Cowell, Roy
Personal Information
Rank | Sgt |
Forename(s) | Roy |
Surname | Cowell |
Gender | M |
Age | 23 |
Date of Death | 25-07-1943 |
Next of Kin | Son of William John and Rachel Hudson Cowell, of Sunderland, Co. Durham. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax V |
Serial Number | DK187 |
Markings | MP-M |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | United Kingdom |
Burial/Memorial Place | Runnymede Memorial |
Grave Reference | Panel 146. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 149 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 938828 |
Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
Group | 4 |
Squadron | 76 |
Squadron Motto | Resolute |
Trade | Air Gunner |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Other Memorials
Location | Behind old Main Guardroom, former Holme On Spalding Moor Airfield, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Stone Pillar with inscribed Metal Plaques |
Memorial Text | In Remembrance of the aircrew members from the UK,Australia,New Zealand,Canada and Norway,who gave their lives in the cause of freedom in operational sorties against the enemy from 76 Sqn 1941-1945 and to the ground personal who lost their lives by enemy |
Location | All Saints Church, Holme On Spalding Moor, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Stained Glass Window and Roll of Honour within Wooden Box with inscribed Metal Plaque |
Memorial Text | S G Window In memory of 76 Sqn R.A.F / Roll of honour In memory of those members of 76 Sqn R.A.F who were killed on active service 1939-1954 |
Location | Roadside location (off E6), Fættenfjord, near Åsenfjord, Trøndelag Fylke |
Country | Norway |
Memorial Type | Inscribed memorial stone atopped with inert aerial sea mine and Tirpitz anchor chain link |
Memorial Text |
For Frihet Til minne om Allierte Flymannskaper fra RAF drept under angrep pa det tyske slagskipet Tirpitz i Fættenfjord 1942
Translation "For freedom In memory of the Allied Aircrews from the RAF who died in attacks on the German Battleship Tirpitz in the Fættenfjord 1942 " |
Miscellaneous Information
Roy was an Accountants Clerk before enlisting and volunteered pre-War but hadn't been called up at the time of the 1939 England & Wales Register in October 1939. Older Brother of Mervyn. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/651/14 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/651/13 |
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.
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 24-07-1943 |
End Date | 25-07-1943 |
Takeoff Station | Holme-on-Spalding-Moor |
Day/Night Raid | Night (42% moon) |
Operation | Hamburg. 791 aircraft, 12 losses (1.5%). Clear conditions over the target and only a light wind. This was the first raid in which Window was used. A mixture of H2S and visual marking was used and although initial bombing was concentrated, creepback was particularly evident with a corridor of fire some 6 miles long developing. Approximately 1500 civilian deaths- the greatest number in a raid outside the reach of Oboe. |
Reason for Loss | Presumed to have crashed into the North Sea |