French R.A.F. memorial appeal

Merci beaucoup Laurent. Thank you for the clarification of the crew and also that due to the enormous explosion of the bombs, no remains were able to be found.

It is good to know, though, where the crash site is for any family members who may have been hoping for this information for many years.

It’s also good that even after all these years the brave sacrifice of the crew is still being remembered. I wish you well with your efforts to erect a Memorial.

Has anyone contacted the CWGC to advise them that the crew crash site is known? they often have Memorial tablets erected for personnel where their bodies have not been recovered after initial burial but “known to be at this site”. They may be able to offer some Memorial plaque to commemorate the crew.

Hello ,

Here’s Laurent Viton aka Zorglub.

You are right , mid under gunner Douglas Skingle was not listed on Chorley’s book for an unknown reason. The crew of seven was the same from their first missions in April but each time the mid under gunner was a different airman as spare. It was the first time Skingle flew with Weis’ crew. There is some clue he was manning a .50 Browning , as some shells were found at the crash-site.

Now there is the MREU report and also from several witnesses here that nobody took care of the bodies. All was scattered over a large area when the bomb load still with the wreckage exploded many months later. There are no unknown crew lost 8 June 1944 and buried in local cemetaries such Dieppe , Poix , Beauvais or Rouen. The crew is officialy missing ( see letters dated 1949 to the relatives ) since that date.

We just want to honour localy these brave forgotten airmen . Oddly a Hurricane pilot went down in the same village exactly 4 years before on 7 June 40 , F/O W.Wilkinson 43 Squadron. He is buried at the Bailleul-Neuville churchyard.

The newspaper article refers to Flt/Sgt Flitton as being from Luton
Name: FLITTON, DEREK NOEL
Initials: D N
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Flight Sergeant
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text: 408 (R.C.A.F.) Sqdn.
Age: 22
Date of Death: 08/06/1944
Service No: 1467806
Additional information: Son of Harry Joseph and Violet Isobel Flitton; husband of May Flitton, of St. Bride”s, Monmouthshire.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 217.
Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

Name: GRIGGS, RAYMOND WILLIAM
Initials: R W
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Pilot Officer
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text: 408 (R.C.A.F.) Sqdn.
Date of Death: 08/06/1944
Service No: 177073
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 211.
Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

Name: HUGILL, HERBERT
Initials: H
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Pilot Officer
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text: 408 (R.C.A.F.) Sqdn.
Age: 21
Date of Death: 08/06/1944
Service No: 175288
Additional information: Son of Albert and Nellie Hugill, of Middleton St. George, Co. Durham.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 211.
Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

Name: LOWREY, RALPH WILLIAM
Initials: R W
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Pilot Officer
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force
Unit Text: 408 (R.C.A.F.) Sqdn.
Date of Death: 08/06/1944
Service No: 54943
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 211.
Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

Name: INVERARITY, JOHN ALEXANDER
Initials: J A
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Pilot Officer
Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force
Unit Text: 408 Sqdn.
Age: 26
Date of Death: 08/06/1944
Service No: J/86381
Additional information: Son of James and Christina Inverarity; husband of Ethel I. Inverarity, of Lucky Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 250.
Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

Name: ROLPH, ROBERT HAROLD
Initials: R H
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Flying Officer
Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force
Unit Text: 408 Sqdn.
Age: 22
Date of Death: 08/06/1944
Service No: J/19174
Additional information: Son of Harold J. and Dorothy L. Rolph, of Cobourg, Ontario, Canada.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 248.
Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

Name: SKINGLE, DOUGLAS DAVID
Initials: D D
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Pilot Officer
Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force
Unit Text: 408 Sqdn.
Age: 21
Date of Death: 08/06/1944
Service No: J/90562
Additional information: Son of Basil Francis and Nellie Skingle, of Humber Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 253.
Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

Name: WEIS, JOSEPH WILLIAM
Initials: J W
Nationality: Canadian
Rank: Flight Lieutenant
Regiment/Service: Royal Canadian Air Force
Unit Text: 408 Sqdn.
Age: 26
Date of Death: 08/06/1944
Service No: C/1651
Additional information: Son of Herman William and Adela Grace Weis, of King, Ontario, Canada.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 244.
Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

Now, all are shown as Runnymede Memorial, so when was identification of the crash site made and a positive ID for the crew? If it crashed on land, then surely some remains would have been recovered, so are they in a French churchyard currently as “unknowns”?

CWGC records have 8 408 crew as missing that night, yet the only Lanc 408 lost was LL643 and Skingle isn’t shown as part of that crew……….

Is there more to this story yet to be revealed here?

It is obvious that the crew location has been known since the late 1940’s, see here:-
http://www.aircrewremembrancesociety.com/raf1944/LL643lancaster.html but that the initial impact and subsequent explosion of the bomb load prevented the recovery of any crew. It also confirms Skingle as being part of the crew.