Botkin, Richard Trent Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/L
Forename(s) Richard Trent
Surname Botkin
Gender M
Age 30
Decorations MiD
Date of Death 09-10-1943
Next of Kin Son of Ralph Waldo Botkin and Faye Botkin (née Trent) of Pratt, Kansas, USA. Husband of Madge Botkin- date of marriage 2 September 1931 in Pratt, Kansas, USA. Father of Betty Ann Botkin (born Wichita, 22 April 1932). Richard and Madge divorced on 5 December 1939.
BOTKIN RT

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number JA980
Markings LQ-Z

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Hanover War Cemetery
Grave Reference 16. K. 18.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 133
BOTKIN RT

Location

Row -
Panel 133
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 133

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/16957
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 8
Squadron 405 (Vancouver)
Squadron Motto Duicmus (We lead)
Trade Air Gunner
Country of Origin United States of America

Other Memorials

Location Adjacent to Village Windmill, Mill Rd, Great Gransden, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Remembering 405 (Vancouver) Sqn. PFF at Gransden Lodge 1942 - 1945
Location St. Bartholomew's Church, Great Gransden, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stained Glass Window, RoH and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text Commemorating the 801 airmen of 405 Sqn. RCAF who gave their lives 1941 - 1945
Location Pocklington Gliding Club, Pocklington Airfield, East Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Marble Pillar and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text In memory of 102 (Ceylon) and 405 (Vancouver) Sqns. Pocklington Airfield

Miscellaneous Information

Richard was born at Caldwell, Kansas on 24 February 1913. His father was an Advertising Salesman, born at Winfield, Kansas and his mother was also born there. The schools he attended were Lowell School, Winfield, 1919-1926 (regular) and Meade High School 1928-1931 (regular). His sport interests were football, boxing and wrestling. Richard worked for Kansas State Highway Comm. Meade, as a clerk/truck driver, 1931-1935; for Western Union Telegraph Co. Houston, as a clerk- office manager, 1935-1939; for Pratt, Kansas City Comm. as a driver in the electric dept, for six months in 1940; and finally for Alfred Williams, attorney, Pratt, Kansas, as a clerk 1940-1941.
He enlisted on 7 August 1941 (while the United States was still neutral) and embarked from Canada on 30 April 1942. He arrived at 3PRC 13 May 1942, 7 AGS. 27 June 1942, 22 OTU 21 July 1942 and 405 Squadron 20 October 1942.
Mentioned in Despatches June 1943

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1788/20
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1788/20

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
Bilson F W (F/O) Died
Hucker J A N (WO2) Died
Schneider M S F (S/L) Died
Taylor J G (F/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 08-10-1943
End Date 09-10-1943
Takeoff Station Gransden Lodge
Day/Night Raid Night (74% moon)
Operation Hanover. 504 aircraft and the last to include Wellingtons, none of which were Lost 27 Lancasters and Halifaxes were Lost (5.4%). The Germans had correctly assumed that Hanover was the target and there was much night-fighter activity as a result. The conditions were clear and both marking and the subsequent bombing were accurate and concentrated, with little creepback. The electrical, water and telephone services were destroyed in what was Hanover's worst attack of the war. An impressive marshalling regime on the ground concentrated the public into areas between the fires, saving many lives. Even so, 1200 people were killed and 3345 injured. almost 4000 buildings were destroyed amongst which were the Continental rubber factory and Hanomag machine works.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Shot down from 18000' by a night-fighter and crashed at Engern, east of Rinteln, Germany
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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.