Tilbury, Eric Arthur
Personal Information
Rank | F/L |
Forename(s) | Eric Arthur |
Surname | Tilbury |
Gender | M |
Age | 25 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 13-06-1943 |
Next of Kin | Son of Arthur Herbert and Dora Beatrice Tilbury, of Southend-On-Sea, Essex. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Avro Lancaster III |
Serial Number | ED603 |
Markings | OL-L |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Netherlands |
Burial/Memorial Place | Staveren General Cemetery |
Grave Reference | Row I. Grave 29. |
Epitaph | LEAVING HERE A NAME, I TRUST, THAT WILL NOT PERISH IN THE DUST |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 1 |
Panel Number | 107 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 127147 |
Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
Group | 8 |
Squadron | 83 |
Trade | Pilot |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Other Memorials
Location | RAF Wyton Memorial Garden, Wyton, Cambridgeshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone & Inscribed Metal Plaque |
Memorial Text | Commemorating the Pathfinder Sqns operating from RAF Wyton, 1942-1945 |
Location | RAF Wyton, Cambridgeshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone & Inscribed Metal Plaque |
Memorial Text | Commemorating 83 Sqn Lancaster, one of the Pathfinder Sqn's operating from RAF Wyton 1942 - 1945 |
Location | St. Michaels's Church, Coningsby, Lincolnshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Wooden Plaque & 83 Sqn Badge |
Memorial Text | This Chapel was furnished by members and friends of 83 Pathfinder Sqn and is dedicated to the memory of those airmen who lost their lives on flying operations from RAF Coningsby in WWII |
Miscellaneous Information
The remains of this aircraft were discovered in 1996 and are being recovered from the Ijsselmeer at the moment. In early September 2023, the Dutch authorities confirmed that they have found skeletal remains within the wreckage, presumed to be those of the three airmen with no known grave. In November 2023, the Dutch defence ministry confirmed that they had found two cigarette cases, inscribed with the initials of P/O Smart and P/O Moore and that the remains of each of the three missing men had been idenitified, allowing them to have a proper burial, 80 years after they perished. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/687/12 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/687/11 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 12-06-1943 |
End Date | 13-06-1943 |
Takeoff Station | Wyton |
Day/Night Raid | Night (69% moon) |
Operation | Bochum |
Reason for Loss | Crashed into the Ijsselmeer, south of Breezandhaven. |