Enlisted at No. 1 Recruit Centre (1 RC), Uxbridge, Middlesex, as Aircraftman Second Class (AC2), and mustering as Air Crew Hand (Pilot).

Attended No. 3 Aviation Candidates' Selection Board, Uxbridge, Middlesex, where he was recommended for training as a Pilot, and also recommended for a Commission

Transferred to the Reserve, pending call-up.

Called up to No. 9 Receiving Wing tbc (9 RW), Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire.

No. 2 Initial Training Wing (2 ITW), Jesus & Downing Colleges, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire.

Promoted to Leading Aircraftman (LAC), remustering as under training Pilot.

Southern Rhodesia.

Bulawayo.

No. 25 Elementary Flying Training School (25 EFTS), Belvedere, Salisbury, Mashonaland.

Tiger Moth

No. 20 Service Flying Training School (20 SFTS), Cranborne, Salisbury, South Mashonaland.

Oxford

Illegible promotion.

Home Embarkation (HE); embarked, probably from Beira in Portuguese East Africa, for the UK (vessel n/k)

Disembarked in the UK (port n/k).

Uxbridge (A/E) (?), Middlesex.

No. 1 Air Crew Reception Centre (1 ACRC), Regent’s Park (Lord’s Cricket Ground), St. John’s Wood, London NW8.

No. 51 (Training) Group Pool, Moorfield House, Yeadon, Leeds, Yorkshire.

RAF College Service Flying Training School (SFTS), 42 Course tbc, Cranwell, Lincolnshire.

Awarded Pilot's Flying Badge, promoted to Sergeant, and remustered as Pilot.

Attached to No. 1514 Beam Approach Training (1514 BAT) Flight, Coningsby & Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire.

Oxford

Returned to RAF College Service Flying Training School (SFTS), Cranwell, Lincolnshire.

No. 28 Operational Training Unit (28 OTU), 15 Course, RAF Wymeswold, Leicestershire; here he would have assembled his crew, which probably comprised:
L R B Matthews; Pilot
R H Sinclair, RNZAF; Air Bomber
R S Bowden; Navigator
C H Bayram; Wireless Operator
D J Bealey & D W Blackman; Air Gunners

Wellington

Attached to Ossington, Nottinghamshire; satellite for Wymeswold.

Wellington

Returned to No. 28 Operational Training Unit (28 OTU), 15 Course, Wymeswold, Leicestershire.

Wellington

No. 1662 Heavy Conversion Unit (1662 HCU), Blyton; here the crew would have been joined by their Flight Engineer, A D Roulson.

Sterling / Halifax / Lancaster tbc

No. 101 Squadron, 'C' Flight, Ludford Magna, Lincolnshire with his crew
Ops (5)
03 Oct 43 - Kassel
07 Oct 43 - Stuttgart
22 Oct 43 - Kassel; DNCO: mission abandoned. One hour after take-off, the port outer engine failed due to an oil leak and severe icing; Load jettisoned at sea
03 Nov 43 - Dusseldorf
10 Nov 43 - Modane
26 Nov 43 - Stuttgart

Lancaster

Appointed to Acting Flight Sergeant.

No. 576 Squadron, 'B' Flight, Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire
Ops (1)
04 Dec 43 - Leipzig; lost in JB550 UL-T2, aged 32

Lancaster

Leipzig; lost in JB550 UL-T2, aged 32

Hit by flak on way to the target in the vicinity of Burg at about 2300 hrs or possibly shot down by Fw. Heinz Oberheide of 4./NJG3 at 0322 to the SW of Leipzig at 21,000 ft. and caught fire. Part of the bombload  jettisoned before the aircraft fell apart and crashed in two pieces, one near the brickworks in Stegelitz and the other in a field near Landhaus Zeddenick, near Möckern, 14 miles East of Magdeburg. The two villages are approximately 4 miles apart, which might suggest strong winds. Only one crew member (unknown) baled out but did not survive. 

Buried originally locally in the two villages, he and the crew were reinterred at City Cemetery, Möckern and were reinterred on 19 Jul 47 at the Berlin 1939-45 War Cemetery, Charlottenburg. Grave 6.H.5

Lancaster

Personal Records Restricted - not available to the public

Personal Documents Restricted - not available to the public