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Archer, John Richard

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Personal Information

Rank AC1
Forename(s) John Richard
Surname Archer
Gender M
Age 27
Date of Death 10-04-1944
Next of Kin Son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Archer. Husband of Elizabeth Archer, of Old Radford, Nottingham.
ARCHER JR

Aircraft Information

Aircraft
Serial Number
Markings

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Nottingham Northern Cemetery
Grave Reference Sec. L/22. Grave 9.
Epitaph JOHN LOVING HUSBAND OF ELIZABETH DADDY OF JOHN AND FAITH. "AT REST"

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 3

Enlistment Information

Service Number 1095103
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Group 5
Squadron Spilsby
Trade Ground
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location Adjacent to Monksthorpe Chapel, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Pillar
Memorial Text In memory of 207 Sqn RAF and the men and women who served at RAF Spilsby during WW2 and of 10 Sqn Armourers killed in an accident on 10th April 1944
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Miscellaneous Information

RAF Spilsby ORB: “At 19:55hrs there was a terrific explosion, apparently in the vicinity of the bomb dump. The Station Commander, Fire Party and Medical Service proceeded to the scene of the incident and it was found that a 1,000 bomb, one of the bomb load of delayed action bombs which were to be used in operations that evening, had exploded. It was nothing short of a miracle that the entire personnel working in the bomb dump at the time were not all killed as they were nearly all within a 20 yard radius of the scene of the incident. The injured personnel were rescued from the scene and conveyed to Station Sick Quarters under dangerous circumstances since there were 5-1,000 lb delayed action bombs in the vicinity of the fusing shed, and the risk was taken not knowing whether the bombs would explode prematurely or run their normal fuse delays. Fortunately they did not go off during the time rescue operations were being carried out. The fire party were not permitted to deal with the camouflage netting which had caught fire, but were standing by at a safe distance until the danger period had passed. Two of the bombs exploded at approximately 04:30 hrs and two others at 06:30 hrs, which was the extent of their delay. One has not exploded at the extent of its delay”.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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Last Operation Information

Start Date 10-04-1944
End Date 10-04-1944
Takeoff Station Spilsby
Day/Night Raid Day
Reason for Loss Killed when a bomb that was being fused in the bomb dump at Spilsby exploded, killing ten servicemen.

Honour This Person

Since 1945 the brave men and women who gave their lives whilst in the service of Bomber Command, to protect our country have been largely ignored and forgotten by successive governments.

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Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.