Roll of Honour

According to the R.A.F. Station and Squadron Operation Record Books R.A.F. Harrowbeer lost 70 airmen, many killed in action from August 1941 until August 1945.

One of these was from natural causes, eleven were from various types of accidents on or around the airfield and the remainder while out on operational duties.

In addition to the above, in May 1943 four members of the Royal Artillery were killed in an accident while on a visit to the airfield

We must not, and will not forget these men who gave their lives so that we today can live in relative peace and harmony.     Thank you and may you rest in peace. 

  Personnel  Killed  in  Action  or  Who  Died  While  Serving  at  R.A.F. Harrowbeer  

No.19 Squadron

Sergeant  Alan  Lever  Ridings                                    23rd  June  1942     20 years old

No.64 Squadron

Flight Lieutenant  Henry Joseph Meharry                5th August 1944      27 years old

Flying Officer  Walter Thomas Dryburgh                  7th July 1944           22 years old

Flying Officer  Wallace Allan Smart                            3rd July 1944          26 years old

Flying Officer  Claude Alain Marie Schmitz             26th August 1944    24 years old

No.126 Squadron

Pilot Officer  Lachlan Douglas Hinten                        1st August 1944      21 years old

Segeant  Lockie            Missing believed killed          11th July 1944        Age unknown

No.131 Squadron

Warrant Officer  Douglas Frederick Phillips           23rd April 1944         25 years old

No.175 Squadron

Flying Officer  Donald Kenneth Robertson           2nd November 1942   23 years old

No.183 Squadron

Flying Officer  Eugeniusz Gottowt                                7th July 1943         27 years old

Squadron Leader  Arthur Vincent Gowers             24th October 1943    30 years old

No.193 Squadron

Flight Sergeant  John Richard King-Meggat            4th February 1944    23 years old

Flying Officer  Richard Brian Dunmuir                    15th February 1943   22 years old

Flying Officer  Robert George MacLeod                   6th January 1944     20 years old

Flight Lieutenant  John Malcolm Crabb                     7th January 1944    24 years old

No.263 Squadron

Squadron Leader  Henri Alphonse Gonay                  14th June 1944      30 years old

Flying Officer  William James Windeler                   15th June 1944          25 years old

Flight Sergeant  Jack Donnelly Pringle                   28th May 1944            21 years old

Squadron Leader  Geoffrey Berrington Warnes   22nd February 1944   29 years old

Flying Officer  Robert Bruce Tuff                            22nd February 1944   21 years old

Flying Officer  Robert Charles Hunter               22nd February 1944    Age unknown

Flying Officer  Leon Parent                                         7th June 1944           21 years old

Flying Officer  William Whitaker Heaton                 9th June 1944        Age unknown

Flying Officer  Alexander Barr                                  14th October 1944     24 years old

Flight Lieutenant  David Patrick Bell                       20th May 1944            21 years old

No.266 Squadron

Squadron Leader  Peter William Lefevre                  6th February 1944   25 years old

Flight Lieutenant  Terence William Healy                    2nd March 1944   23 years old

Flying Officer  John Denis Miller                               15th February 1944  23 years old

Flight Sergeant  Dougal Drummond                         15th February 1944  20 years old

No.276  Air Sea Rescue Squadron

Leading Aircraftman  William Benjamin Bowen      5th July 1942           20  years old

Aircraftman 1st Class  Raymond Stanley Whitbourn     5th July 1942     20 years old

Aircraftman 1st Class  Ronald Charles Roper           5th July 1942           20 years old

Aircraftman 1st Class  Raymond William Vallack     5th July 1942            22 years old

Pilot Officer  Jack Douglas Ernst                             24th August 1942       21 years old

Aircraftman 2nd Class  Stuart Henry Fleet             24th August 1942      18 years old

Flight Sergeant  Edmund Giles Sotheron-Estcourt   31st August 1943   21 years old

No.286 Air Co-operation Squadron

Pilot Officer  Brian Holmes a Court                         24th June 1943           21 years old

No.302 ( Polish ) Squadron

Sergeant  Aleksander Przesmycki                           18th December 1941   29 years old

Flight Lieutenant  Koninski                                        26th January 1942   35 years old

Pilot Officer  Bednarski                                              26th January 1942    26 years old

No.310 ( Czechoslovakia ) Squadron

Flying Officer  Jan Doucha                                       7th November 1942    28 years old

No.312 ( Czechoslovakia ) Squadron

Wing Commander    Alois Vasatko  DFC                     3rd June 1942        34 years old

Leading Aircraftman  Josef Pavlat                        3rd September 1942     27 years old

No.406 Squadron

Flight Sergeant  Gordon Moir                                     16th July 1945         23 years old

Flying Officer  Robert Sloan                                         16th July 1945         21 years old

No.453 Squadron

Flying Officer  Harold Mason Parker                        8th October 1943     25 years old

No.610 Squadron

Flying Officer  Stanley Joseph Shewell                    2nd October 1943     23 years old

Flight Lieutenant  Ronald West                               24th May 1944             25 years old

No.691 Squadron

Flight Sergeant  Albert William Conrad Gledhill       2nd March 1945      21 years old

Leading Aircraftman  Arthur Mastin                        12th May 1945           39 years old

Sergeant  Kazimierz Tadeusz Bakas                              8th June 1945       21 years old

Leading Aircraftman  Cyril Parkin Heaps                  8th June 1945           21 years old

No.838  Fleet Air Arm Squadron

Lieutenant ( A )  James Benjamin Cook                      1st May 1944            30 years old

Petty Officer Airman  Richard Crawford Grapes      1st May 1944            21 years old

Sub-Lieutenant ( A )  Stanley Frederick Such            1st May 1944           23 years old

Sub-Lieutenant ( A )  David James Hanson                1st May 1944            22 years old

Sub-Lieutenant ( A )  Leslie Frank Hayward              1st May 1944            24 years old

Leading Airman  Brian Lambert Rowntree                1st May 1944            19 years old

Sub-Lieutenant ( A )  Edward Thompson Clark        1st May 1944            23 years old

Petty Officer  Albert Rockley                                          1st May 1944        20 years old

Sub-Lieutenant  Ian Wilson                                            1st May 1944        24 years old

78 Signals Wing  Calibration Flight

Leading Aircraftman  Eric Arthur Dawes                26th October 1941     21 years old

No.2  Aircraft Delivery Flight

Flight Sergeant  Douglas Small                               9th November 1942    22 years old

Flight Sergeant  Sydney Watkins                            9th November 1942    27 years old

Flying Control Staff

Flight Lieutenant  Robert Knyvett Coupland           21st February 1942  42 years old

Other Ranks

L.A.C.  William Maguire                                                12th March 1942     21 years old

A.C.1  I. J. Lewis                                                                 2nd June 1942     20 years old

          Visiting  Military  Personnel Killed  in  an  Accident  on the Airfield.

Royal Artillery

Gunner  Jack Brittan                                                  18th May 1943            22 years old

Gunner  Alfred Masey                                                19th May 1943            23 years old

Lance Bombadier  William Longhurst                     18th May 1943            22 years old

Gunner  Reginald Hoare                                            18th May 1943           20 years old

                 Aircrew  from  Aircraft  Accidents  on  Dartmoor  and  Buried  in  

                                        Buckland  Monachorum  Cemetery

No.41 Squadron  -  Spitfire

Flying Officer  Kenneth Basil Robinson                     7th June 1944           22 years old

No.142 Squadron  -  Wellington

Sergeant  Edward Henry Bastow                               6th October 1942    38 years old

Flying Officer  George Hammond Edgett                 6th October 1942    28 years old

No.207 Squadron  -  Lancaster

Flight Sergeant  Richard Lewis Mellish                    24th May 1942           21 years old

Sergeant  Charles Arthur Pankhurst                         24th May 1942          35 years old

No.224 Squadron  -  Liberator

Flying Officer  Victor Edward Crowther                 30th October 1942    24 years old

Sergeant  William Gilmour Fraser                            30th October 1942   24 years old

Pilot Officer  William Ballantyne Martin                 30th October 1942    26 years old

                                  Aircrew  who  died  in  accidents  on  Dartmoor  

                                  and  their  remains  taken  back  home for burial.

No.38 Squadron  -  Wellington

Pilot Officer  Frederick John Cooke                           1st March 1944        22 years old

Flight Sergeant  Alfred Gordon Beeston                    1st March 1944       22 years old

Sergeant  John Yates                                                     1st March 1944        21 years old

Flight Sergeant  William McLennan Jack                    1st March 1944       26 years old

No.142 Squadron - Wellington 

              ( two of the crew are buried in Buckland Monachorum Cemetery )

Sergeant  Bennie                                                        6th October 1942   Age unknown

Sergeant  Partington                                                    6th October 1942    20 years old

No.149 Squadron  -  Stirling

Sergeant  Geofrey Ernest Robertson                         21st August 1942     25 years old

Sergeant  Peter Edward James Jenkins                      21st August 1942     22 years old

Sergeant  Dudley Howard Harris                                21st August 1942     20 years old

Sergeant  Dennis Roy Simpson                                    21st August 1942    26 years old

Sergeant  Lawrence Henry Nicholson                        21st August 1942     21 years old

Sergeant  Frank Sidney Clarke                                     21st August 1942    25 years old

Sergeant  Cecil Jaques Bond                                        21st August 1942     19 years old

No.207 Squadron  -  Lancaster

                 ( two of the crew are buried in Buckland Monachorum Cemetery )

Sergeant  A. P. Parsons                                               24th May 1942            31 years old 

Flight Sergeant  L. M. Smith                                       24th May 1942          30 years old

No.224 Squadron

Pilot Officer  William Cruickshanks                      30th October 1942    Age unknown

Flying Officer  Gavin Sellar                                     30th October 1942   Age unknown

No.263 Squadron  -  Whirlwind

Flight Lieutenant  W. Smith                                    29th December 1940  25 years old 

Pilot Officer  D. Vine                                                29th December 1940  23 years old 

No.1653  H.C.U.  -  Stirling

Sergeant  George James Canham                         12th September 1944    22 years old

Flying Officer  Norman Hector MacDonald        12th September 1944    25 years old

Sergeant  George Frederick Bennet                     12th September 1944    19 years old

Sergeant  Thomas Wyper Hunter                       12th September 1944  Age unknown

Flying Officer  Roger William Murphy               12th September 1944   Age unknown

Sergeant  Michael Nichols Jones                          12th September 1944    21 years old

Flying Officer  Samuel Kellington McGuigan      12th September 1944   23 years old

Sergeant  Lawrence William Bond                        12th September 1944   20 years old

U.S.A.A.F.  78th  Fighter Group

Second Lieutenant  Jerome L. Foreman                      1st March 1943   Age unknown

                    The ' ten ' Airmen buried in Buckland Monachorum, 

    Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery, Yelverton, Devon are :-

Flight Lieutenant  Robert Knyvett Coupland - R.A.F. Harrowbeer Flying Control Staff

Flight Lieutenant Robert Coupland died of natural causes while serving at R.A.F. Harrowbeer.

Flying Officer  Kenneth Basil Robinson  -  No.41 Squadron

Flying Officer Robinson was Stationed at R.A.F. Bolt Head. He was flying his Spitfire MK XII aircraft on escort duties to Typhoon aircraft when he was hit by flak and baled out twenty miles north of Guernsey on the 7th June 1944.

Successive Spitfire patrols orbited him and a Warwick and Walrus aircraft on No.276 Air Sea Rescue Squadron at once went to pick him up. The sea was too rough for the Walrus to reach him after it had landed. Flying Officer Robinson was thrown out of his dinghy by the rough sea. A High Speed Launch eventually picked him up, but Flying Officer Robinson was found to be dead. The High Speed Launch towed the Walrus back to Salcombe,Devon arriving at 1730 hours.

Flying Officer  Donald Kenneth Robertson  -  No.175 Squadron

On November the 2nd 1942 Flying Officer Robertson was detailed for a night flying sortie in his Hurricane aircraft as part of a training programme for the Army manned searchlight crews in the Yelverton area. Flying Officer Robertson was an experienced pilot but made a mistake which proved to be a fatal one.

Sometime during the exercise he must have taken his eye off his instruments, looked outside his cockpit and became dazzled by the beam from the searchlights. He lost control of his aircraft and crashed half a mile north east of Yelverton and was killed on impact.

Sergeant  Charles Arthur Pankhurst

Sergeant  Richard Lewis Mellish  -  both from No.207 Squadron

On the 24th May 1942 a Lancaster aircraft of No.207 Squadron, Serial No.R5617 from R.A.F. Bottesford crashed at Standen Hill near Tavistock, Devon due to poor visibility. The Lancaster was on a training flight when the weather began to deteriorate rendering visibility to practically zero. The crew were unable to maintain their position and began to descend when the tragedy happened.

Four of the crew died instantly and two were seriously injured. A rescue party from R.A.F. Harrowbeer brought back the occupants of the crash to the R.A.F. Harrowbeer Station Sick Quarters.

Two members of the crew Sergeant Pankhurst and Sergeant Mellish were buried in Buckland Monachorum Cemetery with full military honours.

The other two members of the crew that died were :-Sergeant Paterson and Flight Sergeant Smith. The pilot, Sergeant Paul was admitted to Tavistock District Hospital, then transferred to C. S. Q.  R.A.F. Torquay. The rear gunner, Flight Sergeant  Whiteman was admitted to the R.A.F. Harrowbeer Station Sick Quarters.

Sergeant  Edward Henry Bastow

Flying Officer  George Hammond Edgett  -  both from No.142 Squadron

In the early hours of the 6th October 1942 a Wellington aircraft of No.142 Squadron, Code letters QT - M, Serial No.BK281 from R.A.F. Grimsby, Lincolnshire crashed on a section of moorland in the Princetown area. Four of the crew died and one was injured.

Sergeant  Bastow and Flying Officer  Edgett's aircraft was part of an operation consisting of fifteen Squadrons of Wellingtons, Halifaxes, Stirlings and Lancaster bombers from various airfields around Britain. They had a successful mission and were on their way home when their aircraft became engulfed in heavy cloud making visibility very bad. The navigator was having difficulty in plotting a course and the radio was having trouble getting a signal. By this time the aircraft was over dangerously high ground over the south west of England. The Wellington lost considerable height and crashed near Princetown on Dartmoor. Due to the bad weather the crash site was not located until sometime during the 7th October 1942 and the bodies were able to be recovered.

Flying Officer  Victor Edward Crowther

Sergeant  William Gilmour Fraser

Pilot Officer  William Ballantyne Martin  -  all three from No.224 Squadron

On the 30th October 1942 at 1920 hours R.A.F. Harrowbeer received a warning from No.19 Group that a Liberator aircraft, Serial No.FK242 of No.224 Squadron was approaching R.A.F. Harrowbeer in distress. The aircraft made two circuits over the airfield but the cloud base was very low and the Liberator eventually crashed at Fullamoor Farm, three miles north of the airfield. The Liberator had been carrying out anti-submarine duties over the Bay of Biscay.