This is a pretty hopeless case but I guess it's worth an effort. These are the facts known about my husband's birth father. His name was John Smith (yeah, I know!) and he was a rear-gunner in the RAF who went down with his plane 'somewhere'. He was, presumably, stationed near Blackpool where he met my mother-in-law and a brief romance followed which resulted in her pregnancy so he was alive somewhere between Nov 1941 and July 1942. Mother-in-law said he flew in a Lancaster but a reliable source says those dates don't fit and it must have been a Manchester. There are no other facts and, sadly, my husband did not ask any more questions. I suspect he had been conditions never to speak about these things, as happened long ago. Where do we start looking? Indeed, do we start looking or just be thankful my husband was given at least that small crumb of information?
Bren
Results 1 to 10 of 13
Thread: John Smith
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05-08-2008, 6:10 AM #1BrendaEGuest
John Smith
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05-08-2008, 6:40 AM #2brewerregGuest
Hi Bren.
I was looking through some records of a John Smith (Not your John.
Noted this which may or may not be of interest to you.
https://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=4&gl=au
RB
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05-08-2008, 7:47 AM #3GeoffersGuestOriginally Posted by BrendaE
and he was a rear-gunner in the RAF who went down with his plane 'somewhere'. He was, presumably, stationed near Blackpool where he met my mother-in-law and a brief romance followed which resulted in her pregnancy so he was alive somewhere between Nov 1941 and July 1942. Mother-in-law said he flew in a Lancaster but a reliable source says those dates don't fit and it must have been a Manchester.
Does your husband have any photos of his dad by which his rank might be ascertained? Any other crumbs of information - a part of the country that he came from, was he British or from the Commonwealth?
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06-08-2008, 6:23 AM #4
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06-08-2008, 6:29 AM #5BrendaEGuest
Thank you, I shall have a look at that. No, there are no photos, no description, no squadron details, no nothing. Syd thought his mother said the fellow was from Lancashire but somehow, I can't help wondering if his memory (or imagination) has played tricks on him as far as that is concerned. The only reason mother-in-law knew about his death was that on telling her parents she was pregnant, her mother took her down to the RAF base to confront the fellow. That's when she was told his plane had been shot down. None of this was known until she decided, shortly before she died, that Syd ought to know who his birth father was. I'm afraid the stigma of 'illegitimacy' was very real once upon a time.
Bren
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06-08-2008, 7:56 AM #6
Hi Bren
Just a thought, have you tried approaching it from a different angle? If you know the place then try to find Bomber Commands nearest Airfield, then which Squadron based there and look up Squadron Histories to find what operations were flown and casualty list.
Wikipedia has the Lancaster being supplied to Squadrons early 1942.
"The first RAF squadron to convert to the Lancaster was No. 44 Squadron RAF in early 1942."
Keith
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06-08-2008, 9:45 AM #7GeoffersGuest
Do try Keith's approach in the mesage above
Originally Posted by BrendaE
The only reason mother-in-law knew about his death was that on telling her parents she was pregnant, her mother took her down to the RAF base to confront the fellow. That's when she was told his plane had been shot down.
1. The cynic in me thinks this is a convenient way to avoid deailng with an unwanted child and that he may not have been killed. Sorry if this causes any offence but it is something that must be considered.
2. An awful lot of air crew were killed in WW2 so it is quite possible that she was told the truth - but at least this very substantially narrows down the period in which he could have died. Looking at CWGC there appear to be 9 John SMITHs who fall into the crietia given - Combine the dates with the nearby RAF station and Kieth approach and you may get somewhere.
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07-08-2008, 10:54 PM #8BrendaEGuestOriginally Posted by Geoffers
I have looked at the most likely John Smiths on CWGC but of course, it creates more questions. For instance, last night my husband said his John Smith was shot down over Germany. Now that would, I presume, mean it most unlikely there is a grave or, if there is, would it be in one of the German cemeteries? If not, I presume his name could be on a memorial. That would narrow the field down. Then again, I find no rear gunners on the list and now my husband says, "No, he was an air gunner". I have no idea if they are one and the same thing and whichever one he was, I presume he was not ranked. Hmmm.
Bren
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07-08-2008, 10:56 PM #9BrendaEGuest
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08-08-2008, 8:15 AM #10
Air Gunners operate flexible-mount or turret-mounted machine guns or autocannons in an aircraft. So the way I see it, a Rear Gunner would be a Air Gunner.
This site my assist you in locating RAF Stations/Squadrons
https://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/index.html
Keith
Helping you trace your British Family History & British Genealogy.
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