This is the first comprehensive and detailed record to be published of all British, Commonwealth, Dominion and European Allied airmen who died while under Royal Air Force control or with their own national air services during the Second World War. A total of nearly 129,000 airmen and airwomen are listed, with details including their unit, base, place of residence and cause of their death where known, including aircraft types and serial numbers. The casualties range from the newly recruited airmen who died while still in training to the Air Marshals; from the Battle of Britain fighter pilots to the two-tour veteran bomber crews; and all those who were killed in accidents while training. Personnel from the British, Australian, Canadian, Indian, New Zealand, Rhodesian and South African air and naval air services are listed together with those from the European Allied air services of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the United States and Yugoslavia who served with the Royal Air Force. Also included are locally recruited airmen in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Introductory notes provide context to the individual records and the appendices include a detailed order of battle; casualty statistics by month, service, theatre and aircraft types; ship losses; service numbers; and places of burial or commemoration.
Being fully searchable, on all the fields of information shown below, allows not only individual airmen to be found with ease, but makes statistical information regarding aircraft, ranks, commands etc. to be accessed from within the database a painless task. The results for this type of search emphasise the usefulness of this database.
The thought and care that has gone into the bespoke software, which has been constructed by the same team that changed the rules with ‘Soldiers Died in the Great War’, is apparent throughout.
Fields of information:
Surname, Forename(s), Service Number, Rank, Function, Service, Base, Command, Unit, Aircraft Type, Aircraft Serial Number, Date of Death, Cause of Death, Age at Death, Native of, Place of Burial/Memorial, Honours and Awards, and Additional Notes.
Sample entries
Bonham, Sergeant James F, Army Air Corps (2720768), Glider Pilot, C Squadron, 2 Wing, Glider Pilot Regiment, Tarrant Rushton, Dorset, Army Air Corps, 19 September 1944, Killed in Action, Horsa, Shot down by flak on the approach to LZ ‘L’ near Oosterbeek during Operation Market Garden, a Polish soldier also died, Age 24, Arnhem Oosterbeek War Cemetery, Netherlands
Garcia-Webb, Warrant Officer Joseph, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (1280538), Pilot, 109 Squadron, Little Staughton, Beds, Bomber Command, 16 November 1944, Killed in Action, Mosquito BIX, ML907, Stalled and crashed returning to Little Staughton when control was lost avoiding HT cables in bad visibility returning from a raid on Julich, Age 28, Brockley Hill, Middx, Willesden Jewish Cemetery, Middx
Jordan, Sergeant Leonard Cecil, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (1377409), Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, 50 Squadron, Skellingthorpe, Lincs, Bomber Command, 27 September 1943, Killed in Action, Lancaster III, EE189, Shot down by a night fighter at Gross Forste 3 miles southeast of Sarstedt during a raid on Hanover, 1 of the crew survived and was captured, Hanover War Cemetery, Germany
Kelly, Pilot Officer Harry, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (108639), Pilot, 249 Squadron, Ta Kali, Malta, Mediterranean, 02 July 1942, Killed in Action, Spitfire VC, BR184, Shot down by a Bf109 when intercepting an enemy air raid by Ju88s on Luqa airfield, Malta, Texas, USA, Malta Memorial
Laurie, Leading Aircraftman John Yorke, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (1473779), Base Signals and Radar Unit, In transit, LST 420, 07 November 1944, Killed in Action (At Sea), Lost in the Landing Ship Tank LST 420 which was sunk when it hit a mine near the Middelkerke Bank in bad weather off Ostend, Belgium, Age 23, Hockley, Essex, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey
Pawluk, Flight Lieutenant Kazimierz, Polish Air Force (P0740), Navigator, 305 Squadron, Lindholme, Yorks, Bomber Command, 31 March 1944, Executed While a Prisoner of War, Wellington II, W5567, Shot down during a raid on Lubeck on 29 Mar 42, shot by the Gestapo near Hirschberg after escaping from Stalag Luft III in the Great Escape, Age 39, Poland, Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, Poland
Smith, Warrant Officer John Duthie, Royal New Zealand Air Force (NZ426081), Air Gunner, 2 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Bomber I, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, South West Pacific, 28 October 1944, Killed Whilst Flying, PV-1 Ventura, NZ4624, Ditched 90 miles ENE of Efate Island due to engine failure during the move of 2 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force from Gisborne to Guadalcanal, 4 of the crew survived, Age 24, Bourail Memorial, New Caledonia
Price + VAT (VAT is applicable to all UK orders)