Osbaldeston, James Duckett

Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) James Duckett
Surname Osbaldeston
Gender M
Age 22
Decorations
Date of Death 29-08-1942
Next of Kin Son of Thomas and Grace Osbaldeston, of Castleton, Rochdale, Lancashire.
OSBALDESTON JD

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster I
Serial Number R5897
Markings EA-

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Durnbach War Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave 11. F. 4-12.
Epitaph IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 81

Enlistment Information

Service Number 619496
Service Royal Air Force
Group 5
Squadron 49
Trade WOp/AG
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location Fiskerton Airfield (Disused) Reepham Rd, Lincolnshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stones with inscribed Metal Plaques
Memorial Text RAF Fiskerton. This stone and tree are sited on the airfield in memory of those who served here during World War II
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Location The National Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Memorial
Memorial Text In memory of those who served on 49 Squadron 1916-1965
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Last Operation Information

Start Date 28-08-1942
End Date 29-08-1942
Takeoff Station Scampton
Day/Night Raid Night (90% moon)
Operation Nürnberg
Reason for Loss May have collided with Wellington BJ701 of 57 Squadron. After the war, Allied investigators visited the village of Kalchreuth where R5897 crashed. They interviewed a number of eye witnesses, including the local Burgermeister, Herr. Ulrich. Although he was not the Burgermeister at the time of the incident, he was at least resident in the village and remembered the events clearly. He recalled an explosion, which he presumed to be the bomb load detonating. Herr Holzenleuchter, the gravedigger, recalled that the dead airmen were buried at 5pm on 1 September with full military honours in the village's New Cemetery. A single cross was erected at the time but the investigators noticed that it bore the names of some of the crew of R5897 but also two from Wellington BJ701. The collective grave was exhumed in 1947 to reveal nine coffins and the investigative team concluded they contained the entire crew of BJ701 and some of the crew of R5897. Sadly, only three of the bodies could be positively identified. All we re-interred in Durnbach War Cemetery. The exact circumstances remain a mystery and perhaps always shall, although there remains a strong possibility that these two machines collided and the explosion heard by Herr Ulrich was in fact the collision rather than an explosion as a single machine crashed into the ground.
 
 
 
 

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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.