordfish II HS313, Sub-Lt. (A) Reginald A. Singleton MBE

Operation: Minelaying

Date: 7th March 1943 (Sunday)

Unit No: 836 Naval Air Squadron (NAS), RAF Coastal Command

Type: Fairy Swordfish II

Serial: HS313

Code: L

Base: RAF Thorney Island

Location: Off Culver Cliff near Sandown, Isle of Wight

Pilot: Sub-Lt (A). Reginald Arthur Singleton MBE(M), RNVR Age 22. Survived (1)

Observer: Sub-Lt (A). William Borradale Muir RNVR Age 20. KiA

Telegraphist/Air Gnr: Leading Airman (LA)(A). Eric Raymond George S/FX.2232 RNVR Age 22. KiA

REASON FOR LOSS:

836 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) joined RAF Coastal Command in January 1943 for operations in the English Channel based at RAF Thorney Island. In March 1943 838 NAS moved to RNAS Machrihanish in Scotland.

On the 7th March 1943 after a minelaying mission when returning to RAF Thorney Island the Swordfish flew into the sea off Culver Cliff near Sandown, Isle of Wight when Sub-Lt (A). Singleton was blinded by searchlight. He spent five (5) hrs in the sea before being rescued.

(1) Temporary Sub-Lieutenant (A) Reginald Arthur Singleton RNVR was appointed to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, Military Division (MBE(M)) which was promulgated in the London Gazette on the 4th April 1944.

Reginald Arthur Singleton was born on the 8th November 1920 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Reginald passed away on the 22nd January 2016 in Sipley, West Yorkshire, England.

Burial details:

Above: The Southampton Crematorium Memorial is located in South Stoneham Cemetery, as this is where the Southampton Crematorium was located from 1932 to 1973. (Courtesy of the CWGC)

Sub-Lt. (A) William Borradale Muir. Southampton Old Crematorium, Panel 4. Born on the 5th May 1922 in Barton, Lancashire. Son of Maj. Arthur W. Muir, DSO, MC and Madge (née Borradale) Muir of Altrincham, Cheshire, England.

Above: Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery, also known as Clayhall Royal Navy Cemetery is located near the former Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar, Gosport, Portsmouth. ) (Courtesy of the CWGC)

LA (A). Eric Raymond George. Haslar Royal Naval Cemetery E.63.3. Inscription: ‘PEACE PERFECT PEACE’. Born on the 18th October 1920 in Norwood, Greater London. Son of Frederick Charles and Violet Annie George of Hayes, Middlesex, England.

Researched by Ralph Snape from Aircrew Remembered as dedicated to this crew and their families (Jul 2026).

Other sources listed below:

RS 17.07.2026 - Initial Upload

Pages of Outstanding Interest
History Airborne Forces •  Soviet Night Witches •  Bomber Command Memories •  Abbreviations •  Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained •  USA Flygirls •  Axis Awards Descriptions •  'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination  •  Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis •  SOE Heroine Nancy Wake •  Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
Acknowledgements
We are an Amazon Associate and receive a small commission on any sales made through our Amazon link
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.
Click any image to enlarge it

 Click to add your info via ticket on Helpdesk •Click to let us know via ticket on Helpdesk• Click to explore the entire site
If you would like to comment on this page, please do so via our Helpdesk. Use the Submit a Ticket option to send your comments. After review, our Editors will publish your comment below with your first name, but not your email address.

A word from the Editor: your contribution is important. We welcome your comments and information. Thanks in advance.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2026 Last Modified: 17 July 2026, 06:32

Monitor Additions/Changes?Click to be informed of changes to this page. Create account for first monitor only, thereafter very fast. Click to close without creating monitor