BillyH Posted 8 December , 2012 Share Posted 8 December , 2012 In response to a request from another Forum member in the "Photos wanted" section of the Forum, I offered to take a photo of a WW1 headstone in the above cemetery. As is the usual case, I thought I may as well see if there were many others in the churchyard. CWGC indicated 9 burials, all WW1 - so I thought I would take photos of them all, including the memorial for both wars. When I arrived I found all 9 headstones very close together (see photo), all of them were RAF men, and all died between April 1918 and 9th November 1918. I haven't really researched this a lot but at least 6 of them are either American or Commonwealth men. (The 9th man has the stone cross memorial) It all seems a bit curious, and the only thing that can help explain it is that there was an airfield nearby used for training. I think it was called Shotwick at the time, but it is known as RAF Sealand nowadays. So did these 9 men all die in accidents whilst training? Any sort of help would be useful. Perhaps I should have posted this in the "War in the Air" section? BillyH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Upton Posted 10 December , 2012 Share Posted 10 December , 2012 BRAY, HORACE EDGAR KINGSMILL Second Lieutenant 09/07/1918 22 Royal Air Force United Kingdom In the north-west part. SHOTWICK (ST. MICHAEL) CHURCHYARD FUHR, HUGH ROBERT Lieutenant 16/06/1918 19 Royal Air Force United Kingdom In the north-west part. SHOTWICK (ST. MICHAEL) CHURCHYARD MORANGE, LEONARD SOWERSBY Lieutenant 11/08/1918 22 Royal Air Force United Kingdom In the north-west part. SHOTWICK (ST. MICHAEL) CHURCHYARD SAMUELSON, FRANK ALBERT Second Lieutenant 29/10/1918 22 Royal Air Force United Kingdom In the north-west part. SHOTWICK (ST. MICHAEL) CHURCHYARD MILLER, JOHN JEWETT Second Lieutenant 25/04/1918 25 Royal Air Force United Kingdom In the north-west part. SHOTWICK (ST. MICHAEL) CHURCHYARD HINTON, FRANCIS ATHOL Second Lieutenant 09/11/1918 Royal Air Force United Kingdom In the north-west part. SHOTWICK (ST. MICHAEL) CHURCHYARD HASTIE, HARRY NELSON Lieutenant 12/06/1918 24 Royal Air Force United Kingdom In the north-west part. SHOTWICK (ST. MICHAEL) CHURCHYARD GIBSON, VERNON FRANCIS Flight Cadet 09/11/1918 Royal Air Force United Kingdom In the north-west part. SHOTWICK (ST. MICHAEL) CHURCHYARD SOULBY, HERBERT WESTGARTH Lieutenant 19/10/1918 22 Royal Air Force United Kingdom In the north-west part. SHOTWICK (ST. MICHAEL) CHURCHYARD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harper Posted 29 August , 2017 Share Posted 29 August , 2017 The airfields at Shotwick and Sealand were separated by the railway line. Shotwick was a training school and Sealand was intended to be an acceptance park for American aircraft. Of these 9 men, 2 were Canadian, 3 were Americans, 1 was from South Africa and another was from New Zealand. No country of origin is given for Lieutenant HERBERT WESTGARTH SOULBY or Flight Cadet VERNON FRANCIS GIBSON. Is it safe to assume that if a pilot had a home/family in the British Isles, his body would, in most cases, have been returned home for burial? Pilots from abroad were buried where they fell. May they all rest in peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Wood Posted 29 August , 2017 Share Posted 29 August , 2017 The UK family of men dying in the UK had the option of free transport home or free burial where they died. If they opted to have the body brought home they would have to pay for the local funeral (a local military unit would often supply a bugler and guard of honour). In some cases poverty or tightfistedness may have precluded this option, If they had no close kin then the odds are they would stay where they fell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helpjpl Posted 29 August , 2017 Share Posted 29 August , 2017 (edited) You can find Casualty Record Cards here: http://www.rafmuseumstoryvault.org.uk/pages/raf_vault.php?&RAF-titel=Bray&RAF-initials=H.E.&van=1 St Michael's Church Newsletter, August 2012, pages 11 to 13 - 'Airmen at Shotwick' http://www.shotwick.org.uk/newsletters/2012_Aug.pdf NB - Herbert Westgarth Soulby: Birth registered Oct-Nov-Dec 1896, Lambeth. 1901 Census: Born Brixton, living on Wembley. Served as 2nd Lt with 9th Suffolk Regiment before joining RAF. JP Edited 29 August , 2017 by helpjpl To add information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harper Posted 31 August , 2017 Share Posted 31 August , 2017 JP Many thanks for the links; both of them are a great help. Harper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harper Posted 31 August , 2017 Share Posted 31 August , 2017 Just a small note of caution. The church newsletter lists the details of the pilots buried at St Michael's. One of them was an American Lt L S Morange: Leonard S Morange 22 American 11 Aug 1918 Avro 504 Mid-air collision with Flight Cadet Outerbridge However the CWGC website lists the other pilot as Flight Cadet Robert Oughtibridge, Son of Robert and Carrie Oughtibridge, of 5, Verdun St., Hyde Park, Leeds. And the RAF Museum site lists him as: Robert Oughtebridge. Just one letter difference but it can be important when searching the records. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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