War Memorial to the Airmen in Burbage.

borebage53

borebage53

Knife & Fork pending
I’ve posted on here about this before. The 6 RAF airmen who died when their plane came down on the edge of Burbage in January 1945. They were on a training flight and never made it home. They took off from RAF Wing in Oxfordshire and flew over Cromer and then the North Sea. When they reached a pre-determined co-ordinate the navigator set course for home. Something went wrong on the way back and they sent out a Mayday distress signal. They tried to get back either to Bramcote or what is now MIRA along the A5 near Nuneaton.The aeroplane came down and they all perished.
There has been a permanent stone memorial to these brave men for many years now and I pass by it countless times,it is only 5 minutes walk from my house.
I passed it again today on my way to Hinckley train station for todays match.
There are now 6 individual trees recently planted in a neat line adjacent to the original memorial with an individual plaque in front of each tree bearing each Airman’s name.
Something’s just stop you in your tracks and leave you breathless as it did me this morning. Those young men will never ever be for forgotten!
 
Lovely post as usual about history borebage.
I reached 64 on Saturday and am very humbled by the simple fact we’re all here on this earth just once, sometimes just for hours and sometimes for 100+ years. I find it particularly sad that so many millions have perished in countless wars including WW2, all because of a few psychopathic monsters. Most of these, like these guys near you, were so young.
That’s what so annoys me about Putin. It’s not just the Ukrainians he’s killing but his own people. Most are sadly young enough to be his grandsons and daughters
 
Nicholas Chobaniuk - Flying Officer(pilot) Royal Canadian Air Force.
Leslie George Good - Sergeant(navigator) Royal Air Force.
John Sidney Gunn - Sergeant(air Bomber) Royal Air Force.
John William McMurdo - Sergeant(wireless op/air gunner) Royal Canadian Air Force.
Charles Dennis Parker - Sergeant(air gunner) Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
John Thompson - Sergeant(air gunner) Royal Air Force.

Vickers Wellington Bomber MF 116 26OTU, RAF Wing,Oxfordshire.
 
borebage53 said:
I’ve posted on here about this before. The 6 RAF airmen who died when their plane came down on the edge of Burbage in January 1945. They were on a training flight and never made it home. They took off from RAF Wing in Oxfordshire and flew over Cromer and then the North Sea. When they reached a pre-determined co-ordinate the navigator set course for home. Something went wrong on the way back and they sent out a Mayday distress signal. They tried to get back either to Bramcote or what is now MIRA along the A5 near Nuneaton.The aeroplane came down and they all perished.
There has been a permanent stone memorial to these brave men for many years now and I pass by it countless times,it is only 5 minutes walk from my house.
I passed it again today on my way to Hinckley train station for todays match.
There are now 6 individual trees recently planted in a neat line adjacent to the original memorial with an individual plaque in front of each tree bearing each Airman’s name.
Something’s just stop you in your tracks and leave you breathless as it did me this morning. Those young men will never ever be for forgotten!
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As we move closer towards Rememberance Day (although everyday is Rememberance for me and many others ) maybe the owner of this site might set up a temporary section for posts on this type of topic
 
LCFCtilidie said:
As we move closer towards Rememberance Day (although everyday is Rememberance for me and many others ) maybe the owner of this site might set up a temporary section for posts on this type of topic
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I did last but nobody posted, also visit the articles section
 
Mr Gregory Drozdz is a local historian and volunteer at Hinckley and District Museum who has worked to highlight many commemorative places in this part of Leicestershire. He was awarded the British Empire Medal in the New Years Honours List in 2018 for 30 years service in the local community in many capacities. The medal was presented to him by the Duke of Gloucester. Mr Drozdz is of Polish descent.
 
Hi there. My name is Paul Chobaniuk. My Great Uncle was RCAF Flying Officer Nicholas Chobaniuk. His younger brother was my Grandfather Peter, who would tell me stories about Uncle Nick and his life. My Dad's middle name is Nicholas in his memory. Sadly, my Grandfather passed away before the memorial was erected (although he did visit his grave in Chester). He would of really appreciated the honour bestowed on his brother and crew, and that there is an ongoing dedication to the preservation of his and his crew's memory.

I visited the site many years ago and was overwhelmed myself that someone would care so much about an ordinary immigrant farmboy from Saskatchewan to do this. From my family to everyone that passes by the memorial and thinks about the lives sacrificed, thank you so much. Although I never met my Uncle Nick, I like to think that a little bit of him lives on in my family today. My grandmother always jokes that he was the best looking Chobaniuk brother (out of 7), and ended up marrying Grandpa cuz he was the next best one. :)
 
Beyond sad, like the Polish crew, their Lanc. down in the centre of Wigston Magna, again in training a few weeks after the end of the European theatre of the war.
Of interest might be the Terence C. Cartwright books*, mostly of aerial photos of the city and county, some of Luftwaffe traget maps.
every bomb, plane etc. down in the area.

*Birds Eye Wartime 1939-1945,TCC Publications, 2002.
 
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Borebage, any advice on how you research RAF Squadrons. My Dad flew in WWII and I just found his Squadron number and want to start to dig in to it. Any ideas?
 
Borebage, any advice on how you research RAF Squadrons. My Dad flew in WWII and I just found his Squadron number and want to start to dig in to it. Any ideas?

Australian Bomber Command Squadrons were designated numbers from 450 to 499. 10,000 Australian airmen served during the war.
460 Squadron RAAF flew the most missions of them all,dropped the most tonnage of bombs of all Bomber Command squadrons and suffered the most number of casualties. The Squadron was effectively “wiped out” 5 times during its existence.
Canadian Squadrons were designated numbers between 400 to 449 and contributed one third of all Bomber Commands air crews.
Polish,Czech,French and others had numbers 300 to 349.
6000 New Zealanders served in Bomber Command with 1850 being killed. Primarily in their 75 Squadron.
As more “special squadrons” were formed during the war they were given numbers from 600 onwards taking the next available number. The Dambusters became 617 Squadron and a multi national unit from all parts of the Commonwealth as well as British. 618 and 633 were Mosquito Squadrons.
The Australian Squadrons were 455,458,460,462,463,464,466 and 467.
You could probably narrow things down regarding your Dad if you also know which Bomber Group his Squadron were in (for instance 617 were part of Bomber Group 5) and this in turn would probably help tell you which RAF airfield(s) he might have flown from.
I will try to look into things a little further and let you know if I find anything.
 
……RAF service records created since the beginning of the Second World War remain in the custody of the Ministry of Defence and are accessible only to the service personnel themselves or their next of kin. Consult Gov.UK to find out more.
I guess the more information you have up front the better. Service number,date and place of birth,etc would simplify the process a little.
As far as I can tell from a quick look at the site details you would be able to access his service record online for free although there might be a charge for the actual service.
The service record information that can be obtained would be quite comprehensive and is likely to contain a number of RAF acronyms some of which are obvious,others more difficult to recognise.

Royal Air Force Personnel
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
 
There are only 2 Vickers Wellington bombers left in the world today. One is at the The RAF Museum Cosford in Shropshire and will be on display from May 2023.
 
…….more Wellington’s were built than any other WW2 Bomber. The main production sites were at Weybridge and Boughton,North Wales. There were other “shadow factories” building them all over Britain. The geodetic design of the aircraft was by Barnes Wallis.
There is a Wellington Aviation Museum at
Bourton Road,
Moreton in the Marsh, Gloucs,
GL56 0HB
Open every Sunday,10am-4pm,from the beginning of March until the end of November. Admission for adults £3,children under 15 free.
It is only a leisurely 5 minutes walk from the High Street,Tea shops and I can recommend The Bear as a decent pub.
 
RAF Museum Cosford is free. The car park is £6.50 for up to 7 hours, pay on the day or pre-book online.
Summer opening times are 10am-5pm,March to October.
Winter opening times are 10am-4pm,November to February.
RAF Museum Midlands,
Lysander Avenue,
Cosford. TF11 8UP
It is part of The Royal Air Force Museum and the other site is
RAF Museum London,
Grahame Park Way,
London,NW9 5LL
Also free admission,same opening times.
Nearest tube station is Colindale.
 
Just watched a brilliant documentary on More4. The raid that finally sank the Tirpitz in a Norwegian fjord by Lancaster’s of RAF 9 and 617 Squadrons!
 
tsmiggy said:
I now live in Hinckley, and i was not aware of the Stone Memorial. Whereabouts is it situated?

Thanks
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On Featherstone Drive,Burbage,in front of the car park with the yellow height restriction and just before the bottom of Boyslade Road.
 
borebage53 said:
There are only 2 Vickers Wellington bombers left in the world today. One is at the The RAF Museum Cosford in Shropshire and will be on display from May 2023.
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My late uncle was an Observer in Wellingtons, he joined the RAF in I believe 1937 ish so was involved from day one. He used to tell me when I was a kid about how, when fully laden, it seemed they would never get off the ground hence the nickname 'flying bedsteads'.
His aircraft came under severe fire from the Krauts on the way home one night causing it to ditch in the sea fortunately not far from the English coast and they were rescued. The impact caused head injuries particularly with his hearing that he lived with for the rest of his life. He was taken out of active service in 42/43 and was send up to a base in Scotland training new airmen. It is difficult to comprehend the courage it must have taken to climb into those things knowing that odds on you coming home reduced dramatically with each trip. Rest in Peace Uncle Alf.
 
borebage53 said:
……RAF service records created since the beginning of the Second World War remain in the custody of the Ministry of Defence and are accessible only to the service personnel themselves or their next of kin. Consult Gov.UK to find out more.
I guess the more information you have up front the better. Service number,date and place of birth,etc would simplify the process a little.
As far as I can tell from a quick look at the site details you would be able to access his service record online for free although there might be a charge for the actual service.
The service record information that can be obtained would be quite comprehensive and is likely to contain a number of RAF acronyms some of which are obvious,others more difficult to recognise.

Royal Air Force Personnel
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Click to expand...
Thank you sir, really appreciate it.
 
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