Blackhurst, Sydney Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) Sydney
Surname Blackhurst
Gender M
Age 22
Date of Death 23-06-1943
Next of Kin Son of John Edward and Mary Blackhurst, of South Kensington, London.
BLACKHURST S

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number ED928
Markings OF-B

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Netherlands
Burial/Memorial Place Utrecht (Soestbergen) General Cemetery
Grave Reference Plot 12D. Row 1. Grave 6.
Epitaph TILL WE MEET AGAIN

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 10
BLACKHURST S

Location

Row -
Panel 10
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 1
Panel Number 10

Enlistment Information

Service Number 134081
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Group 8
Squadron 97 (Straits Settlements)
Squadron Motto Achieve your aim
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location Kapelstraat 17, Utrecht, Utrecht Province
Country the Netherlands
Memorial Type Stencilled composite information board
Memorial Text Vroeg in de nacht van 23 Juni 1943 word een bommenwerper neergescholen en storl brandend en ulteindelik in stukken ulteen vallend neer in de wik Witlevrouwen. Onderdelen van hel vlieglug komen her en der verspreld in de wilk terecht, waarbl 44 huizen beschadigd werdei n vif doden onder de burgerbevolking en meerdere gewonden ile beireuren waren. Lancaster ED928 van 97 Sqn RAF
Translation "Early in the night of June 23, 1943, a bomber crashed into the woods of Witlevrouwen, burning and eventually falling to pieces. Parts of the plane ended up scattered here and there in the willow, damaging 44 houses, killing five civilians and causing several injuries. Lancaster ED928 of 97 Sqn RAF"
Location Church of the Holy Spirit, RAF Coningsby, Coningsby, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stained Glass Window
Memorial Text A stained glass window remembering 97 Sqn in the Church of the Holy Spirit, RAF Coningsby
Location Roadside location (off E6), Fættenfjord, near Åsenfjord, Trøndelag Fylke
Country Norway
Memorial Type Inscribed memorial stone atopped with inert aerial sea mine and Tirpitz anchor chain link
Memorial Text For Frihet Til minne om Allierte Flymannskaper fra RAF drept under angrep pa det tyske slagskipet Tirpitz i Fættenfjord 1942
Translation "For freedom In memory of the Allied Aircrews from the RAF who died in attacks on the German Battleship Tirpitz in the Fættenfjord 1942 "
Location In front of the mess esplanade, Mailly-le-Camp, 10 - Aube Prefecture
Country France
Memorial Type Stone memorial sculpture, inscribed marble tablets and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text En souvenir des heros de la RAF. Qui ont participe au bombardment du camp de Mailly. Unites de la RAF engagees dans le raid sur Mailly-le-Camp, la nuit du 3 au 4 May 1944. N° 9-12-44-49-50-57 61-83-97-100-101 Special Duties Flight-103-105-106-166- 169-192-207-460 (RAAF)-463 (RAAF)-467 (RAAF)-550-576-617- 619-625-626-627-638
Translation "In memory of the RAF heroes who took part in the bombing of Mailly Camp. RAF units engaged in the raid on Mailly-le-Camp, the night of 3-4 May 1944. Squadrons that took part: N° 9-12-44-49-50-57 61-83-97-100-101 Special Duties Flight-103-105-106-166- 169-192-207-460 (RAAF)-463 (RAAF)-467 (RAAF)-550-576-617-619-625-626-627-638"

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/767/12
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/767/12

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
Armstrong G W (P/O) Died
David J J B S P H (W/O) Died
Mansfield J J (F/S) Died
Williams D E (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 22-06-1943
End Date 23-06-1943
Takeoff Station Bourn
Day/Night Raid Night (70% moon)
Operation Mulheim
Reason for Aircraft Loss Attacked by a night fighter flown by Uffz. George Kraft if 12./NJG1 at 01:55hrs and broke into several bruning pieces, the wreckage destroying six houses and damaging many others in the Wittevrouwen district Utrecht, Netherlands. Five of the crew were killed as well as five civilians. The civilians' names were Cornelis de Boer, Jakoba Verkerk and 12 year old son Johan of 49 Kapelstraat, 4-year old Aart Stravers of 47 Kapelstraat and Cornelis van Heelsum of 20 Obrechstraat. The latter was not killed by the direct effects of the damage to his house but was instead awoken by the blast, got out of bed, fell through a hole in his bedroom floor and died of his injuries. All of the civilians were buried in a communal grave.
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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.