Hodgkinson, Roy
Personal Information
Rank | LAC |
Forename(s) | Roy |
Surname | Hodgkinson |
Gender | M |
Age | 23 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 19-05-1944 |
Next of Kin | Son of Harold and Gladys Millicent Hodgkinson, of Meir, Stoke-On-Trent. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | |
Serial Number | |
Markings |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | United Kingdom |
Burial/Memorial Place | Stoke-On-Trent (Longton) Cemetery |
Grave Reference | Block 87. Grave 52. |
Epitaph | TO A BEAUTIFUL LIFE CAME A SUDDEN END HE DIED AS HE LIVED EVERYONE'S FRIEND |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 1 |
Panel Number | 50 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 1403973 |
Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
Group | 5 |
Squadron | 61 |
Trade | Ground staff |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Other Memorials
Location | Birchwood Way, Birchwood Estate, Lincoln, Lincolnshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Brick Memorial & Inscribed Marble Obolisk |
Memorial Text | To the memory of the Air Crews and Ground Staff who gave their lives whilst serving with No 50 Squadron and No 61 Squadron, 5 group, Bomber Command The Royal Air Force 2nd World War 1939 to 1945. No 50 Squadron "From defence to attack" Operated from Waddi |
Location | Memorial Gardens, Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Brick Memorial with Inscribed Marble Stone |
Memorial Text | Royal Air Force Skellingthorpe. My brief sweet life is over, My eyes no longer see, No Christmas Trees, No summer walks, No pretty girls for me, I've got the chop - I've had it, My nightly ops are done, Yet in another 100 years I'll still be twenty one. R |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 19-05-1944 |
End Date | 19-05-1944 |
Takeoff Station | Skellingthorpe |
Day/Night Raid | Day |
Operation | |
Reason for Loss | Killed when twenty three 1,000 bombs being carried on a tractor-towed bomb trolley train exploded at 17:45 hrs, blowing a large crater in the perimeter track. Some damage also occurred to station buildings and adjoining farms. No aircraft were seriously damaged. Kenneth Green (who was interviewed for the IBCC Digital Archive in 2015) remembers carrying out an inspection of an aircraft from B flight. His friend was working on the port inner engine and he offered to test run the engine for Kenneth since he was late for a date. As Kenneth cycled away he heard an explosion. On returning from his date at around midnight he was told that people had been 'sweeping the deck looking for your fingernails'. The cause of the accident was the failure of a spring in the bomb trailer, resulting in the safety pin being pulled out and arming one of the bombs. |