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Operation: Anti-Shipping
Date: 19 July 1941 (Saturday)
Unit: No. 105 Squadron (motto: Fortis in Proeliis - 'Valiant in battles') 2 Group
Type: Blenheim IV
Serial: V6039
Code: GB-Q
Base: RAF Swanton Morley, Norfolk
Location: North Sea off The Hague
Pilot: Sgt. Ronald West Taylor NZ/401790 RNZAF Age 25. Killed
Obs: Sgt. Reginald Frederick George Withrington 975504 RAFVR Age 26. Killed
W/Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Selwyn Sparkes 992848 RAFVR Age 25. Killed
REASON FOR LOSS:
Leaving RAF Swanton Morley at 11:22 hrs on an anti-shipping operation. During the attacks on 14 enemy vessels off Scheveningen they were hit by flak and crashed into the sea 12 kilometres north west of the target area.
None of the crew survived and their bodies washed up along the Dutch coast and buried at various cemeteries.
Burial details:
Sgt. Ronald West Taylor. Noordwijk General Cemetery. Plot 1. Joint grave 2. Born on the 01st August 1915 at Christchurch. Employed as a Clerk with the Lloyds Insurance Company in Wellington. Enlisted as a pilot U/T on the 02nd July 1940. Son of Alfred Sydney and Norah Amelia Taylor (née West) , of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand. 340 flying hours logged.
Sgt. Selwyn Sparkes. Bergen General Cemetery. Plot 1. Row E. Grave 15. Son of William T. and Rachael Sparkes, of South Shields, County Durham, England and husband of Elizabeth Edith Sparkes, of South Shields. England.
Sgt. Reginald Frederick George Withrington. Bergen-Op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery. Grave 7. AA. 12. Son of Robert Edward and Henrietta E. Withrington, of Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England. Grave inscription: 'In Lasting Memory Of Our Dear Son Who Gave His Life For All To See A Better World'.
Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to Jenifer Lemaire and to the extensive research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland Library Heritage Collection, Weekly News of New Zealand, Wreck Sites Europe, other sources as quoted below:
KTY 18-01-2021
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember
them. - Laurence
Binyon
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Last Modified: 07 April 2021, 15:55