Parker, David Shirley, son of John Anthony Parker, solicitor, of Bromley, Kent, and Ethelwyn, d. of Samuel Arthur Stanger of Bromley; b. 18 Dec. 1916; adm. Sept. 1930 (R); left Dec. 1933; arti­cled to a solicitor; RAFVR 1941-3 (Flt Lieut.), 51st Bomber Sqdn; m. 20 Aug. 1941 Moira McNeill of Kildonan, I. of Arran; killed on active service 24 Sept. 1943.

David Shirley Parker was born at Bromley, Kent on the 18th of December 1916 the only son of John Anthony Parker, a solicitor, and Ethelwyn (nee Stanger) Parker of “Packwood”, 10, Homefield Road, Bromley. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from September 1930 to December 1933. He was a member of the 4th Rowing VIII in 1933. On leaving school he became an articled clerk to a firm of solicitors. He was a member of Bromley Cricket Club and was an Assistant Scout Master with the St John’s Troop, 14th Bromley Scouts. He was also a member of the local amateur dramatic group, the Quavers, appearing in several of their productions.
He attended No. 5 Air Crew Selection Board on the 3rd of July 1940 where he was selected for pilot training. He enlisted as Aircraftman 2nd Class 1255393 in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve at No. 1 Reception Centre, Uxbridge on the 6th of July 1940. Six days later he reported to Blackpool for his basic training. On the 6th of September 1940 he was posted to No. 3 Initial Training Wing at Torquay and completed his initial training on the 6th of November 1940 when he was promoted to Leading Aircraftman. He was posted to No. 3 Service Flying Training School at South Cerney where he trained on both single and twin engined aircraft. He was awarded his Wings and was promoted to Sergeant on the 14th of June 1941. He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 15th of June 1941. He was then posted to No. 2 School of Air Navigation at RAF Squires Gate before being posted to No. 12 Operational Training Unit at RAF Benson on the 23rd of August 1941, but soon transferred to No. 19 Operational Training Unit at RAF Kinloss where he converted to Whitleys.
He was married on the 20th of August 1941 to Flight Officer Moira (nee McNeill) of the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force.
He was posted to 51 Squadron on the 19th of November 1941 where he flew on his first operation against enemy shipping in the harbour at Brest on the 17th of December.
He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 15th of June 1942.
David Parker and his crew took off from RAF Chivenor 5.24am on the 20th of June 1942 in Whitley Mk V BD191 for an anti submarine sortie and was carrying a load of depth charges and bombs. At 8.05am they received a message diverting them to search for the crew of a Wellington aircraft which had come down in the sea. The aircraft was flying at 1,000 feet towards the Scilly Isles when the port engine developed a glycol leak. The aircraft descended to 500 feet where the bomb load was jettisoned and the port engine feathered. At 100 feet the aircraft stalled and hit the water with the crew managing to board the life raft before the aircraft sank four minutes later. They were rescued two hours later and were landed at St Mary’s on the Scilly Isle at 4.30pm.
On the 24th of September 1942, David Parker and his crew were having a rest day, having been stood down from operations for the day. That morning the operations room called to request a crew to take off and to search for a dinghy which had been reported as having been seen in the Bristol Channel, between Lundy Island and Cardiff. As Parker and two of his crew were nearby when the call came in to the flight office they quickly boarded Whitley Mk V Z9425 and called for two members of the ground crew to join them. They took off from RAF Chivenor and once airborne they began searching the Channel and working their way eastwards. Having been airborne for two hours the rear gunner reported that there was a glycol leak in the port engine and that white smoke was trailing past his turret. David Parker shut down the port engine to avoid it overheating. With the aircraft flying at 1,500 feet he decided to return to base and crossed the coast between Lynton and Porlock but before they had gone much further the starboard engine began to backfire and to overheat. He told the crew that he was going to make a forced landing and seeing a field ahead he warned them to brace themselves. The aircraft crash landed at North Horridge Farm near the village of Chelfham, and one mile to the east of Chelfham viaduct with the front half of the aircraft being reduced to a tangled mass of wreckage when it crashed through a hedge and into a sunken road, killing David Parker and the two ground crewmen who had been with him in the cockpit.
The rear gunner was in the bomb bay area when the aircraft crashed and was injured but was rescued and was assisted away from the aircraft by the son of the farmer who had seen the aircraft crash. Having placed the rear gunner a safe distance from the aircraft, he returned to it to find the wireless operator crawling out of it injured, but alive. The two injured men were taken to North Devon Infirmary.
The crew was: -
Flight Lieutenant David Shirley Parker (Pilot)
Corporal Robert Victor Doak (Ground Crew, 51 Squadron)
Corporal Harry Todd (Ground Crew, 51 Squadron)
Sergeant Eric Ford Goodwin (Rear Gunner) (Injured/Survived)
Sergeant Hugh Alan Roberts (Wireless Operator) (Injured/Survived) (Killed in action 13th May 1943)
He is commemorated on the Boy Scouts Roll of Honour.
He is commemorated at Plymouth City Crematorium Panel 5.

Young, Henry Melvin, son of Henry George Melvin Young, solicitor, of Hertford, and Fannie Forester, d. of George Dobbridge Rowan of Los Angeles; b. 20 May 1915; adm. May 1932 (B); left July 1934; Trin. Coll. Oxf., matric. 1934, rowed against Cambridge 1938; PO RAFVR Sept. 1938, FO Mar. 1940, Flt Lieut. Apr. 1941, Sqdn Ldr June 1942, DFC (Germany) May 1941, Bar to DFC (Middle East) Sept. 1942; m. 10 Aug. 1942 Priscilla, d. of Hobart Ranson of Kent, Con­necticut; killed in raid on Mohne and Eder dams 16 May 1943.

Henry Melvin “Dinghy” Young was born at Belgravia, London on the 20th of May 1915 the only son of Henry George Melvin Young, a solicitor, and Fannie Forester (nee Rowan) Young of 117, Fore Street, Hertford in Hertfordshire. He was educated at Amesbury School, Hindhead until 1928 when his family moved to California. He went on to Kent School in Connecticut in 1930 where he started rowing. He returned to England where he attended Westminster School where he was up Busby’s from May 1932 to July 1934. He matriculated for Trinity College, Oxford in 1934 where he was the winner of the Oxford University Coxless Fours in 1936. He rowed for the Leander Club at the Henley Regatta in 1937. He rowed in the Head of the River race in 1938 and was a member of the University Boat Race crew which defeated Cambridge in 1938 where rowed at No. 2. He was awarded a Blue for Rowing in 1938. He became a member of the Oxford University Air Squadron in 1937, where he was described by his instructor, Charles Whitworth, as: - “not a natural pilot”, as he was apparently heavy handed with the controls. He later wrote that he had: - “improved considerably.... was very keen and has plenty of common sense.”
He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on the 13th of September 1938.
Following the outbreak of war, he reported for operational training to No. 1 Initial Training Unit, Royal Air Force on the 25th of September 1939 before going on to No. 9 Service Flying Training School.
During this period he wrote the following in a letter to the headmaster of Kent College: - “Since we had to have a war, I am more than ever glad that I am in the air force ...... though I haven’t yet had to face any of the conflict and killing of war. I am not frightened of dying if that is God’s will and only hope that I may die doing my duty as I should. In the meantime, I remain as cheerful, I think, as ever and try to keep others so”.
He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 13th of March 1940 and, on completion of his pilot training, he was posted to 102 Squadron, in June 1940.
On the 7th of October 1940, Henry Young took off in Whitley Mk V P4995 DY-P for a convoy escort mission over the Channel. During the mission the aircraft suffered from engine failure and was forced to ditch into the sea. All five of the crew managed to climb into the dinghy before the aircraft sank less than five minutes later.
The crew was: -
Flying Officer Henry Melvin Young (Pilot) (Killed in action 17th of May 1943)
Sergeant Ralph Collier (2nd Pilot) (Killed in action 28th November 1940)
Sergeant Burns
Sergeant Bird
Pilot Officer Forsdyke
They spent twenty two hours in their dinghy before they were rescued by the destroyer HMS St Mary. Their rescue was documented by Life Magazine which had one of its reporters on the board the destroyer who was writing a piece on air sea rescue operations.
The following appeared in Life Magazine’s edition of the 2nd of December 1940: - “Their raft is a huge orange doughnut, and within its circle five men are squatting, one of them frantically waving a canvas paddle aloft . . . One fellow paddles frantically until the raft bumps the ship’s side. Now our propellers boilingly backwater at the command and ropes go writhing down toward their grasping hands. A ship’s ladder goes over our side . . . One of the aviators rises wildly, unsteadily grapples at a rope, is too weak to wrap it around him, topples into the sea. Instantly a sailor goes over our rail, comes up behind the man with the loose-rolling head and wild eyes just out of the water. He ties the rope under his arms and pushes him to the dangling ship’s ladder. But he’s too weak to manage the rungs with cold hands and feet, so three sailors pull his sea-chilled body up and over out of sight of land in spite of all they could do. the side. The others with a little help from our sailors mount the wooden rungs and reach the solid safety of steel deck, and are half led, half carried down to the cozy warmth of our wardroom. Lying limp on the table, sprawled on the chairs, they are too weak even to raise their arms as we strip off their wet wool uniforms to be taken to the boiler room to dry. Their sea-water soaked flesh feels cold and dead, the texture of cold boiled oysters. Slowly then they mumble out the story. Their big bomber on patrol came down in the sea yesterday. They had just 60 seconds after it struck the water to toss their inflatable life raft in the sea and climb on before the plane sank. That afternoon they drifted. All night they slapped and rubbed each other to keep awake, which meant keeping alive. The water seemed warmer than the air. An hour after dawn they sighted a ship, waved frantically. She came within a hundred yards. They shouted and screamed at her but she passed without seeing them. They were getting ready for another night. They’d saved half their flask of brandy, intending to drink it in one big party at midnight. No, they don’t want food. Just a drink of water and then sleep. So, rubbing them down with hot, rough towels, we roll them into thick wool blankets, tuck them into our bunks where they sink immediately into sleep.”
Henry Young and his crew took off from RAF Topcliffe at 5.25pm on the 23rd of November 1940 in Whitley Mk V T4216 DY-F for an operation to Turin as one of four aircraft from the Squadron. Henry Young’s aircraft dropped two sticks of bombs on the city’s railway station from a height of 9,500 feet scoring hits on the target and adding to the large fires seen on the ground. On its return from the raid the aircraft ran short of fuel and was forced to ditch into the sea off Start Point below Topcross in Devon at 4.45am, some fifty miles out to sea. Although two of the crew were slightly injured they managed to climb into the dinghy. A search and rescue operation was mounted and the dingy was spotted by a Lysander at 5.20pm. The crew was picked up some twenty miles off the coast of Portsmouth after spending many hours at sea.
The crew was: -
Flying Officer Henry Melvin Young (Pilot) (Killed in action 17th of May 1943)
Pilot Officer Frederick George Malim (2nd Pilot) (Killed in action 13th of March 1941)
Sergeant R.G. Bristow
Sergeant Walter Edward Craven (Killed in action 8th of April 1941)
Sergeant Alfred Pearsall Clifford-Reade (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) (Killed in action 15th of April 1941)
The crew was treated for shock and minor injuries at the Royal Naval Hospital at Plymouth.
These two events led to him being given the nickname “Dinghy”.
He completed his tour of operations with 102 Squadron in February 1941 and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, which was announced by the Air Ministry on the 9th of May 1941.The citation read: - "This officer has carried out 28 bombing missions involving 230 hours flying as well as 6 convoy patrols on which some 40 hours were spent in the air. His operational flights include attacks on important targets in Germany and Italy. On two occasions he has been forced down on the sea, on one of which he was in the dinghy for 22 hours in an Atlantic gale. On both occasions his courage and inspired leadership, combined with a complete knowledge of dinghy drill, were largely responsible for the survival of his crews."
He was promoted to Flight Lieutenant on the 6th of April 1941.
He served for a while in a training unit before joining 104 Squadron in September 1941 and serving with them in Egypt and Malta. On completion of his second tour of operations he was awarded a Bar to his Distinguished Flying Cross, which was announced by the Air Ministry on the 18th of September 1942.
He was promoted to Squadron leader on the 1st of June 1942.
Following the completion of his second tour of operations, he was posted to the Royal Air Force Delegation in Washington DC in July 1942. While he was there he proposed to Pricilla (nee Rawson) of Ravenscroft Farm, Kent, Connecticut, who he had met when he had attended Kent School. They were married at Kent School Chapel on the 10th of August 1942 in a service which was conducted by the Reverend W.S. Chalmers.
On his return to England in February 1943 he was posted to No. 1660 Conversion Unit based at RAF Swinderby, where he began training with a new crew on Lancasters on the 1st of March 1943. He joined 57 Squadron, based at RAF Scampton on the 13th of March 1943 where he was placed in command of C Flight. Within a few days of arriving at Scampton he, his crew and the four other aircraft from C Flight were transferred to 617 Squadron which was being formed at RAF Scampton by Wing Commander Guy Gibson from the 21st of March 1943. It was being assembled specifically to carry out a mission code named “Operation Chastise” and would be using a new bomb code named “Upkeep” to attack the German dams in the Ruhr. As the dams were protected by anti torpedo nets the bomb had been designed by Barnes Wallis of the Vickers Aircraft Company to skip across the water and to sink against the dam walls. The attack was to be delivered by specially adapted Lancasters at night and at very low level during the full moon in May.
He and his crew transferred to the other side of the airfield where they began an intensive program of low flying over water at night.
The crews received their final briefing for the operation at 6pm on the 16th of May 1943, which lasted for two hours. Henry Young’s crew, were to be in the first wave of nine aircraft which was to head for the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams and would take off in groups of three at ten minute intervals. The second wave was to consist of five aircraft which would head for the Sorpe while the third wave, made up of five aircraft would take off 5 hours and 30 minutes later as a reserve.
Henry Young and his crew took off from RAF Scampton at 9.47pm on the 16th of May 1943 in Lancaster Mk III ED887 G AJ-A for the operation. One of the aircraft in the first wave had an engine problem and took off 20 minutes after the others had departed.
The leading wave arrived over the Möhne dam at 12.15am where Gibson assigned five of his remaining aircraft to make the attack. His was the first aircraft to attack, under fire from three light anti aircraft towers on top of the dam, and he dropped his bomb at 12.28am. The bomb landed against the dam wall, some 150 yards from the centre of it, where it exploded but did not breach it. Two further attacks had been made with no success when Henry Young began his run towards it for the fourth attack.
Mickey Martin’s Lancaster flew alongside him to bring fire onto the anti aircraft guns and to draw their fire away from Young’s aircraft. Young’s bomb also landed against the dam, did not breach it but created a crack in it which was seen by crew of the next aircraft to attack. The fifth attack also landed against the dam sending a 1,000 foot plume of water into the air but with no breach. As Gibson gave orders for the next aircraft to begin its attack run the dam began to crumble and then collapse, sending a wall of water down into the valley below.
Gibson then led the three aircraft still carrying their bombs towards the Eder dam which was breached by the third and last aircraft to make its attack. The code word sent back to Scampton to confirm the destruction of the Eder Dam was “Dinghy”. On its return home, Henry Young’s aircraft was crossing the Dutch coast at Castricum-aan-Zee when it was hit by anti aircraft fire from an enemy coastal flak battery and crashed into the sea at 2.58am with the loss of the entire crew.
The crew was: -
Squadron Leader Henry Melvin Young DFC and Bar (Pilot)
Sergeant David Taylor Hosfall (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Wilfred Ibbotson (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer Vincent Sanford MacCausland RCAF (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Lawrence William Lauire” Nichols (Wireless Operator)
Flight Sergeant Charles Walpole Roberts (Navigator)
Sergeant Gordon Arthur Yeo (Front Gunner)
Five of the crew’s bodies were washed ashore over the next thirteen days, with Henry Young’s body and that of David Horsfall being washed ashore on the 29th of May 1943. They were buried two days later.
He is commemorated by the Melvin Young Room at Kent School, the Admissions office through which every new student passes through on their arrival at the school.
He is commemorated on the war memorial at Trinity College, Oxford.
A memorial to the crew was unveiled at Castricum-aan-Zee on the 18th of May 2018.
He is buried at Bergen General Cemetery Plot 2, Row D, Grave 4.

Zoephel, Peter Charles, son of Ernest Charles Zoephel of Chislehurst, Kent, and Dorothy Frances Gertrude, d. of Capt. William George Romeril MN, of Blackheath; b. 8 Sept. 1921; adm. Sept. 1935 (R); left Apr. 1939 and went to Milton Academy Boston, Mass.; Harvard Univ.; PO RCAF Ferry Command; lost at sea in the South Atlantic Jan. 1943.

Peter Charles Zoephel was born at Blackheath, Kent on the 8th of September 1921 the eldest son of Ernest Christopher Zoephel. Chairman and owner of the British Domolac Company Ltd, paint works of Woolwich, and Dorothy Frances Gertrude (nee Romeril) Zoephel of “Elmstead Garth”, Chislehurst in Kent, later of Little Common, Bexhill-on-Sea. He was educated at Carn Brea Preparatory School, Bromley from 1931 to 1935 and at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from September 1935 to April 1939. He served as a Cadet in the Officer Training Corps from September 1935 to 1939. He went on to the Milton Academy, Wilton Massachusetts for a short time in 1939 before entering Harvard University later the same year as a member of the Class of 1943, where he read Economics and Languages, but left for Canada in late 1940 to volunteer for military service.
He attended a medical examination on the 4th of January 1941 where it was recorded that he was 5 feet 10 and 3/8ths of an inch tall and that he weighed 152lbs. It was also recorded that he had hazel eyes, brown hair and a fair complexion. He attested for service as an Aircraftman 2nd Class in the Royal Canadian Air Force for the duration of the war at the Royal Canadian Air Force Recruiting Station at Montreal on the 7th of February 1941. He was posted to No. 4 Bombing and Gunnery School at Fingal, Ontario on the 2rd of March 1941 and to No. 1 Initial Training School at Toronto on the 29th of March 1941. He was promoted to Leading Aircraftman on the 20th of August 1941 and joined No. 10 Elementary Flying Training School at Hamilton, Ontario on the 21st of August 1941 where he trained as a pilot. Having ceased training as a pilot at his own request, he was posted to No. 10 Air Observers School at Chatham, New Brunswick on the 27th of October 1941 to receive training as a navigator. On the 15th of March 1942 he was posted to No. 29 Navigators School at Pennfield Ridge, New Brunswick. He was promoted to Sergeant on the 14th of March 1942 and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 13th of April 1942. He was posted to No. 31 General Reconnaissance Squadron at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on the 9th of May 1942 and was attached to the Ferry Command, Royal Air Force at Dorval, Quebec on the 23rd of July 1942. He was promoted to Flying Officer on the 13th of October 1942.
On the 16th of January 1943, Peter Zoephel and his crew boarded Liberator C87 41-11708, of 12 Squadron, 12th Ferry Group United States Transport Command, at Accra in Ghana as passengers, bound for the United States air base at Natal in Brazil and then on their base at Dorval. On board was a crew from the United States Air Transport Command, who had ferried a Boeing B-17 aircraft from Miami to Africa and were returning home. Also on board was a crew from Royal Air Force Ferry Command and four other passengers. The aircraft took off at 11.30pm that night but failed to arrive at its destination and all on board were lost.
The crew was: -
Captain Orval Eknes (Pilot)
Captain Felton Barton Lancaster (2nd Pilot)
Second Lieutenant Joseph F. Peoples (Navigator)
Master Sergeant Alvin A. Young (Radio operator)
Sergeant James N. Clauss (Crew Member)
Master Sergeant Charles W. McKain (Crew Chief)
The passengers were: -
The United States Air Transport Command crew was: -
First Lieutenant John Allen Byler (Navigator)
First Lieutenant Hugh Parker Minor Sr. USAAF (2nd Pilot)
Major Arthur Mills USAAF (Pilot)
Corporal Joseph P. Braniff USAAF
Corporal Grover Kirby Trees Jr. USAAF
The Royal Air Force Ferry Command crew was: -
Flight Lieutenant Herbert James Martin (RCAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Harold Victor. Lamb RAAF (Wireless Operator)
Flight Sergeant John Henry Warman RCAF (Navigator)
Captain Paul Bleecker Makepeace (American Civilian Pilot)
Radio Officer Clinton Blackwell Berry (Canadian Civilian Wireless Operator)
Flying Officer Peter Charles Zoephel RCAF (Navigator)
Captain William Richard Nixon (Canadian Civilian Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Norman Patrick Drury (Radio Operator)
Flying Officer William Thomas Wright Smithson (Navigator)
Sergeant John Lowery Bell (Navigator)
Flying Officer Geoffrey Addison Clegg (Pilot)
Radio Officer Otway Cecil McCombie (Canadian Civilian Wireless Operator)
The passengers were: -
Lieutenant Colonel Russell Reed Brunner US Army (Pilot)
Colonel Douglas Cornell MacKeachie DSM US Army (Director of Procurement European Theatre of Operations)
Major Arthur Mills US Army
Air Commodore Desmond Herlouin De Burgh AFC
An extensive search was mounted which lasted until the 29th of January. On the 4th of February, the destroyer USS Kearney found a life raft some 60 miles from the coast of Brazil, to the east of Ponte Negro. It contained the body of one of the passengers. The following day another raft was discovered containing the body of Major Arthur Mills and with six life jackets on board. The evidence on board the raft led to the conclusion that there had been others on board who had died and had probably been buried at sea by others, other than the last man to have died.
He is commemorated on the war memorial at Harvard University.
He is commemorated on the Ottawa Memorial Panel 2, Column 3.

Sinclair, Edward Anthony, son of Cdr Edward Wortley Sinclair RN and Edith Monteith, d. of William Bell of Burlington, Ontario; b. 29 Dec. 1918; adm. Sept. 1933 (H), (B) May 1937; left July 1937; enlisted Hampshire Reel Jan. 1940; accidentally killed on an OCTU course 1 Aug. 1940.

Edward Anthony Sinclair was born at Malta on the 29th of December 1919 the only son of Captain Edward Wortley Sinclair RN and Edythe Monteith (nee Bell) Sinclair of “Cintra”, Chislehurst Road, Petts Wood in Kent. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Homeboarders from September 1933 and up Busby’s from May 1937 to July 1937. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps where he achieved Certificate A in March 1937. He was a member of the 1st Cricket XI in 1937. On leaving school he continued his studies as a student.
He enlisted as a Private in the Hampshire Regiment in January 1940 and was posted to the Inns of Court Officer Cadet Training Unit for officer training. He was killed in an accident.
He is buried at Chislehurst Cemetery Section A, Grave 94.

Sinclair, John Percy, son of Percy Walter Sinclair of Cheam, Surrey, and Florence Annette, d. of Michael Hobson of Middlesbrough; b. 31 May 1920; adm. Jan. 1934 (R); left Dec. 1937; Roy. Sig­nals; d. on active service 6 Nov. 1940.

John Percy Sinclair was born at Cheam, Surrey on the 31st of May 1920 the son of Percy Walter Sinclair, a tea taster, and Florence Annette (nee Hobson) Sinclair of “Cooden”, 20, Salisbury Avenue, Cheam. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from January 1934 to December 1937.
He is buried at Cairo War Memorial Cemetery Grave P 277.

Wade, Richard Thomas Christopher, son of Richard Ramsden Wade DM, of Hampstead; b. 24 Oct. 1921; adm. Sept. 1935 (R); left July 1939; PO RAF Regt Dec. 1941, FO Nov. 1942, temp. Flt Lieut. Sept. 1942; d. 27 Aug. 1944 after a road accident on active service.

Richard Thomas Christopher Wade was born in North London on the 24th of October 1921 the younger son of Richard Ramsden Wade, a commercial clerk, and Constance Irene (nee Lord) Wade of Lavender Cottage, Grayshott near Hindhead in Surrey. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from September 1935 to July 1939. He enlisted as Aircraftman 2nd Class 1154480 in the Royal Air Force Regiment in December 1941 and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer on the 20th of March 1942, with seniority from the 24th of December 1941. He was promoted to Flying officer on the 1st of October 1942.
He was killed in a road accident in Italy.
His brother, Officer Cadet Patrick Armigel Wade, Royal Armoured Corps, died on the 29th of July 1940.
He is buried at Biguglia War Cemetery Plot 2, Row C, Grave 1.

Wood, Richard Humphrey Vellacott, son of Richard Benjamin Wood, architect, of Ealing, and Eleanor Duidge, d. of Humphrey Vellacott of Upminster, Essex; b. 26 June 1916; adm. May 1930 (A); left July 1933; Wadham Coll. Oxf., matric. 1934; taught English in Prague and worked for Brit. Council in Palermo; Intell. Corps in WW2 (Lieut.); killed in action on special duty (Med.) Sept. 1943.

Richard Humphrey Vellacott “Pat” Wood was born in Middlesex on the 26th of June 1916 the only son of Richard Benjamin Wood, an architect, and Eleanor Doidge (nee Vellacott) Wood of 4, Charlton Gardens, Ealing in Middlesex, later of Creech St Michael in Somerset. He was christened at St John’s Church, Ealing on the 12th of October 1916. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Ashburnham from May 1930 to July 1933. He matriculated for Wadham College, Oxford in 1934 where he was awarded a BA. On leaving university he taught English in Prague. He worked for the British Council at Palermo and was later appointed as a Doctor of the Institute of Palermo. Following Italy’s entry into the war in June 1940 he returned to England where he attended an Officer Cadet Training Unit before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Intelligence Corps on the 7th of June 1941.
In September 1943 he was specially selected for an operation in Italy during which he went missing and was later reported to have lost his life.
He is commemorated on the Cassino Memorial Panel 23.

Titcomb, John Abbot, son of Harold Abbot Titcomb, mining engineer, of Farmington, Maine, USA, and Ethel, d. olJames Brignall of Wallington, Surrey; b. 27 Oct. 1910; adm. Jan. 1925 (R); left July 1929; Dartmouth Coll., BA 1932; Yale Univ. 1933-5; a mining engineer; Newmont Mining Corpn New York; US Marine Corps in WW2 (Capt.); rn. 3 Feb. 1940Janet, d. of Arthur Burling Foote of Grass Valley, California; d. I Mar. 1945 of wounds received in action, at Luzon, Philippines.

John Abbott “Jack” Titcomb was born at Newton, Massachusetts on the 27th of October 1910 the elder son of Harold Abbott Titcomb, a mining engineer, and Ethel (nee Brignall) Titcomb of High Street, Farmington, Maine and of 60, Addison Road, Kensington in London. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Rigaud’s from January 1925 to July 1929 and won the Junior Rouse Ball Prize for Mathematics in 1928. He rowed at bow for the 2nd IV in 1928. He went on to Dartmouth College where he studied Mining and Geology and graduated with a BA in 1932. He then studied at the Sheffield Mining School at Yale from 1933 to 1935 and later studied in Yugoslavia. On leaving university he worked for the Newmont Mining Corporation of New York and was an active member of the Ledyard Canoe Club. He was a skiing instructor and a ski racer.
He was married at Emanuel Church, Grass Valley, California on the 3rd of February 1940 to Janet Stanwood (nee Foote, later Micoleau). They had a daughter, Marian, born on the 11th of July 1942 and a son, Peter Abbot, born on the 9th of May 1944.
He was acting as the head of a Marine air-ground liaison party on Luzon in the Philippines when he was shot and killed by a Japanese sniper at San Fernando, La Union. He was awarded a posthumous Silver Star with Gold Star.
His father donated land in his memory for the Titcomb Memorial Ski Slope (now Titcomb Mountain) in Maine, which was named in his honour in 1949.
He is commemorated on a plaque at the base ski lodge at Titcomb Mountain.
He is buried at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial Plot A, Row 9, Grave 164.

Stewart, Charles Duncan Stuart, son of Col. Charles Victor Stewart OBE MC RE, architect, of Sidcup, Kent; b. 19 Apr. 1918; adm. Sept. 1931 (A); left July 1932; Sgt Pilot Bomber Command RAF; killed in action Jan. 1942.

Charles Duncan Stuart Stewart was born at Kensington, London on the 19th of April 1918 the elder son of Colonel Charles Victor Stewart OBE, MC, Royal Engineers, later an architect, and Doris Stuart (nee Kettelwell) Stewart of 12, Cottesmore Gardens, Kensington. He was educated at Westminster School where he was up Ashburnham from September 1931 to July 1932.
He enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve where he trained as a pilot and rose to the rank of Sergeant.
On the night of the 25th/26th of January 1942, Bomber Command dispatched 61 aircraft to attack enemy warships in Brest Harbour. 49 Squadron dispatched seventeen aircraft for the raid and they began taking off at 4.50pm. When they arrived over the target it was found to be covered by 10/10th cloud with most of the aircraft attacking alternate targets in the area of the docks, while eight returned without making an attack at all. All the aircraft returned to base.
Charles Stewart and his crew took off from RAF Scampton at 5.12pm on the 25th of January 1942 in Hampden AT129 EA-O for the operation. The aircraft was carrying a load of bombs and pyrotechnics. At the time, he had accumulated 238.20 hours of total solo flying time of which 159.20 were on Hampden aircraft. Two minutes after lifting off the aircraft crashed to the west of the airfield at the hamlet of Bransby, between the villages of Sturton and Saxilby at 5.10pm killing the entire crew.
The crew was: -
Sergeant Charles Duncan Stuart Stewart (Pilot)
Sergeant Albert Hibbet (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Kenneth Edward Northrop (Observer)
Sergeant Leonard Arthur Jardine (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
It is thought that the cause of the crash was due to ice having collected on the flying surfaces.
His funeral took place on the 31st of January 1942.
The crew are commemorated on a memorial in a wooden shelter at the Bransby Equestrian Centre.
He is buried at Sutton Cemetery, Section B, Grave 35.