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Operation: Ranger - Le Bourget/St. Dizier
Date: 1/2nd April 1943 (Thursday/Friday)
Unit: No. 85 Squadron
Type: Mosquito II
Serial: DD742
Base: RAF Hunsdon, Hertfordshire
Location: Shoreham to Hove railway line, Sussex
Pilot: Sq/Ldr. "Scruffy" Kenwyn Roland Sutton DFC. MiD. NZ/36182 RNZAF Age 23. Seriously Injured (3)
Navigator: F/O. Stanley Robert Streeter DFM 50119 RAF Age 22. Killed (1)
REASON FOR LOSS:
Returning from a Ranger patrol (2), it is thought that it may have been damaged when tragically the Mosquito was hit by a Canadian crew manning an anti-aircraft unit from near Hove, Sussex, crashing into the embankment on the Shoreham to Hove railway line.The pilot, New Zealander Ken Sutton, partner of Stanley since May 1941, tried to get the aircraft down but finally baled out at very low level (500 ft), losing his left arm and foot when he hit the propeller during baling out. Navigator F/O. Streeter DFM had been wounded during the friendly fire incident, unable to get out being killed in the crash.
Above left: Sq/Ldr. Ken Sutton D.FC. Right: F/O. Stanley Streeter DFM (courtesy Country Books, Derbyshire via Keith Townsend)
Moseley Grammar school and Memorial
(1) F/O. Stanley Robert Streeter DFM was a former pupil of Moseley Grammar school (Now a secondary/grammar School). We are working very closely with the school's historians to remember all the ex pupils who died whilst serving with the RAF and recorded on the school memorial.
(2) 'Ranger' - Large formation freelance intrusion over enemy territory with aim of wearing down enemy forces.
(3) Sq/Ldr. Sutton was born on the 18th May 1919 in Wellington, New Zealand. Awarded the DFC on the 27th March 1942 continued to fly with the aid of a prosthetic arm. Operation/s carried out on the 02 April at Brighton and Hove Hospital between 18:00 - 19:15 hrs. by Dr. F.E. Feilden FRCS (Edinburgh) He passed away in Kapiti, New Zealand on the 6th July 2003, age 83. Ashes buried at Awa Tapu Cemetery, Kapiti.
DFC gazetted 27th March 1942:
'This officer has proved himself to be a first class operational pilot. He participated in the first intensive air fighting in France during May and June 1940. During one sortie, he destroyed one and damaged another enemy aircraft before being shot down himself. Since then Flight Lieutenant Sutton has taken part in numerous patrols both by day and by night. As a flight commander he has shown sterling qualities and he has been mainly responsible for the high standard of efficiency in his flight'.
MiD Mention in Despatches gazetted 14th January 1944:
'For bravery in action and meritorious fulfilment of duty with 605 Sqn RAF (Boston)'Left: This painting by Bernard Arnold was commissioned by Stanley's parents and presented to St. Jude's church where Stanley and his brothers had been servers. (courtesy Geoffrey Gillon)
Burial details:
F/O. Stanley Robert Streeter DFM. Buried at Birmingham (Brandwood End) Cemetery Sec. B.8. Cons Grave 197 on the 7th April 1943. Son of Arthur Humphrey and Edith Gertrude Streeter, of King's Heath, Birmingham, England. Epitaph reads: ‘Tell England We Died For Her And Here We Rest Content.’ The youngest of three boys. Left the local grammar school in 1936 and went to work with his father at a large textile firm, but after a year there he joined Birmingham Small Arms Company Limited (BSA) as an engineering apprentice.
Already in training as an observer with the RAF when war broke out and in July 1940 he joined 144 Squadron at RAF Hemswell in Lincolnshire. In January 1941, he was posted to 23 Squadron at RAF Ford in Sussex, part of Fighter Command.
On the 19th May 1942, he was presented with the Distinguished Flying Medal by King George VI at Buckingham Palace. In August he was a pall-bearer at the funeral of HRH Duke of Kent in Windsor. He had served under Wing Commander, (later Group Captain Peter Townsend and then in January 1943 at his posting to RAF Hunsdon in Hertfordshire, he served under Wing Commander Johnny ‘cats-eyes' Cunningham.
With thanks to the following: Keith Townsend historian of Moseley Secondary/Grammar school memorial records, Mr. Edward Paul, Geoffrey Gillon, Norman Franks - "Fighter Command Losses" Vol 2, the CWGC, P.A. Chapman ‘Colours of the Day’. Also to Malcolm Laird of Ventura Publications for log book details on pilot - March 2017.KTY - 15.03.2017 New details added
KTY - 12.09.2018 Award details added
KTY - 07.04.2019 New photos added
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember
them. - Laurence
Binyon
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