New Memorial Listings

New memorial data for individuals, crew, stations, squadrons and groups have been added.

View memorials

Wiggins, Edward Ernest James

Request an edit Submit a photo

Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) Edward Ernest James
Surname Wiggins
Gender M
Age 22
Date of Death 07-06-1944
Next of Kin Son of Ernest and Grace M. M. Wiggins, of Wantage, Berkshire.
WIGGINS EEJ

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number ND680
Markings ZN-P

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 240.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 1
Panel Number 115

Enlistment Information

Service Number 1651152
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Group 5
Squadron 106
Squadron Motto Pro libertate (For freedom)
Trade Air Gunner
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
View On Google Maps View On what3words
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
View On Google Maps View On what3words

Miscellaneous Information

His father was a mechanic. He had a sister, Phyllis. After attending the Church of England school in Church Street, Wantage, Ted Wiggins found work at the International Stores in the Market Place where his parents worked.
He qualified as Air Gunner on 10 July 1943. After further training at 16 OTU at Upper Heyford, and 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit, he arrived at 106 Squadron RAF at Methringham in February 1944.
In 2000, the British Government received from the Russian Government various documents and personal possessions that the Russian army had seized at the end of the war on occupying Berlin. Amongst the items returned were Ted Wiggins' two dog tags. How they got to Berlin is not known.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Click here to view

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/834/12
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/834/11

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.

Arnold P S (F/O)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 06-06-1944
End Date 07-06-1944
Takeoff Station Metheringham
Day/Night Raid Night (100% moon)
Operation Coutances
Reason for Loss On apprach to the target at 4,500ft, both gunners warned the pilot to 'cockscrew port' and S/L Sprawson saw blue and white tracer going past the cockpit, which seemed to come from behind the aircraft. He started to turn but found the controls abnormal, then realised the port engine on the Lancaster was on fire. An attempt was made to put the fire out but to no avail and with the aircraft in a slight dive, Sprawson gave the order to bail out. Seeing three of the crew go past him for the exit, the pilot was satisfied the intercom was working, but just in case called the gunners twice but received no reply. Assuming they had received the message, Squadron Leader Sprawson parachuted out, seeing the burning aircraft on the ground during his descent. Of those who escaped from the Lancaster that night, three (Sprawson, Barker, and Hogg) managed to evade capture and were hidden by local people until Caen was liberated in July. Sgts Low and Anderton were taken prisoner. Sadly the two gunners, Philip Arnold and Ted Wiggins were never found and are presumed to have perished with the aircraft.

Honour This Person

Since 1945 the brave men and women who gave their lives whilst in the service of Bomber Command, to protect our country have been largely ignored and forgotten by successive governments.

It is now time to make that right.

Honour this person now

Events At IBCC

We have an exciting events programme here at IBCC! From Concerts with stars to our annual Salute to the 40s weekend, from Dinner dances to Family Fun Days..

Something for all the family!

View Upcoming Events
 
 
 
 

Please Wait

Close

Request An Edit

I warrant that the information i’m supplying is accurate to the best of my knowledge and I have the rights to provide this information.

Submit a Photo

I warrant that I own the copyright or have the correct commercial print licences in place for the images and or artwork I’m uploading.

Once submitted, your photo will be submitted for verification and will be shown on the database record shortly.

Disclaimer I acknowledge that I remain the copyright holder of the original document(s). I hereby grant copyright in the digital version to the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) and I consent to IBCC making digital copies freely available online under a Creative Commons non-commercial licence. IBCC may also use, reproduce or incorporate it into other works in any media, or licence its use for purposes of ensuring the sustainability of its Digital Archive and Losses Database. I understand that digital copies will be owned and controlled by IBCC, and I irrevocably agree to IBCC using and publishing digital copies however it sees fit, but always in line with its responsibilities to preserve and protect such ephemera.

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.