The thread on the selling of Aircrew’s personal items on e-bay has allowed me to tell a story and to ask for a little help. First off, the story:
Halifax MZ494 ‘C8-B’ of 640 Sqn RAF Leconfield was lost over Witten (Ruhr Valley) on the night of 19 March 1945. It was the last combat loss of 640 Sqn, and particularly harsh in light of the fact that the crew were fast approaching the end of a tour – 27th op. The crew were as follows:
Flt Lt Alan Huckle DFC (Pilot)
Ft Lt B. Walton (Navigator)
F/O J. Willoughby (Bomb aimer)
P/O W.E.C. Ralph (Air Engineer)
F/Sgt S. McKaig (W/Op)
F/Sgt M. Barratt (A/G)
F/Sgt B. Allingham (AG)
All were lost to flack with the exception of jim Willoughby who managed to bail out and was subsequently captured.
What has this all got to do with me and the thread title? Well:….
Back in 2001 I found an old tatty copy of an air raid spotters guide, estimated 1944, in an antiques shop in Sandwich, Kent. I bought it for the high price of £5, took it home and had a flick through the pages. In the back was the following transcript: (spelling mistakes included)
“This book was handed to Eric Ralph by his brother Bill when he left the ATC to join the RAFVR. Bill became a pilot officer Flight Engineer fl…… Stirlings then Halifax bombers of ….. Sqn Bomber command. Bill had many operations over Germany, but much to the great sorrow of his Family and friends he failed to return from one op being shot down over Germany. All the crew of the Halifax was killed with the exception of one man Pilot Officer Willoby from Canada, who managed to parachute to safety. He is now a school teacher in Canada. All the rest of the crew are buried in the Reichwald Forest in Germany. Bill’s mother subsequently visited there boys graves after the war.
Eric Ralph volunteered for air crew duties with the RAF and was accepted as a W/op air Gunner, but the war was very at a close and was directed into the Army where his W/op knowledge came in very useful for he ………… as a driver W/operator and had the rank of Sgt W/S Bombardier. he went to the middle east on active service in Egypt, Palestine and Cyprus.
This book has now been handed to Eric’s eldest son, Kenneth who has just joined the ATC.”
Having read that note, I thought nothing more of it, except, I wonder where he was based; so I traced jim Willougby’s squadron. 640 Sqn Leconfield. Never heard of it. And that was that.
Three weeks later I was posted to RAF Leconfield, near Beverley, East Yorkshire………
Finally, the question – how do I trace a family to whom I have no tangible link? I would dearly like to re-unite the family with the book, along with a painting of MZ494, and the history of Bill Ralph’s crew.
By: Lindy's Lad - 9th November 2007 at 17:25
Karl,
I actually wrote to you some years ago, but obviously the letter didn’t reach to you. At the time I knew Jim was alive and was quite desperate to trace him. I believe he has now passed away. Most of my info came from Bill Norman’s excellent book.
So far I’ve found that Bill Ralph is buried between Huckle and McKaig, so at least they kept them together.
LL
I knew the lone survivor Jim Willoughby who I met in White Rock. B.C. about 10 yeras ago when doing research on Halifax crews.
He gave me a copy of his memoirs, booklet really, about his crew, tour, shootdown, evasion, and POW experience.
If you or the Ralph family, if found, are interested tell them to contact me on
our Halifax forum at our site www.57rescuecanada.comThe best source for info on 640 sq. is Bill Norman, author in Yorkshire who has done a 640 squadon history, he frequents our forum, so look in our archived threads for his coordinates.
Thanks for thinking of the family of this crew.
Cheers, Karl Kj.
By: karlkj - 9th November 2007 at 13:50
640 crew survivor
I knew the lone survivor Jim Willoughby who I met in White Rock. B.C. about 10 yeras ago when doing research on Halifax crews.
He gave me a copy of his memoirs, booklet really, about his crew, tour, shootdown, evasion, and POW experience.
If you or the Ralph family, if found, are interested tell them to contact me on
our Halifax forum at our site www.57rescuecanada.com
The best source for info on 640 sq. is Bill Norman, author in Yorkshire who has done a 640 squadon history, he frequents our forum, so look in our archived threads for his coordinates.
Thanks for thinking of the family of this crew.
Cheers, Karl Kj.
By: RPSmith - 9th November 2007 at 12:08
I, too, have used the CWGC site tracing a relative.
You mention the crew being buried in Reichwald Forest – it is possible (as in the case of my relative) they were re-interred in a CWGC cemetery after the war.
Good luck – and let us know how you get on.
Roger Smith.
By: Drem - 9th November 2007 at 08:22
Halifax
If no luck with that, always worth trying the local newspaper where the family came from, have always had great success doing it that way as well.
By: Lindy's Lad - 8th November 2007 at 22:58
Thanks again kev.
For everyone else – I hope this little story makes you realise how small personal items can lead to huge amounts of information with regards to telling the story of their former owners. Recognise personal items for what they are – the HUMAN side of history. This kind of history is in far greater danger of being forgotten or lost than the aeroplanes themselves….
LL
By: kev35 - 8th November 2007 at 22:11
CWGC is the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website which is a fantastic resource. The Commission itself cares for the War graves of Commonwealth Service personnel in perpetuity while the website itself provides a searchable database for Service personnel who were killed in action or died in service between 1914 and 1921 and 1939 and 1947. Try the link below yourself. It is very useful.
http://www.cwgc.org/default.asp
hope this all proves useful and you are successful in your search.
Regards,
kev35
By: Lindy's Lad - 8th November 2007 at 22:03
Bloomin nora that was quick. I will do exactly that Kev… thanks!
What is CWGC?
By: kev35 - 8th November 2007 at 21:10
So, you’re looking for the Ralph family?
CWGC has Pilot Officer William Edward Charles Ralph as being the son of William Charles and Dorid Rachel Ralph of Margate.
Now, seeing as you bought the book in Kent only six years ago I’d start with a search for Ralph’s in the Margate phone directory.Write to each one listed explaining the situation and see if that nets you any results.
Another avenue would be to find someone with access to BMD indices and try and trace relatives born after his death that way.
Both approaches have worked for me in the past.
Hope this helps.
Regards,
kev35
Sign In
November 8, 2007 at 8:36 pm