Lest We Forget – looking for relatives of a WW2 Wembley airman

 Guest post by local historian Philip Grant in a personal capacity

Extract from a document produced by the Dutch Airwar Study Group 1939-1945.

 

The Second World War seems a long time ago, and we probably don’t think about it very often, unless we were personally affected by the loss of a family member. But there are some people who still give their time and effort to ensure that those who lost their lives in that awful conflict are remembered with respect. I was contacted recently by one of those, asking for help to try and find relatives, and hopefully a photograph of, an RAF airman from Wembley who died in 1943, and I’m writing this guest post to ask for any help that you can give, please.

 

Ronald Douglas Francis (no relation to the editor) was born in May 1921. By the age of 21, he was a Sargeant in the R.A.F., and the wireless operator / air gunner on a Lancaster bomber flying missions to bomb industrial sites in Germany. On the night of 3 April 1943, his aircraft was shot down by a German night fighter, and at around midnight it crashed in flames in a forest near Stevensbeek, in the south of The Netherlands. All seven members of the Lancaster’s crew were killed, and their graves are now in a war cemetery at Eindhoven.

 

Some of the war graves at Eindhoven, and the gravestone of Sgt. R.D. Francis.
(Source: Commonwealth War Graves Commission website)

 

The Dutch Airwar Study Group 1939-1945 have been collecting information about this aircraft and its crew, and have sent me an excellent information sheet, prepared by one of their members, Rene, which I will ask Martin to attach at the end of this article. As you will see, they have yet to find a photograph of Ronald Francis, or of the plane’s pilot, 20-year old Pilot Officer W.H. Swire, and rear gunner Sgt. R.R. Feeley. They would very much like to have photographs of all the crew members, to include on a memorial it is hoped to erect near the crash site. A similar memorial was recently installed to remember the crew of a Wellington bomber, who also died in April 1943 when it crashed, just inside the Dutch border, after being damaged by “flak” (anti-aircraft gunfire) on a mission over Duisburg.

 

Memorial board to a Wellington bomber crew. (Courtesy of Leo Janssen)

 

As well as photographs, the Study Group would also like to contact any living relatives of Ronald Douglas Francis, and his fellow crew members, so that they can be invited to, or at least aware of, the steps being taken and events to commemorate the lost Lancaster bomber. Ronald’s parents, John Charles Francis and Winifred Edith Francis, lived at 19 Douglas Avenue, Wembley (a turning off of Ealing Road). Does anyone in the area still remember the family, including the names of any of Ronald’s brothers or sisters who might still be alive, and where they might be found now? If you have any information which might help, please send it to Leo Janssen at: leojanssen1954@ziggo.nl  (with a copy to Wembley Matters, if possible).

 

Wars are horrible things. They bring about terrible loss of life and injury, destruction and disruption of people’s lives. Bombing, especially the indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, is one of its worst aspects. But it is not the men and women who volunteer, or are called-up, to serve in the armed forces of their countries, who cause the wars, or decide what acts of war are inflicted on “the enemy”. If they lose their lives (or suffer life changing injuries or trauma) in the course of their service, they deserve to be remembered with respect.

 

It is moving, and humbling, that there are groups of people in The Netherlands who are working to ensure that British and Commonwealth war dead are not forgotten. Another organisation, in the same North Brabant province as Stevensbeek, is the Overloon War Chronicles Foundation. They are collecting the photographs and stories of the Allied soldiers who fought and died in the Battle of Overloon, a crucial victory in the advance towards Germany in October 1944, and are among the 281 who are buried in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in the village.

 

A remembrance service at Overloon war graves cemetery. (Courtesy of Leo Janssen)

 

For the past few years, people the municipality of Land van Cuijk, which includes Overloon, have been holding a special remembrance event at their local war graves cemeteries each Christmas time. Any relatives of the dead, or others interested, are invited to join the local community for this. On Tuesday 24 December 2024 the tour of four cemeteries will end at Overloon, with a programme of music, speeches, poems and readings, starting at 4pm. And on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, candles will be lit on each of the graves, as part of the annual Lights on War Graves commemoration.

 

The annual commemoration and Lights on War Graves at Overloon cemetery.
(Courtesy of Leo Janssen)

 

Lest we forget!

Philip Grant.