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Those known to have served at RAF Wratting Common during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Dunn Stan William Radcliff. WO.
- Weaver Victor Alfred. Flt.Sgt. (d.24th Aug 1943)
- Whitcombe DFC.. Sydney.
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please
Add a Name to this List
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The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
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Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our
Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. |
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Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted
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Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
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Want to know more about RAF Wratting Common? There are:15 items tagged RAF Wratting Common available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Sydney Whitcombe DFC. 195 Squadron My father Sydney Whitcombe did not talk much about his experiences of his service in the RAF.
He was a navigator for the 195 Squadron and received the DFC for his bravery.
Interestingly enough he was at first a conscientious objector when war broke out, later joining the RAF having spent most of the initial years dragging bodies from bombed buildings in London. I have a photograph of him and some of his crew with their names but would love to find out more about anyone connected to the 195 squadron and any other photographs.
The names of the crew members were:
Frank Wilcock (wireless operator)
Len Parsons (bomber)
‘Paddy’ (air gunner)
Stan Renaut (air gunner)
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WO. Stan William Radcliff Dunn 90 Sqdn. On 4th July 1944 my father Stan Dunn joined Heavy Conversion Unit at Wratting Common, Cambridgeshire, `B` Flight, flying its Stirling aircraft as rear gunner. His pilot was F.S. Boothman. They then moved on to Lancaster Finishing School on 8th August. After a short stay they then went back to HCU Wratting Common on 5th September with a different Pilot, F.O. Orr, finishing on the 12th. He then returned to Lancaster Finishing School and completed training.
He joined 90 Squadron `A` Flight at Tuddenham on 10th October 1944. He flew 36 missions in the mid upper turret, including Dresden on 13th and 14th February 1945, on which he spent his 21st birthday over the target. His last operation was on the 28th February 1945. He left the Air Force in 1947 after serving in Air Movements flying in York 3.
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Flt.Sgt. Victor Alfred Weaver 90 Squadron (d.24th Aug 1943) My mother Enid Fogg's first husband was Victor Weaver from Wolverhampton (known as Vic) and he was a Flight Sergeant in 90 Squadron at Wratting Common which had been adopted in lieu of West Wickham in August 1943.
Vic and his crew died in a Stirling on a return trip from a bombing raid on the city of Germany on the night of 23rd/24th of 1943. The plane was shot down by enemy fire and crashed in the Ijsselmeer, some 15km East of Marken. Four crew members are named on the panels at Runnymede Memorial, one of whom is Victor Alfred Weaver and two lie at Amersfoort (Oud Leusden) General Cemetery, while Sgt A.E.Lloyd rests in Vollenhove (Stad - Vollenhove) General Cemetery. The crew members were
- F/S K W Longmore RAAF
- Sgt R L Jones
- Sgt C J Purcell
- Sgt L M Stormer RCAF
- F/S V A Weaver
- Sgt A E Lloyd
- Sgt G C Jeffreys
Vic left his childhood sweetheart and five month old baby son called Brian. My mother married my father after the war, who had been a Japanese prisoner of war for four years in Stanley Camp Kowloon. As a child I remember vividly visiting Runnymede Memorial with my parents and being too young to understand why my mother was so upset there. She had obviously found Vic's name on a panel. Despite re marrying, my mother told me a year before her death in 2005 that she had always had a place in her heart for Vic and was proud that he had taken part in fighting for Britain and her son's freedom from Nazi tyranny. On the 11th of November 2018, we will remember them.
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