Robert George Frederick BRYANT
Sergeant
1334545
Navigator/Bomber
90 Squadron
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
who died on
Sunday 28 February 1943
Grave or Reference Panel Number: Plot P. Coll. grave 1-5.
Leonard Joseph HUMPHREY
Sergeant
1395877
Air Gunner
90 Squadron
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
who died on
Sunday 28 February 1943. Age 26
'Eternal Rest
Give unto him,
O lord;
May he rest in Peace
Amen'
Additional Information:
Son of Joseph Victor and Emily Humphrey, of Erith, Kent; husband of Joan Dora Humphrey, of Erith.
Grave or Reference Panel Number: Plot P. Coll. grave 1-5.
Edward (Teddy) LEAR
Flying Officer
126018
Navigator
90 Squadron
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
who died on
Sunday 28 February 1943. Age 22
'In memory
Of our dearly beloved 'Teddy'
Wife Lillian,
Mother, brother and sisters'
Additional Information:
Son of Thomas and Beatrice Lear; husband of Lillian Margaret Lear, of Stockwell, London.
Grave or Reference Panel Number: Plot P. Coll. grave 1-5.
Ronald Vivian Steven ROOKE
Sergeant
1376950
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
90 Squadron
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Who died on
Sunday 28 February 1943. Age 22
'You are ever
in our thoughts,
Darling son and brother'
Additional Information:
Son of Claude Stephen and Grace Lillian Rooke, of Hammersmith, London.
Grave or Reference Panel Number: Plot P. Coll. grave 1-5.
Vernon Enright SPAIN
Pilot Officer
413499
Pilot
90 (R.A.F.) Squadron
Royal New Zealand Air Force
who died on
Sunday 28 February 1943. Age 29
Additional Information:
Son of William Henry and Margaret Mary Spain; husband of Olga M. C. Spain, of Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
Grave or Reference Panel Number: Plot P. Coll. grave 1-5.
Cemetery:
AVRANCHES COMMUNAL CEMETERY, Manche, France.
Location:
In June 1940 it was for a few days the Headquarters of "Norman-force", consisting of 3rd Armoured Brigade, 71st Field Regiment R.A., 157th Infantry Brigade and 52nd Divisional Troop Carrying Coy, R.A.S.C., prior to the departure of all British forces from the peninsula.
The communal cemetery is north-east of the town, on the N.176 road to Caen and Vire, and the entrance is about 180 metres east of its junction with the N.173 road to Granville. There are 5 Commonwealth burials of the 1939-1945 war here, in a military plot in the north eastern corner.
Visiting Information:
Avranches is a town and sub-prefecture on the west coast of the Cherbourg peninsula.
Circumstances:
Sunday 28 February/Monday 1 March 1943
ROYAL AIR FORCE BOMBER COMMAND
Raid on Saint-Nazaire, France (by 437 aircraft - 9 lost)
90 Squadron, RAF (Ridgewell, Essex - 3 Group, Bomber Command)
Stirling I R9349 WP-'U' took off at 1807 and exploded in the air after being hit by flak at 2200, crashing in a field (at Clos sous les Bois, town of Carnet, a kilometre from St James, 19km south of Avranches). Two RAF Sergeants, J. McGHIE (who sustained a dislocated shoulder when his parachute deployed) and K H. JACKSON succeeded in baling out before the explosion and were taken prisoner. Their five comrades are buried at Avranches.
Captain: NZ413499 Pilot Officer Vernon Enright SPAIN, RNZAF - Age 29. 485hours. 17th operation.
Many thanks to Errol MARTYN from New Zealand (author of the trilogy ‘For Your Tomorrow - A record of New Zealanders who have died while serving with the RNZAF and Allied Air Services since 1915’).
2 March 1943, Avranches Cemetery.
Arthur Von Pasquali, Kreiskommandant of Avranches, pays a last tribute to the five 90 Squadron airmen before their burial.
