HELP REQUESTED

If you have any information or leads regarding the following items, please contact me at 37squadron [at] gmail.com

In addition, if any 37 squadron researchers have similar queries they need assistance with I would be happy to post them here if I am unable to provide the answers myself.

Thank you - any information is greatly appreciated.


Connections

Contact with squadron personnel or their family memebers.

Maria Laidlaw, daughter of Flight Sergeant Thomas Frederick Herbert, would like to contact any members of 37 or 40 squadrons, OR their relatives. Herbert was a member of the aircrew comprised of himself, Thomas Mabbett, John Smallbone, Cyril Baker, and Vernon Bonnet. Maria is just beginning her reasearch into her dad and would appreiate hearing from you.

Please contact Maria directly at newsformaria [at] yahoo.co.uk.


Special Thanks and Available Information

This is not a request, but a note of appreciation to Richard Lilley of Glan Conwy, Wales, who recently provided me with a logbook and photographs related to SAAF pilot E. MacDonald 205961V, of RAF No. 142 Squadron out of Amendola. 142 was located right next to 37 and shared most the of the same operations.

As I go through this material I will be adding some of it to this site, but also want to be sure it is available to any 142 researchers, so feel free to contact me if this is of relevance to your research.

Please contact 37squadron [at] gmail.com if any of the above might be useful to you


F/S Ernest Miles Kelsall

Help is requested in obtaining any information or photographs realted to F/S Ernest Miles Kelsall and/or aircrew in 1941.

Jason Kesall, descendant of Flight Sergeant Ernest Miles Kelsall (631010) of 37 Squadron is looking for any and all information realted to his and his aircrew's time on squadron before being lost on operations, 23 May 1941. Any information or leads will be greatly appreciated.

Please contact miaevejae [at] gmail.com or 37squadron [at] gmail.com with any information related to the above


Surviving memebers of 37 Squadron **UPDATED**

Help is requested in contacting any living former members of 37 Squadron.

Melanie Bacon, daughter of 37 Squadron pilot Donald Ernest Taylor, seeks assistance in contacting any surviving memebers of 37 Squdron. Any information or leads will be greatly appreciated.

Maurice Holloway, 37 Squadron Pilot (Italy 1944) is seeking any surviving memebers of 37 Squdron. Any information or leads will be greatly appreciated.

Please contact melaniebacon1 [at] hotmail.com and maurice.holloway [at] icloud.com or 37squadron [at] gmail.com with any information related to the above


LP259 "Y" - Artifact, Aircrew, Groundcrew, & F/S Don Lercy

Help is requested by Nicolas Lyne in obtaining any available information regarding this amazing artifact depicting Wellingtin LP259, the aircraft itself, or any air & ground crew associated with it:

NOTE: The artifact indicates that it was made or owned by a F/Sgt. Don Lercy. Any information regarding who this individaul was will be greatly appreciated.


LP259, which bore the designation "Y", failed to return from an operation over the Marshalling Yards in Maribor, Yugoslavia, the night of October 21, 1944. LP259's aircrew that night were:
  -Sgt. Kenneth William Saxton RAF (confirmed killed)
  -Sgt. WE Weedon RAF
  -Sgt. H English RAF
  -Sgt. HW Baddon RAF
  -Sgt. JH James RAF

LP259 was more commonly flown by the following aircrew:
  -F/O J.M. Ralph
  -W/O T. Allison RAF
  -F/S A.N. Smithers RAF
  -F/S L.F. Beecher RAF
  -W/O R. Gasbrecht RCAF

Please contact nicholas.lyne [at] gmail.com or 37squadron [at] gmail.com with any information related to the above


Photographs of F/O R.J. Allen, DFC and/or aircrew from 36, 196, & 617 Squadrons

Help is requested by Jerry Pike in obtaining any available photographs of F/O R.J. Allen, particularly any of him with his Squadron or aircrew.

F/O Allen flew with 196 and 617 Squadrons in addition to 37 Squadron. He was awarded the DFC in 1943 and spent the remainder or the war as a POW after being shot down in his Lancaster in 1944. Over his distinguished career he served as a Pilot Officer, Rear Gunner or Wireless Operator in over 85+ operations.

Please contact TempusAtras [at] aol.com or 37squadron [at] gmail.com with any information related to the above



Personnel (or relatives) from 36 & 37 Squadrons

Help is requested in contacting any former members (or their surviving relatives) of 36 & 37 Squadrons who may have served with LAC Alex W Pyper.

John Pyper, son of LAC Alex W Pyper, ground crew for 37 Squadron and later 36 Squadron, is seeking contact with any memeber of these squadrons, or their surviving relatives, in order to share photographs and recollections. LAC Pyper servered with 37 Squadron from December 1940 to August 1944, and with 36 Squadron from October 1944 to April 1945. Possible associated names include:

     Ken Melling
     (Tich) Mitchell
     Harry Jones
     Wal Lane
     Eric Porter
     (Lofty) Barry
     Skyking or Skyling
     Drummond
     Thomas (Bugs)

Please contact john.pyper [at] blueyonder.co.uk or 37squadron [at] gmail.com with any information related to the above


Sgt. J.A. Mitchell

Sole survivor of Wellington MF241, lost on operations night of July 7, 1944

Help is requested in finding Sgt. J.A. Mitchell by a local historian from the Austrian village near which Sgt. Mitchell's Wellington crashed in 1944:

Note: Some confusion exists as to the first name/initials of this individual. He is recorded in the squadron ORB as G.A. Mitchell, but is also reported by individuals to be a J.A. or James A. Mitchell.

"Sgt. Mitchell is said to have come to St. Pölten after the war to locate the site of the crash and to get in contact with two local citizens who helped and protected him at the time. There seems to have been no contact, however, and nobody in St. Pölten was able to point out the site of the crash to him."

"I would very much appreciate your help in finding Sgt. Mitchell. He would have to be around 88 years of age now and I do hope he is still alive. I would be happy to fill in those parts of his past for him that he himself looked for unsuccessfully after the war."

Related Details:

This aircraft left Tortorella at 21:51 on the night of July 6 and carried the Squadron Leader for this operation, one F/L. C.J. Burnell. Sgt. Mitchell was the wireless operator in the aircrew. The target was Fels am Wagram / Feuersbrunn (recorded as the FEUERSBRAUN AERODROME in the squadron ORB). Group 205 loses for this operation were heavy (11 Wellingtons, 2 Liberators and 1 Halifax) - all thought to be lost to night fighters out of Vienna in "brilliant moonlight".

Mitchell's Wellington crashed in the Unter Radlberg area near St. Pölten in the Austrian province of Lower Austria on July 7th at 1:20 a.m. Sgt. Mitchell survived the crash with serious burns on his arms. The remaining crew members are buried at the Klagenfurt War Cemetery in Carinthia. The aircrew were:

F/O Charles Walter Keighley, RAF - pilot, age 21

Lt. T. V. Vlok, SAAF - navigator, age 22

Sgt. G.A. Mitchell, RAF - wireless operator, age unknown

F/L Charles John Burnell, RAF - air bomber, age unknown

Sgt. Lionel Joseph Guest, RAF - air gunner, age 22


Please contact albin.mayer [at] gmx.net or 37squadron [at] gmail.com with any information related to the above


205 Group Operation at Alessandria M/Yds, Italy, 1/2 May 1944

Any information/photogrpahs related to this operation.

Help is requested by Alessandro Cordasco in obtaining any available information regarding the operation conducted by all 205 Group Squadrons on the Marshalling Yards at Alessandria, Italy, the night of May 1/2 1944.

Please contact alessandro.cordasco [at] gmail.com or 37squadron [at] gmail.com with any information related to the above



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