228892 Robert Norval Cunningham Royal Canadian Air Force RAF Skellingthorpe from:USA (d.11th May 1944) My first cousin, Robert Norval Cunningham, felt compelled to join the armed forces in the first days of WWII. He lived in the USA, but had been born in Scotland. He joined the RCAF and shortly thereafter was sent to Skellingthorpe, England. On 11th May 1944 the Lancaster he was aboard was shot down and the entire crew killed. He was a rear gunner. We subsequently found that he was buried in a mass grave at Oostvleteern Churchyard, Belgium.
Little was known of the first Robert Norval Cunningham (for whom my cousin was named). He was killed in 1917 at the age of 39. By the strangest of coincidences, we have found that both Robert Norval Cunninghams, who sacrified their lives for world peace in two separate world wars, are buried in Belgium about 10 miles apart.
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