Ayers, Richard Butcher Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/S
Forename(s) Richard Butcher
Surname Ayers
Gender M
Age 25
Date of Death 28-07-1942
Next of Kin Son of Richard Louis Ayers and Nettie Ayers (née Ford), of Erie, Pennsylvania, USA.
AYERS RB

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Vickers Wellington IC
Serial Number X9696
Markings XN-Z

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Kiel War Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave 5. C. 14-15.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 4
AYERS RB

Location

Row -
Panel 4
Column -
Line -

Directions From the Chadwick Centre, take the central path towards The Spire.

Phase 1
Panel Number 4

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/79088
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 91
Squadron 22 OTU
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin United States of America

Miscellaneous Information

Richard was born on 18 May 1917 at Fredonia, New York. Both parents were born in New York. He attended Lincoln School, Erie, Pennsylvania 1924-1931 (Grade School) Academy High School , Erie 1932-1935. (Academic) Case School, Cleveland, Ohio 1936-1938. (Engineering course) Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont, 1938-1941 (Academic course). Richard enjoyed football, riflery, and wrestling and was an expert In rifle and pistol shooting. He was in the R.O.T.C. Army at Norwich Uni, 1938-1941 where he was a Corporal in the Cavalry, and was also a member of the C.P.T.P (Civilian Pilot Training Programme). Between 1935-1936 he had taken time out to work as a Shipping clerk at Ludlum Steel Plant in Dunkirk, New York, before returning to college. At some point he had also worked for a car servicing firm , Kitchens Tire Service in Erie, Pennsylvania.
He enlisted at Montreal on 4 February 1941, while the US was still neutral (and in so doing risked his citizenship). Richard arrived at 3PRC on 19 December 1941, 1512 BATE 29 January 1942, 3(P) AFU 8 February 1942 and 22 OTU on 24 March 1942.

Fellow Servicemen

Please note that this list gives all the losses aboard the quoted aircraft and occasionally these may have occurred on an earlier date when the aircraft was not itself lost. Please check the dates of death carefully.

Name Outcome
Evans J S (F/S) Died
Johnson F E (F/S) Died
Wagner E L (F/S) Died
White E G (F/S) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 28-07-1942
End Date 29-07-1942
Takeoff Station Wellesbourne Mountford
Day/Night Raid Night (98% moon)
Operation Hamburg
Reason for Aircraft Loss One of two Wellingtons sent by 22 OTU. Both were recalled but neither responded. Both were lost
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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.