Dodwell, Terence Edgar Died

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Personal Information

Rank S/L
Forename(s) Terence Edgar
Surname Dodwell
Gender M
Age 29
Decorations DFC*
Date of Death 19-07-1944
Next of Kin Son of Samuel L. William and Dorothy Lydia Dodwell. Husband of Olive Kathleen Dodwell, of Thorpe Bay, Essex.
DODWELL TE

Aircraft Information

Aircraft de Havilland Mosquito XVI
Serial Number MM136
Markings 8K-

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery
Grave Reference 5. C. 17.
Epitaph OF ALL THESE HOURS, ONE FOR THEE

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 156
DODWELL TE

Location

Row -
Panel 156
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 156

Enlistment Information

Service Number 115307
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Group 8
Squadron 571
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location Hilton House Hotel, Hilton, Derbyshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Blue Plaque on external wall
Memorial Text Air Commodore Herbert Martin Massey CBE DSO MC 1898-1976 Senior British Officer at Stalag Luft III Sagan who authorised 'The Great Escape' was born here. Hilton and Marston History Group
Location All Saints Church, Longstanton, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Stone Tablet
Memorial Text In honour of 571 (Mosquito) Sqn. aircrew of RAF Oakington 1944 - 1945

Miscellaneous Information

Terry was buried by the villagers of Landin next to their church in the grave of the unknown warrior. His Rolex watch was retrieved by the Red Cross and sent back to England. His son wears it daily. Terry’s navigator, George Cash, survived and joined the Caterpillar Club by parachuting safely to earth, spending the last months of the war in a German prison camp. Terry’s perilous assignments with 1409 Met Flight were rewarded with a DFC in October 1943 and a bar to the DFC in February 1944. The citation for the first award stated ‘this officer has displayed great skill and devotion to duty. As pilot, he has undertaken a large number of sorties, many of them involving a penetration far into enemy territory. Nevertheless, Flying Officer Dodwell has completed his missions with great skill and has achieved important successes thereby rendering most valuable service’. Terry was the pilot or first pilot in all of his 90 operational flights. These began with 25 operations with 110 Squadron in Bristol Blenheims. Terry’s second operational tour started with 109 Squadron flying Mosquito IVs with photographic missions across Europe. After this was consolidated into 1409 Met Flight in April 1943 the first variant of the Mosquito was developed for photo reconnaissance, namely the PR Mark IX. Terry completed a total of 54 operations with 109 Squadron and 1409 Met Flight. The final 19 of his operational flights (including the flight from which he did not return) were made when he was flying the new Bomber Mark XVI, which was converted to carry a 4,000 lb ‘cookie’.
1409 Met Flight had been formed in April 1943, based in Oakington, and Terry joined the flight in the following month. Air Vice Marshall Bennett (founder of the Pathfinders) explained in Pathfinder that the flight consisted of a small handful of crews, flying Mosquitos, who were particularly trained in weather recognition so as to make reliable reports when they returned. In Bennett’s words: "When a flight was called for, the code name ‘Pampa’ was used, and normally came from C-in-C Bomber Command. 1409 Flight flew by day or night as and when required. Their penetrations into Germany were quite deep, even in broad daylight in clear weather. Naturally they flew high and fast, but the danger was extreme, and it was a most nerve-racking job for the crews concerned. They had no guns of any sort".

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2044/8
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2044/8

Last Operation Information

Start Date 18-07-1944
End Date 19-07-1944
Takeoff Station Oakington
Day/Night Raid Night (2% moon)
Operation Berlin. One of 22 Mosquitoes
Reason for Aircraft Loss Shot down by a night-fighter flown by ace Haupt. Heinz Strüning of 3./NJG1 in a Heinkel He219 using Schräge Musik upward firing cannon and crashed NE of Landin, 30km west of Berlin, 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.