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Mallett, Charles Lucas Arnold

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Personal Information

Rank F/S
Forename(s) Charles Lucas Arnold
Surname Mallett
Gender M
Age 21
Decorations DFM
Date of Death 26-06-1943
Next of Kin Son of William Newman Mallett and Dorothy Madge Mallett (née Gear), of Marple, Cheshire. Second son, born 28 Oct 1921 in West Norwood, London. The family moved to Marple in 1937 and lived at Ferniehurst, Warrington Road.
MALLETT CL

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number EE125
Markings ZN-S

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 138.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 67

Enlistment Information

Service Number 652146
Service Royal Air Force
Group 5
Squadron 106
Squadron Motto Pro libertate (For freedom)
Trade WOp/AG
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location Holy Trinity Church, Martin, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Tablet & Roll of Honour in Wooden Case
Memorial Text To the memory of the Airmen of 106 Sqn who gave their lives in the 1939-45 War
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Location Former Airfield Site, Martin Moor, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brick moument with inscribed Slate Tablets & Plaques
Memorial Text Dedicated to the airmen and airwomen who served on 106 Sqn in WW2. 995 gave their lives
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Miscellaneous Information

He was known as Luke. This was his second tour. His first tour comprised 32 operations with 405 Squadron RCAF from RAF Driffield and RAF Pocklington in Wellingtons. His DFM was awarded at the end of his first tour and appeared in the supplement to the London Gazette on 13 March 1942. His recommendation read "This Wireless Operator has shown courage, ability and great keenness. He has asked for permission now to carry on for his second tour of operations. His ability has contributed greatly to the success of operations in which he has taken part, and his keenness has been an inspriation to other Wireless Operators".
As a schoolboy at Normansal, Seaford with his brothers Michael and John, Luke was expected to write home each week. Luke had better things to do and instead popped a blank sheet of paper in the envelope! He left school with no qualifications and began working in S & J Watts Stores on Portland Street, Manchester. Joined RAF as a regular in August 1939 at the age of 17. Trained as a wireless operator at Yatesbury and Benson, where he flourished in subjects he had failed at school. He survived a crash landing in an Avro Anson after becoming lost in clouds. He landed in a farmer's field after dropping out of the clouds to establish his posiiton. The farmer was furious! In another accident, he sustained a broken hand, which was treated by the famous Archibald McIndoe.
Promoted to F/Sgt on 1 Apr 1941 and won his DFM in January 1942, which was presented by King George VI on 19 May 1942. He admitted to some nervousness at beginning his second tour but spoke in letters to his brother Mike of the sympathy and kindness shown by his flight commander, who had personally taken Luke up in an aircraft to help quell his fears. Luke is also remembered on the Marple war memorial. His passing was also mourned by his fiancée, who wrote to Luke's mother and sister every year on the anniversary of his death.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/833/12
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/833/11

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.

Bell J (F/O)
Bevis P E (P/O)
Dickison A W (F/S)
Hayle J R (Sgt)
Peel G H (Sgt)
Young A M (S/L)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 25-06-1943
End Date 26-06-1943
Takeoff Station Syerston
Day/Night Raid Night (38% moon)
Operation Gelsenkirchen
Reason for Loss Shot down by a night-fighter flown either by Hptm. Franz Buschmann of Stab IV./NJG1 60km west of Den Helder at 02.45hrs (5th victory) or Ofw. Heinz Vinke of 11./NJG1 70km west of Den Helder (27th victory). DS666 was also shot down in the vicinity at around the same time.

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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.