CREW MEMBER PROFILE |
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Surname: |
RUSSOM |
First Name/s: |
Eric |
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Service No/s: |
1214848 |
Service: |
RAFVR |
Branch: |
Wireless Operator |
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Awards: |
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SERVICE RECORDS |
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Date |
Event |
Aircraft Flown |
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10 Jan 1941 |
Enlisted at No. 2 Recruit Centre (2 RC), Cardington, Bedfordshire, as Aircraftman Second Class (AC2), mustering as Air Crew Hand (Wireless Operator / Air Gunner). |
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11 Jan 1941 |
Attended No. 7 Aviation Candidates' Selection Board (7 ACSB), Cardington, Bedfordshire, where he was recommended for training as Wireless Operator / Air Gunner |
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11 Jan 1941 |
Transferred to the Reserve, pending call-up. |
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29 Jul 1941 |
Called up to the Receipt and Despatch Unit (RDU), Blackpool, Lancashire . |
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05 Aug 1941 |
No. 10 (Signals) Recruit Centre (10 (S) RC), Imperial Annex, Dickson Road, Blackpool, Lancashire. |
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01 Oct 1941 |
Promoted to Leading Aircraftman (LAC). Date TBC. |
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24 Oct 1941 |
No. 8 Signals (Radio) School (8 S(R)S), Cranwell, Lincolnshire. |
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12 Jan 1942 |
Remustered as Wireless Operator / Under Training Air Gunner. |
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25 Jan 1942 |
RAF Station, Drem, East Lothian, Scotland. |
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10 Jun 1942 |
No. 7 Signals School (7 SS), Science Museum, South Kensington, London. Trainees were billeted at nearby Albert Court, and took meals at the Victoria & Albert Museum. |
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23 Sep 1942 |
No. 2 Signals School (2 SS), Yatesbury, Wiltshire. |
Dominie / Proctor tbc |
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14 Nov 1942 |
No. 4 Air Observers School (4 AOS), West Freugh, Wigtownshire, Scotland. |
Anson |
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02 Jan 1943 |
No. 10 Air Gunners School (10 AGS), Castle Kennedy, Wigtownshire, Scotland. |
Defiant / Anson |
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12 Feb 1943 |
Awarded Wireless Operator/Air Gunner (WAG) brevet, promoted to Sergeant, and remustered as Wireless Operator / Air Gunner. |
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02 Mar 1943 |
No. 27 Operational Training Unit (27 OTU), Course 36, Lichfield, Staffordshire; later shown in Course 44 Jul 43. |
Wellington |
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18 Sep 1943 |
No. 1656 Heavy Conversion Unit (1656 HCU), Lindholme, Yorkshire (Lancaster); here the crew assembled (after 18 Sep 43 when the other crew members arrived), and probably now comprised: |
Lancaster |
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09 Nov 1943 |
Remustered as Wireless Operator Air (2). |
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05 Dec 1943 |
No. 576 Squadron, ‘A’ Flight, Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire |
Lancaster |
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16 Dec 1943 |
Berlin; lost in DV342 UL-G2, aged 23 |
Lancaster |
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576 Squadron FLYING RECORDS |
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Date |
Aircraft |
Code |
Flight Details |
T/O |
Land |
Flt Time |
Crew |
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16 Dec 1943 |
DV342 |
UL-G2 |
BERLIN |
1630 |
nk |
nk |
P1 Fg Off R.S. McAra |
NOTES: |
Failed to return. All crew killed. Shot down either by Hptm. Walter Borgers of Stab III./NJG5 (Aircrew Remembered), or by Fwbl. Herbert Herre of 3./JG 302 in a Bf109G (AviationSafety.net & Nachtjagd Combat Archive 1943) (tbc) at 2008 hrs at 10,000 ft. Seen to burst into flames and explode over Lichtenberg, 10 km ENE Berlin. Pieces of the aircraft fell over a wide area; one of the engines fell in Rittergutstraße, where two of the crew (Chapman & Russell) were found; another engine fell in Verbindungsweg. A local policeman remembered that they were dressed in blue and each wore a white woollen sweater and escape boots. Both men wore parachute harnesses but there was no sign of the parachutes. The two bodies were taken to a central mortuary in Berlin and later buried in Doberlitz-Elsgrund German Military Cemetery, later interred at the Berlin 1939-45 War Cemetery. No trace of the other crewmen was found. |
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PERSONAL INFORMATION |
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Personal Records Restricted - not available to the public |
PHOTOS & DOCUMENTS |
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Personal Documents Restricted - not available to the public |
