HELP REQUESTED
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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