Casualties from the Second World War 1939 – 1945
39706, Flying Officer (Pilot), 149 Squadron. Royal Air Force.
Missing In Action on the 18th December 1939 aged 22.
The Runnymeade Memorial, Surrey.
Michael was the only son of Franklin & Marion Briden. He married Joyce Eyre Nicholson on the 19th September 1939, at Mildenhall, Suffolk, where he was stationed. Just a few weeks later he was to be one of the first men from North Hertfordshire to be killed whilst serving with the RAF.
On the 18th December 1939, Michael was the Pilot of a Wellington, N2961, which after taking off from Mildenhall airfield was detailed to attack German Shipping at Wilhelmshaven. Twenty-Four Wellingtons were dispatched and ordered not to attack at less than 10,000ft. to enable them to avoid the worst of the flak. Twenty-Two aircraft reached the target and several German ships, that were seen off of Wilhelmshaven, were bombed. Weather conditions were cloudless and visibility was perfect. This was the first time during the war that German Fighters were directed to the Bomber force by a ground controller. Information was being relayed from an experimental " Freya" radar station situated on the nearby island of Wangerooge. The radar station had detected the Wellingtons when they were some 70 miles out on their approach flight. Flak then caused the formation to open out and this enabled the Fighters of 4/JG 2 to come in and Twelve of the bombers were shot down.
During the attack the port wing tanks on Briden's aircraft were damaged by a German fighter and he asked the leader to take the shortest route home as he was losing fuel. When they were between 40 - 60 miles off of the coast between Cromer and Sheringham the engines spluttered and the aircraft dropped back. It then glided down and landed in the sea, turning 90 degrees to Starboard as it did so with waves breaking over the fuselage, the time by now was 15.05pm. The aircraft remained afloat for five minutes with it's nose down in the water. The dinghy was inflated and was seen by the nose of the aircraft with three of the crew around it. When the aircraft went down the dinghy was seen to be on end with three of the crew hanging on to it. That, despite an extensive search by the Cromer lifeboat, H.F.Bailey, was the last anyone ever saw of them.
No survivors were ever found but the bodies of P/O William Brown and AC2 Alan Foster were eventually washed ashore, William Brown is buried in Norwich cemetery. The loss of such a large part of the formation had a major effect on the policy of the British Bomber Commanders. The validity of the self-defending Bomber formation was, it seemed, placed in serious doubt.
Michael Briden has no known grave and his name is recorded on the Runnymeade memorial.
Crew of WELLINGTON N2961
|
Number |
Rank |
Name |
Age |
|
39706 |
F/O |
Michael Franklin BRIDEN |
22 |
|
70794 |
P/O |
William Stanley Francis BROWN |
21 |
|
564063 |
F/O |
Valentine Henry Garner RICHARDSON |
26 |
|
547949 |
ACI |
Peter John WARREN |
21 |
|
621741 |
AC2 |
Alan Gordon FOSTER |
18 |
|
547262 |
AC2 |
Isaac Davidson LEIGHTON |
19 |
614115, Warrant Officer, 78 Squadron. Royal Air Force.
Missing on the 22nd April 1945 aged 25.
Reg & Audrey Brown
(Courtesy of Angus Moss)
On the 26th June 1942 a Halifax bomber, W1067, was on an operational flight to attack Bremen. The rear gunner was Warrant Officer Reginald Brown and at 00.42 Hours the aircraft was attacked by a German night-fighter piloted by Unteroffizer Heinz Vinke of II/NJG2. The pilot and the mid-upper gunner of the bomber perished in the attack but the rest of the crew baled out and were taken prisoner. Reginald was held in Stalag Luft 6 at Heydekrug as prisoner No.311 and remained there for nearly three years. In the Spring of 1945 the German forces were coming under increasing pressure on both their Western and Eastern fronts. In an effort to prevent Allied prisoners of war from joining up with the Allied forces it was decided to move them further back into the German interior, where they would be out of reach. Very often, due to the limited availability of transport, prisoners were forced to march on foot for many miles without a break. These men were usually in no fit state to undertake such an exacting task and many of them perished on the way. It appears that the men of Stalag Luft 6 may have been a little more fortunate in that transport was made available to move them. However, it seems that the very presence of these vehicles may have contributed to the deaths of a number of men.
On the 22nd April 1945 the small transport column had stopped at a small farm and the prisoners were placed in a barn for the night. As they slept a number of Typhoon fighters on an Intruder mission spotted the transport around the farm and attacked it. The barn was set alight and one prisoner described how Reg Brown had been killed instantly after a cannon shell from one of the aircraft had struck him in the throat whislt he was asleep.
Reg Brown was later buried by the side of the road and subsequently has no known grave. His name is recorded on the Runnymeade Memorial. (Panel 269).
Official records show him as being a resident of Benington.
C/MX57846, Chief Petty Officer, Royal Navy, HMS Porcupine.
Died Of Wounds on the 9th December 1942 aged 26.
The grave of Chief Petty Officer Charles Eric Canning in the Le Petit Lac War Cemetery, Oran, Algeria.
Charles was born in Kings Norton, Worcestershire on the 16th May 1917 and was the second son of Francis & Daisy Canning who later moved to " Ivanhoe" , Walkern.
He joined the Navy when he was aged 18 and married in 1939. He and his wife, Alma, lived with their son in Grange Road, Gillingham, Kent.
HMS Porcupine was a 1540 ton P Class Destroyer which was torpedoed on the 9th December 1942 by the German submarine U-602 whilst 70 miles North-east of Oran. She was towed to Arzeu where her wounded were put ashore. Later the ship was towed to the UK but was never repaired.
Charles is buried in the Le Petit Lac War Cemetery, Oran, Algeria. (E.B.15.)
974483, Lance Bombardier, 75th Medium (Shropshire Yeomanry) Regiment. Royal Artillery
Killed In Action on the 12th April 1945 aged 29.
George William Chambers
The grave of Lance Bombardier George William Chambers in the Faenza War Cemetery, Italy.
George was born on the 26th August 1915, the son of Herbert & Sarah Chambers of 3 Nottingham Road, Stevenage. Prior to joining the Army he worked as a shop assistant in a grocery store. In 1942 he married Doreen Davies of Moss Side, Manchester.
His Regiment served through the Italian campaign, sometimes in support of the 5th Army, sometimes with the 8th, and saw action in many notable battles. These included the third battle of Cassino, operations against the Gustav Line and subsequent breakthrough, operations against the Hilter Line, actions at Arezzo and the occupation of Florence. On the day he was killed his unit were in action in the area near Imola Bridge, Italy. No details are given in the Unit War Diary as to how many casualties were suffered by the Regiment.
George is buried in the Faenza War Cemetery, Italy. (3.C.10.)
Headstone Inscription: "Sincere And True In Heart And Mind What A Beautiful Memory He Left Behind".
1878750, Driver, 254 Field Park Company. Royal Engineers.
Drowned on the 8th March 1944 aged 25.
The grave of Driver Frank Cheyne in the Kirkee War Cemetery, India.
Frank was the son of William & Agnes Cheyne and was accidentally drowned in Bombay.
He is buried in the Kirkee War Cemetery, India. (8.K.2.).
5834344, Private, 5th Suffolk Regiment.
Died on the 13th August 1943 aged 30.
Frederick Alfred Clements (Source: Eleanor Moore)
Frederick Alfred Clements was born on 5 May 1913, the son of Noah & Alice Mary Clements, one of six children. Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War he worked as a factory hand at the Samuel Wright brewery in the village. He married Rose Kathleen Marvell in 1930 and the couple lived at 3 Froghall Lane where their only daughter, Mary, was born.
The Battalion sailed from Liverpool on the 28th October 1941, it’s original destination being the Middle East. On route orders were received diverting the Regiment to the Far East. After a long, arduous, eight-week journey that had taken them via Halifax, Cape Town & Bombay the Regiment arrived in Ahmednagar on the 27th December. After three weeks of intensive acclimatisation and training the Regiment embarked on the USS West Point for Singapore where they arrived at dawn on the 29th January 1942, just two weeks before the island fortress would capitulate to the forces of the Japanese Imperial Army. On the 9th February the Japanese landed on the north-western side of the island and began what was to be the greatest defeat the British army had ever suffered. Ordered to surrender, the men in his Battalion were taken prisoner by the Japanese on 15 February 1942. They were soon to find themselves being put to work on the notorious Burma-Thailand railway and would move from camp to camp, dependant on the needs of the Japanese engineers who were overseeing the work.
Fred died from the effects of Colitis at the Kami Sonkurai No.1 camp in Thailand. Located only short distance from Three Pagodas Pass and the border with Burma, the camp was one of the most remote sites on the Burma-Thailand railway. His body was removed from the camp cemetery in December 1945 and is now buried in the Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery, Burma. (B4.W.6.)