Vol 1 Flight Cadets
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RAF COLLEGE CRANWELL “WW2 Roll of Honour” Volume 1 - Graduates of Flight Cadet Training [Statistics believed correct at the time of issue] Version 1.1 IBM Steward 6GE dated 4 November 2020 Context The Royal Air Force was formed on 1 April 1918, from the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service. Our founder, MRAF Viscount Trenchard, possessed the vision that extended beyond the formation of a strategic independent air force, the first of its kind, to include the creation of the requisite support infrastructure, including Officer training at RAF Cranwell, Apprenticeship training at RAF Halton and the RAF Staff College at Andover. Implementing his vision, the RAF assumed responsibility for Officer training at Cranwell from the Royal Navy on 1 November 1919. On 5 February 1920, the RAF College was ‘open for business’ assembling its first officer training course, “F20”, from a cohort of Army and Navy ‘would be’ pilots. For the next two decades, all Entries would be referenced by month and year of entry, “MYY”, with two courses initiated each year, usually in January and September, and each officer training course lasting a period of two years. By the outbreak of the Second World War, some 964 UK Flight Cadets had entered the RAF College on 36 Entries. Another 134 cadets from the next six Entries, however, had their training abruptly terminated, the College being closed for officer training as soon as war was declared. Some of these, like AH Humphrey (later MRAF Sir Andrew Humphrey), were enlisted as airmen u/t pilots to complete their flying training at the Service Flying Training School (SFTS) set up on the same eventful day at RAF Cranwell. Of the earlier graduates, many had already retired, withdrawn, died or been killed in the inevitable flying accidents of those pioneering days of flight. So, by 3 September 1939, there remained a total of 793 former Flight Cadets in the RAF, ready to serve their country. This booklet, one of two volumes, attempts to capture names of and pay full tribute to Cranwellian Flight Cadets, confirming, where possible, the Commands and Squadrons with whom they were flying when they lost their lives; Volume 2 attempts to capture the names of airmen of the war intakes, trained by the SFTS Cranwell, who subsequently lost their lives. In some instances, we have been able to identify specific circumstances of their loss, including aircraft type and serial number, operation and location. The output is a series of graphics and tables to record a definitive Cranwellian Roll of Honour. Its creation is the result of correlating College records with a selection of acknowledged databases and reference manuals, such as the “Forces War Records” military database, the RAF Commands Database Air81, the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) database, WR Chorley’s RAF Bomber Command Losses Volume 9, David Gunby’s & Pelham Temple’s Bomber Losses in the Middle East & Mediterranean, Norman LR Frank’s Fighter Command Losses Volumes 1 to 3, Kenneth G Wynn’s Men of the Battle of Britain, and Francis K Mason’s Battle over Britain. A visit to the National Records at Kew is also planned, post the Coronavirus pandemic. Where pro temps there remains doubt, this booklet denotes some information in italics, pending further verification. Thus, starting with the College’s own records as a baseline and verifying them against the ‘acknowledged’ databases and manuals, the premise has been to detail all recorded Cranwellians and their ultimate commitment, subject to verification - “lest we forget”. Cranwellians Roll of Honour - Fighter Command Squadrons [Towards the end of 1943, Fighter Cmd was renamed Air Defence Great Britain (ADGB) and some units joined 2 Tactical Air Force] Depicted below are the names of Cranwellians who were Killed In Action (KIA) serving with Fighter Command Squadrons during WWII 1 16 11 17 23 25 41 43 54 56 64 LXV 26 72 Davey JAJ Hancock Ault Donne Murphy Hughes Hood Badger Pearson Soden Stevenson Cooke Clifford Tidd Pemberton Hanson Robertson Lecky Way Sawyer Dawson Sibley Williams Deas Halliday CID Smyth 79 85 87 92 111 119 141 150 151 152 175 Reynolds Lee Dunn Learmond Gillan Belchem Donald GulleyGordon-Dean Hogg Savage Smith CDS Sanders Watling McKenzie Jones JSB St Claire-Erskine Marrs Shepley Watson AR Wildblood 234 236 238 242 247 185 213 219 222 229 Palmer Drew Davis CT Homer MG Fordham Mould Atkinson Wordsell Delamore Browne Dewar Fraser Tillett Temlett Montagu 257 263 264 266 268 302 485 501 542 602 603 605 610 611 Burfield Ede Chandler Wilkinson MacDonald Herrick Beamish Cox PAN Sawley Major Benson Crofts Franks Fulford Chomley Howe Hyne Slater Hall Milsom Negus Nettleton Rothwell Cranwellians Roll of Honour - Bomber Command Squadrons Depicted below are the names of Cranwellians who were Killed In Action (KIA) serving with Bomber Command Squadrons during WWII 7 IX 10 12 XV 18 21 37 38 40 44 Chesterman Peacock Grannum Golding Burke Harding Bennett Bradford Maybury Llewelyn Watson RG Cruickshank Stanley Parvin Dale Hulton Shuttleworth Cameron Light Spendlove Glencross Malcolm Vaughan-Williams Mead 49 51 57 61 75 83 97 99 Butler PS Dickenson Barber Eadie Chamberlain Field Bird GOL Salmond Watt Dickson Wallage Guthrie Stevens 77 82 Hayter Wright CLY Wigg Pritchard Blackden Jones NC Pitcairn Hill Geach Watson ML Stainthorpe Hastings 139 De Montmerency 101 103 105 106 102 Langley Addenbrooke Cox MI Hurst McKecknie Cole Oakeshott Godfrey Coventry HR Shand Groom Goodman 108 110 114 115 Jarand Kelly Green DRD Lings Elsmie Parsons Watts-Read Littler May (Libya) Wright CM Ralston 169 190 Bilderback Scarlett-Streatfield 144 149 158 161 196 207 214 218 226 305 Cunningham Andrews 156 Seymour Bilderback Baker Jackson Filleul Read Waddington Ward Hossack Charlton-Jones Porter Matthews Harris WA Newton-Clare Clark Wright RB Wingate Henderson IS Kerr 466 515 Wood Owen Gould Cranwellians Roll of Honour - Coastal Command Squadrons Depicted below are the names of Cranwellians who were Killed In Action (KIA) serving with Coastal Command Squadrons during WWII 22 XIX 53 55 59 86 179 201 Berryman Powell Carmichael Harries Bird FD Cooper LF Riddell Middleton Culverwell Guest Gerrard Franklin Ruth Fishwick Steuart-Richardson Mace Seeds Hicks Mathewson MacFarlane Mayhew Mellor 204 205 206 210 220 228 233 240 Davis ESC Lowe Bouwens Breese Bulloch Lylian Erskine Thomas Wilkins SP Dalzell-McKean Moseley Gilbert Whitworth (Far East) Phillips IW Robinson 248 254 255 276 461 489 547 Barron Bernard-Smith Humohris Windsor Halliday NAR Triptree Terry Cooper CS Jolliffe Pattison Cranwellians Roll of Honour - Squadrons of Overseas Commands Depicted below are the names of Cranwellians who were Killed In Action (KIA) serving with Overseas Commands’ Squadrons during WWII II 4 13 27 39 42 45 47 62 69 Henderson MLG Barbour Agnew Hackett Sharman Willis Barclay Sprague Halliwell Boys-Stones Plumb Skinner Johnson Dowland-Ryan Vaughan LXX 94 100 112 De Freitas Smith FM Rowland Worcester Parkinson Wilkins JT 117 135 Burton Watson EJ 153 148 203 208 211 260 272 353 407 541 Smith-Rewse Brown Gethin Aldis Coote Darwen Yaxley Homer JW Archer Waghorn Charles Herbert Name Decorations Entry Circumstances of Loss Date Addenbrooke D S29 KIA 101 Sqn; Blenheim IV N3552 SR-?; West Raynham-Brest; night; lost without trace. 3/4/41 Agnew DM A38 KOAS 13 Sqn; Lysander III T1454 aircraft accident. 18/11/40 Aldis JR MiD S36 KIA 208 Sqn; Hurricane 1 Z4364; shot down, enemy action near Damascus, Syria. 8/6/41 Alexander JC MiD J38 KOAS Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment; Lerwick I L7248; aircraft accident. 21/10/41 Andrews LV S29 KIA 149 Sqn; Wellington IC P9245 OJ-W; Mildenhall-Boulogne-sur-Mer; night; ditched Clacton. 9/9/40 Archer JC MiD S35 KIA 407 Sqn; Wellington XIV HF124; Air Sea Rescue mission. 27/9/43 Atkinson HD DFC S37 BoB; KIA; 213 Sqn; Hurricane I failed to return; crashed in sea. 25/8/40 Ault K J35 KIA 11 Sqn; Blenheim IV V5992; Ratmalana-air combat; crashed Trincomalee, Ceylon. 9/4/42 Aylmer MA S31 KOAS CFS; Harvard I N7182; hit hill and crashed Puckshipton House, Marden, Marlborough. 1/11/39 Badger JVC DFC; MiD S31 Ex BoB; KIA 43 Sqn; Hurricane V6458 shot down S of Woodchurch; died of wounds 30/6/41. 30/8/40 Baker MWLLaV J29 KIA OC 196 Sqn; Stirling IV LJ894; Opn MARKET GARDEN; crashed near Rips, Holland. 21/2/45 Barber ALH J36 BoB; KIA 57 Sqn; Wellington IC X3162 DX-?; Feltwell-Ostende; crashed into sea Oostende. 22/3/41 Barbour DM S38 KIA 4 Sqn; Lysander II L4745; failed to return from operational flight over enemy territory. 14/5/40 Barclay DP J32 KIA 45 Sqn; Blenheim IV Z5898; shot down off coast of Libya. 28/4/41 Barnwell JS S37 KIA Blenheim I L6631 failed to return from ops; missing presumed dead. 19/6/40 Barron OJM DFC* S34 KIA OC 248 Sqn; Mosquito; Portreath. Coastal Command ops. 11/4/44 Beamish FV DSO*; DFC; AFC; MiD* S21 Ex BoB; KIA with 485 (NZ) Sqn; Hurricane IIb Z3649, failed to return Calais. 28/3/41 Beaumont FWLC S21 Killed air raid Smithdown Rd, Liverpool; ex-207/45 Sqns, had resigned commission on 3/10/28. 6/5/41 Beck HD S32 KOAS 16 OTU; Hampden I P4292; Upper Heyford, night trg; engine failed; crashed Bicester. 7/12/40 Belchem LG S28 ex-BoB Fighter Cmd; KIA 119 Sqn; Catalina crash operating from Lough Erne. 14/7/42 Beloe CE J39 KOAS 15 OTU; Wellington IC X9799; Harwell trg; collided with Tiger Moth II N6968 of 6 EFTS. 5/12/41 Bennett AFR S31 KOAS RAE (F’boro); Hurricane IIa Z2415; Sutton Bridge-weapons test; explosion port wing.