Andrews, Clifford Bruce Died

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Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) Clifford Bruce
Surname Andrews
Gender M
Age 22
Date of Death 28-09-1943
Next of Kin Son of Frank Mitchell Andrews and Doris Myrtle Andrews, of Onewhero, Auckland, New Zealand.
ANDREWS CB

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Short Stirling III
Serial Number EF495
Markings OJ-R

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 199.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 123
ANDREWS CB

Location

Row -
Panel 123
Column -
Line -

Directions From the Chadwick Centre, take the central path towards The Spire.

Phase 2
Panel Number 123

Enlistment Information

Service Number 41174
Service Royal New Zealand Air Force
Group 3
Squadron 149 (East India)
Squadron Motto Fortis nocte (Strong by night)
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin New Zealand

Other Memorials

Location St. George's Church, Methwold, Norfolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Roll of Honour & inscribed window
Memorial Text Roll of Honour of 149 Sqn RAF and a window remembering the men and women of all Nations who served at RAF Methwold, 1939-1945

Miscellaneous Information

Known as Bruce. He had always wanted to be a pilot but as he'd left school at 12 to work on the family farm during the Great Depression he didn't have the necessary maths and physics to train as a pilot. In an attempt to be accepted, for months after working a full day on the farm he'd ride his horse five miles to the Headmaster's house for extra tuition. While he never was accepted for pilot training he did enlist as an air gunner in the Air Force and received his training in Canada, before being posted to England. Each ANZAC Day the remember Bruce 'the Uncle they never met but never forgot', because his four remaining siblings, talked about him throughout their lives and kept his memory alive. His death broke the hearts of his parents and profoundly affected the lives of his three little sisters (Maise, Bud and Jocelyn) and little brother (Roly) and their seventeen children who never had the chance to meet Uncle Bruce, but knew him through the stories they grew up hearing and his photo which took pride of place in each of their homes.
One of the photographs shows the greenstone pendant that Bruce was wearing when he was lost. The photo shows Roa Hira with Frank Mitchell Andrews, Bruce's father, who fought in the trenches of France during WWI. Roa is wearing a very old family taonga (treasure) made from pounamu (greenstone)- it can be seen hanging from his coat button hole. When Frank left for war in 1916, Roa lent it to him to protect him and 27 years later when Frank's eldest son, Clifford Bruce Andrews, was himself leaving to join the airforce during WW2, Roa again lent his families taonga to the Andrews family. Sadly Bruce was wearing the pounamu when his aircraft was shot down over the North Sea in September 1943.
The week Bruce went missing, Bruce's father, who struggled with his own demons after his WWI experiences, was found crying in the cowshed following a frighteningly vivid dream about Bruce, and was convinced something terrible had happened to him. Eventually, Franks worst fears were confirmed when they saw the Onewhero Postmaster peddling his bike slowly down the farm driveway- he was hand delivering the dreaded telegram with the news Bruce was listed as ‘missing in action’. With war time petrol rationing mail wasn’t delivered in rural areas; instead the local children would stop at the post office on their horses on their way home from school and deliver the mail to the neighbours along their route home, unless the mail contained a telegram from the war office, in which case the the postmaster would slowly ride his bike up hill and down dale, along the rutted gravel country roads to personally bring the family the news. If ever the post master was spotted riding his bike, the whole community collectively held their breath, wondering where he was headed with a dreaded telegram bringing news that some local father, son, brother or friend was hurt, missing or killed. The local kids would follow him at a distance and then once they'd worked out who's farm he was headed for, they'd ride for home quick smart to tell their parents so that baking and meals could be made, the horses hiched up, and the community would rally around with practical offers of support for the grieving family.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1003/18
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1003/18

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.

Name Outcome
Bevan C J W (F/O) Died
Hotchkis G S (F/S) Died
Schollum B J (F/S) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 27-09-1943
End Date 28-09-1943
Takeoff Station Lakenheath
Day/Night Raid Night (2% moon)
Operation Hanover. 678 aircraft, including five B-17s. 39 aircraft Lost, including one B-17 (5.6%). Bombing was very concentrated, but not accurately on target due to incorrect PFF marking. Little significant damage inflicted.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Crashed into 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.

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.