SHORT STIRLING AIRCRAFT & CREW PHOTOGRAPH'S

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K4KittyCrew
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Re: SHORT STIRLING AIRCRAFT & CREW PHOTOGRAPH'S

Post by K4KittyCrew »

here are a few more. please forgive me if I've repeated a photo ........ hard to keep track at times.
John
Image
Image
Image
K for Kitty Crew - Winthorpe, 1661 HCU's - stirlingaircraftsoc.raf38group.org/
630 Squadron - East Kirkby
" There is nothing glorious about war with the exception of those who served us so valiantly"
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K4KittyCrew
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Re: SHORT STIRLING AIRCRAFT & CREW PHOTOGRAPH'S

Post by K4KittyCrew »

And a few more.
John
Image
Image
K for Kitty Crew - Winthorpe, 1661 HCU's - stirlingaircraftsoc.raf38group.org/
630 Squadron - East Kirkby
" There is nothing glorious about war with the exception of those who served us so valiantly"
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K4KittyCrew
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Re: SHORT STIRLING AIRCRAFT & CREW PHOTOGRAPH'S

Post by K4KittyCrew »

And another crew photo.
John
Image
K for Kitty Crew - Winthorpe, 1661 HCU's - stirlingaircraftsoc.raf38group.org/
630 Squadron - East Kirkby
" There is nothing glorious about war with the exception of those who served us so valiantly"
Nocturna mors
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Re: SHORT STIRLING AIRCRAFT & CREW PHOTOGRAPH'S

Post by Nocturna mors »

......i wondered where the Stirling general section had vanished to! :) ....thanks for the heads up "Kitty"

Is it my eyes? :roll: ....or does the chap kneeling on the left in the picture have a sailors uniform on?

Tom
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Re: SHORT STIRLING AIRCRAFT & CREW PHOTOGRAPH'S

Post by Bruno »

Hello,

It isn't your eyes!
The sailor on the photo is one of the three ground crews (kneeling from left to right) of Flight Lieutenant Brierly's crew of 570 Squadron, 38 Group. I don't know if it was the case in other RAF Groups but it wasn't rare in 38 Group to have sailors in Ground crews.

You can also see them in front of the Short Stirling LK199 V8-'L' that Flight Lieutenant Brierly and his crew flew most of the time. By example, they flew 3 missions on board LK199 during Operation Market Garden.
Regards.

Bruno
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Re: SHORT STIRLING AIRCRAFT & CREW PHOTOGRAPH'S

Post by Stirling Project »

A recent edition of Flypast magazine gave a first hand account from a sailor who was attached to a Stirling sqn
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K4KittyCrew
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Re: SHORT STIRLING AIRCRAFT & CREW PHOTOGRAPH'S

Post by K4KittyCrew »

here are a couple more to add. All credits, listed.
John
Image
Image
Image
K for Kitty Crew - Winthorpe, 1661 HCU's - stirlingaircraftsoc.raf38group.org/
630 Squadron - East Kirkby
" There is nothing glorious about war with the exception of those who served us so valiantly"
Colin-bell
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Re: SHORT STIRLING AIRCRAFT & CREW PHOTOGRAPH'S

Post by Colin-bell »

Have just joined trying to find out more about my great uncle, CCJ Bowyer or Clifford or Cliff Bowyer to his friends. Clifford was in the RAF Volunteer Reserve and was in XV Squadron when he died on the 14th of May 1943 - wondering if any info or photos of him and his crew.
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Re: SHORT STIRLING AIRCRAFT & CREW PHOTOGRAPH'S

Post by Dave_Richardson »

Hi Colin

Welcome to the forum. Here's a bit about your Uncle:

Squadron Leader CLIFFORD CHARLES JOHN BOWYER (Pilot).
Service No: 118812.

13-14 May 1943

15 Squadron.
Stirling III BK704 LS-Z.
Op. Bochum.

Crew.
S/L. C C J. Bowyer +
P/O. D C. Smith. pow.
Sgt. H C. Cooper. pow.
F/O. W G M. Olivier. RCAF. pow.
Sgt. J B. Craggs. pow.
Sgt. T P. Hanrahn. pow.
Sgt. E E. Warner. RCAF. pow.
Sgt. C E. Keik. pow.

Took off 0014 hrs Mildenhall. Coned (caught in serachlights) at 11,000 feet and hit by flak. Exploded and crashed 0130 hrs at Barlo 6 km NNE of Bocholt, where S/L. Bower was buried on 17 May. his grave is now in the Reichwald Forest Cemetery. At 21 he was one of the youngest Squadron Leader pilots killed on bomber operations in 1943.

Info from Bomber Command Losses. Vol.4 W R. Chorley.

Hope this helps

Dave
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Re: SHORT STIRLING AIRCRAFT & CREW PHOTOGRAPH'S

Post by Dave_Richardson »

Hi Colin

Here's a bit more. In 2011 there was a thread on another forum (WW2 Talk) regarding airmen from County Wicklow. One of the respondents posted the Chorley info as above and then later on this was posted:

"My father Sgt. Charles Edward Keik was the rear gunner in this Stirling. LS-Z, serial BK704. He was the last one to get out of the plane - S/L Cliff Bowyer told all the crew to bale out and sadly went down with the plane. All surviving crew members were POW's. My father retired from the RAF in 1973 and retired to New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. A Dutch family (Peter & Wim Rhebergen) from towns on the German border (Winterswjk & Aalten) have researched and catalogued information on many WW2 aircraft that came down nearby and published a book with a Chapter covering each incident. The amount of detail in each chapter varies for each crashed aircraft, after contacting as many surviving crew as possible. They had traced and contacted my father in NZ who gave them some additional details. In May 1984 when he came back to UK on a family visit we visited the Dutch family who took us to the crash site, the farm (1Km away) where my father was captured and the war grave of Cliff Bowyer. They told me that they had contacted several of the crew and Cliff Bowyer's two sisters in Ireland, during research for their book. I was born in September 1943, 4 months after the plane was shot down. But for the heroism of Cliff Bowyer in staying with the aircraft until all the crew had safely baled out, I may never have known my father ! Peter Keik"

Dave
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