Bowen, Roland John Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Roland John
Surname Bowen
Gender M
Age 23
Date of Death 02-01-1944
Next of Kin Son of Roland Ames Bowen and Elizabeth May Bowen, of Bridgnorth, Shropshire.
BOWEN RJ

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number JA925
Markings GT-L

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 210.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 134
BOWEN RJ

Location

Row -
Panel 134
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 134

Enlistment Information

Service Number 54028
Service Royal Air Force
Group 8
Squadron 156
Squadron Motto We light the way
Trade Flight Engineer
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location St. Mary Magdalene Church, Warboys, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stained Glass Window & Inscribed Slate Tablet
Memorial Text We light the way" This tablet is placed in memory of Flight Lieutenant JL Sloper DFC and Bar, RAFVR. And in tribute to all who served with 156 Squadron Path Finders Force at RAF Warboys, 1942-1945, In gratitude.
Location Tithe Farm, Warboys, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Brick Pillars and inscribed Metal Plaques
Memorial Text From this RAF Station Warboys 156 squadrons No 8 (PFF) group, marked targets for Bomber Command 1942-1944

Miscellaneous Information

156 Squadron lost four Lancasters on this operation. Not a single crew member survived
The bodies of six of the seven airmen were found and two identified as S/L Rowland and F/S Hinks but no burial details were recorded and sadly none of their remains were ever found.
Roland John Bowen was born on 13th July 1920 in Bridgnorth, Shropshire to Elizabeth May and Roland Ames Bowen. He was their first child, and known by his middle name, John. He had three younger siblings - Barbara, Charles, and Elizabeth. Their father was the mayor of Bridgnorth from 1934 to 1937. John went to Bridgnorth Grammar School, and showed much ability as a swimmer. During his time with the RAF, he won numerous swimming prizes. John joined RAF Halton’s engineering college as an Aircraft Apprentice in January 1937, aged 16. He left at the outbreak of war in September 1939, as an Aircraft Fitter. His first two postings were to Yorkshire based squadrons - 10 Squadron at RAF Dishforth, and then 242 Squadron at RAF Church Fenton. In spring 1940, John was transferred to the Fleet Air Arm. He joined 824 Naval Air Squadron, and served on HMS Eagle for 18 months. During his time with them, HMS Eagle was involved in many episodes in the Mediterranean. In Autumn 1940, John was hospitalised in Alexandria with Sandfly Fever - he was quite ill, and lost a lot of weight. In March 1941, John and his squadron were temporarily transferred to Port Sudan. Upon their return to HMS Eagle, they sailed around Africa, stopping at Mombasa, Durban, Cape Town and Freetown. In October 1941, HMS Eagle docked in Scotland, and John was disembarked to RNAS Machrihanish, where he remained for the next 14 months. John was always very enthusiastic about his 7 years of service, except perhaps for his time with the Fleet Air Arm. Fortunately, in December 1942, John went back to the RAF and began his training as a flight engineer. John had a great love for the RAF, and had always wanted to fly planes as a boy. Unfortunately, his eyesight was not completely perfect, which was why he could not be a pilot. John was trained at the No. 4 School of Technical Training, at RAF St Athan until the end of April 1943. During this time, he also completed a course at Avro’s factory. In May 1943, he went to 1656 Conversion Unit, RAF Lindholme. Then, he had a brief spell at 12 Squadron, RAF Wickenby. He completed his first 5 operational flights here. In July 1943, John was posted to 156 Squadron, at RAF Warboys. He completed 27 operational flights as a Pathfinder, all with the same crew. John often spoke of the wonderful comradeship of this crew, and was nicknamed ‘Lofty’ because of his height (6 ft 1). John also said their pilot, Squadron Leader Rowland Fawcett, was ‘a great guy and he would have gone anywhere with him’. John spent his last Christmas at home with his family. Just after this, the crew tragically lost their lives on a mission to Berlin on 2nd January 1944. John’s commission as Pilot Officer was posthumously confirmed in February 1944.

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1042/2
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1042/2

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
Bell J (F/S) Died
Fawcett R E (S/L) Died
Headley G M (F/S) Died
Hinks B C (F/S) Died
Lyford P R (P/O) Died
Vickers G (P/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 01-01-1944
End Date 02-01-1944
Takeoff Station Warboys
Day/Night Raid Night (41% moon)
Operation Berlin. 421 Lancasters, 28 losses (6.7%). German fighters were directed to the main bomber stream early in the approach and the German controller was not deceived by the Mosquito diversion on Hamburg. However, the night-fighters were not particularly effective over the target and the flak was also restricted in height due to their presence. Berlin was cloud covered once again and the sky-marking was not especially accurate. Bombing was scattered but mainly in the southern suburbs. Only 21 houses and one industrial building were destroyed and 79 people killed.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Shot down and crashed at Dahlem, between Berlin and Potsdam
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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.