Stockwell, Laurence Edwin

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) Laurence Edwin
Surname Stockwell
Gender M
Age 26
Date of Death 18-01-1943
Next of Kin Son of William James Stockwell and Susie Mabel Stockwell, of Teddington, Middlesex. Husband of Gwennyth Hilda Stockwell (née Crow), of Teddington.
STOCKWELL LE

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster I
Serial Number W4772
Markings -X

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 129.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 102

Enlistment Information

Service Number 109381
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Group 5
Squadron 1654 HCU
Trade Flight engineer
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Miscellaneous Information

Laurie attended Hampton Boy's Grammar School. He and Gwenyth met when they were at school. Both were keen swimmers. They married in Oxford not long after leaving school in 1939, against their parents' wishes. Laurie volunteered for the RAF in 1939 but was only released from his former employment (as a civil servant) in 1939. When he became an instructor, he and Gwenyth moved to Shawbury, Shropshire. When Laurie later volunteered for Bomber Command duties, Gwenyth moved back to her parents' house. When Laurie was reported missing, Gwenyth was 8 months pregnant. A baby girl - Anne Marie - arrived on 23 February 1943, just a month after her father's death.
Although Laurie's last letter home was mundane, he had penned an earlier letter which was, in sentiment and intent, very much a 'last letter'. It reads as follows and is quoted from Last Letters Home by Tasmin Day-Lewis (Macmillan Press): My Darling, When I was walking back from Heyford Station yesterday, I realised how little I appreciated the beauty of the countryside, how little I seemed to take interest, and on realising that I stopped in the road and looked about me, and for the first time noticed how lovely everything is about here. Having found that out I tried to fathom the question of why I hadn't noticed it before, why I wasn't taking my usual interest in the countryside, for although I'm not of a poetic nature or anything like it, I feel that I've always taken quite a lot of interest in my surroundings, I loved the Isle of Wight and all the places of natural beauty, especially St. Martha's which holds such wonderful memories for me. And I came to these conclusions. Firstly, this beastly war. War has no rightful place on this earth, besides destroying men and property, everything that is seen, it destroys those unseen things, our senses, our sense of beauty, happiness, comradeship amongst all men, anything that is worth living for. Property is not essential. But happiness, a love of beauty, friendship between all peoples and individuals, is life itself. Secondly, you. I've put you second, I wonder if you feel that strange. But this war affects everybody, I'd be very selfish if I put you first in this thought, I'm trying to fathom out for myself. You are just everything to me. The unforgivable way I write would make another feel that you have been guilty of my loss in taking no notice in the surrounding beauty, but you understand, I’m sure, that it is only because I’m not constantly with you, that is the real factor. You, Darling, have made me able to see, to feel and to understand, all the beauty that is in the world, and life itself, without you that understanding does not disappear, for you are with me constantly, in my thoughts, but that understanding of life does seem to fade. This war is keeping us apart, and therefore it is to blame in my loss, and that loss is not only mine but of every person in the world connected with the war. I have never spoken to you of my feelings and thoughts about this war, and I hope I will never speak of them again. Do you remember a small boy saying he would be a conscientious objector if war came? Things happened to change that small boy's views, talk of brutality, human suffering, atrocities, but that did not have any great effect on changing my mind for I realise that we all are capable of doing these deeds of which we read so much nowadays. It is the fact that a few people wish to take freedom from the peoples of the earth that changed my views. News of atrocities only breeds hate, and hare is contemptible in my eyes. I will never be capable I hope of hating anyone whatever they have done. Why should I then fight in the war which only brings disgust into my thoughts? It is so that I might live in happiness and peace all my days with you. You notice I put myself first, again it is a strange thing but I am trying hard to be honest with myself and I find that I, and consequently everybody, am terribly selfish, it is human nature, I'm afraid. I am also fighting so that one day happiness will again rule the world, and with happiness that love of beauty, of life, contentment, fellowship among all men may return. You may again have noticed that I have not mentioned fighting for one's country, for the empire, that to me is just foolishness, for greatness in one nation will always breed hate and longing in another, and the whole of life will again be disrupted. Mainly however, I'm fighting for the freedom of all men, and in that I am fighting just as much for the Germans as for the English people. With freedom and the destruction of hate this world will enter into a period which I hope will be much in advance of anything it has ever known. When peace returns, and may it be soon, the world must make sure that the men and women of the future are educated in the right way, a love of beauty, not a love of war, and it is our own job to teach our children about all the loveliness of this world, to make them happy so that they can understand that love and happiness are the things really worth having. Well, Darling, I seem to have been rambling on for some time, really I must stop. I don't know whether I have made any sense out of my ramblings, I only hope so. Today's news is very small. I saw "They Flew Alone' tonight, and I think I enjoyed it, I'm not quite sure. "The Stars Look Down' although not a pleasant sort of book has held my interest and I'm reading solidly through it. All my love, Darling, you mean so very much to me, Always, Laurie

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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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.

Leonard F R (F/O)
Morgan B E (P/O)
Pearce P H (Sgt)
Pitman D T (Sgt)
Read F A (P/O)
Webb E C (Sgt)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 17-01-1943
End Date 18-01-1943
Takeoff Station Swinderby
Day/Night Raid Night (90% moon)
Operation Berlin
Reason for Loss Aircraft last heard over the North Sea

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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.

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