Sgt. Dennison Pierce Broomfield
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 209 Squadron
from:43 Horley Road, Bristol
(d.8th Sep 1942)
Dennison Pierce Broomfield, was born in 1920 in Bristol. His mother was Violet Evelyn Broomfield. He trained at RAF Halton as an aircraft apprentice, known as Trenchards Brats. He became Sergeant 570858 of 209 Squadron RAF Volunteer Reserve. There is a RAF plaque to remember the Halton apprentices, at the National Memorial Arboretum, in Staffordshire.
Dennis died in 1942, in an aircraft accident. He was flying in Catalina VA713.Coded L for Leather. The Operation was an Anti-submarine patrol, which took off from RAF Pamanzi, at 04:20 hrs on Tuesday 8 September 1942 but crashed minutes later, with the loss of all crew. He is buried at Diego Suarez War Cemetery, near the town of Antsiranana, on the western shore of Diego Suarez Bay, on the north-east coast of Madagascar in Antsiranana War Cemetery.
The Imperial War Museum holds all of his documents including his flying log, photographs of his funeral & personal potographs letters etc. These were donated by his mother after the war. There is a label at the Imperial War Museum which reads;- This Atlantic Star (1939-1945) was sent to the next of kin of Sergeant 570858 Dennison Pierce Broomfield, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, who was killed in action on 8 September 1942, aged 22 years, while serving with No 209 Squadron.
