The Wartime Memories Project - The Second War

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site you agree to accept cookies. If you enjoy this site please consider making a donation.     Site Home     WW2 Home     Add Stories     WW2 Search     Library     Help & FAQs  WW2 Features     Airfields     Allied Army     Allied Air Forces     Allied Navy     Axis Forces     Home Front     Battles     Prisoners of War     Allied Ships     Women at War     Those Who Served     Day-by-Day     Library     The Great War  Submissions     Add Stories     Time Capsule     TWMP on Facebook     Childrens Bookshop  FAQ's     Help & FAQs     Glossary     Volunteering     Contact us     News     Bookshop     About Advertisements World War 2 Two II WW2 WWII 1939 1945

20076 Sqd Ldr. T. B. Cole Royal Air Force 50 Squadron A Dutch friend phoned me who has been contacted by HIS friend asking for help. It seems this chap when he was very young remembers a Lancaster being shot down over his parents farm near the village of Epe. His father subsequently discovered a parachute and an RAF cap hidden under a bush. The cap bore the name T. B. Cole. The cap has survived all these years, despite a fire at their farm some years ago. The chap has suddenly decided he would like to contact any surviving family of Mr. Cole to return it to them. He has done some research and found that the aircraft was from 50 Squadron, RAF Skellingthorpe, target was Gelsenkirchen and it was shot down on 22 June 1944 at 02.20. He also quoted the serial number LL 840. My query is that I would like some pointers as to how to continue my search, if anyone can help. UPDATE: The Lancaster took off at 23:17 on the 21st June 1944 from Skellingthorpe. Shot down by a night- fighter and crashed at Oene (Gelderland), 5 km E of Epe. The crew were: S/L T.B.Cole. taken PoW and interned in Stalag Luft III. F/S Kenneth H.C.Ingram. flight engineer, initially evaded, but fell into the hands of the Gestapo and was shot on the 2nd of October 1944. He is buried in Apeldoorn (Ugchelen-Heidehof) General Cemetery. F/O J.Craven. Evaded capture. F/S A.G.Beresford. taken PoW P/O E.J.Blakemore. Evaded capture. W/O J.F.Lane. second Wireless Operator was killed Sgt Frederick Henry Shorter, air gunner. killed, he is buried at Epe On 17th April every year, the people of Ugchelen commemorate those who died for the freedom of their country. F/S Kenneth Ingram is one of fifty-seven aircrew, buried in the Heidehof cemetery, Ugchelen. Read the Story Richard Buckby Add to this record.  Related Content: No. 50 Squadron, Royal Air Force RAF Skellingthorpe Can you help us to add to our records? Add a record to our website. The names and stories on this website have been submitted by their relatives and friends. If your relations are not listed please add their names so that others can read about them Did you or your relatives live through the Second World War? Do you have any photos, newspaper clippings, postcards or letters from that period? Have you researched the names on your local or war memorial? Were you or your relative evacuated? Did an air raid affect your area? If so please let us know. Help us to build a database of information on those who served both at home and abroad so that future generations may learn of their sacrifice. Contact us. Celebrate your own Family History Celebrate by honouring members of your family who served in the Secomd World War both in the forces and at home. We love to hear about the soldiers, but also remember the many who served in support roles, nurses, doctors, land army, muntions workers etc. Please use our Family History resources to find out more about your relatives. Then please send in a short article, with a photo if possible, so that they can be remembered on these pages.

The free section of the Wartime Memories Project website is run by volunteers. We have been helping people find out more about their relatives wartime experiences since 1999 by recording and preserving recollections, documents, photographs and small items. The website is paid for out of our own pockets, library subscriptions and from donations made by visitors. The popularity of the site means that it is far exceeding available resources and we currently have a huge backlog of submissions. If you are enjoying the site, please consider making a donation, however small to help with the costs of keeping the site running. Hosted by: The Wartime Memories Project Website is archived for preservation by the British Library Copyright MCMXCIX - MMXXIV - All Rights Reserved We do not permit the use of any content from this website for the training of LLMs or for use in Generative AI, it also may not be scraped for the purpose of creating other websites.