Gartery, Douglas Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) Douglas
Surname Gartery
Gender M
Age 23
Date of Death 24-05-1943
Next of Kin B.A. Son of Willie and Jessie Gartery, of Horbury, Yorkshire.
GARTERY D

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax II
Serial Number JB862
Markings VR-U

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Rheinberg War Cemetery
Grave Reference 2. G. 14.
Epitaph WE BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE NEAR US, CLOSE IN SPIRIT AND IN THOUGHT

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 168
GARTERY D

Location

Row -
Panel 168
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 168

Enlistment Information

Service Number 128972
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Group 6
Squadron 419 (Moose)
Squadron Motto Moosa aswayita
Trade Navigator
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location Outside Former St. Georges Hotel, Teesside Airport, County Durham
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Slate Memorial Tablet on Stone Memorial
Memorial Text A memorial to Nos 419, 420 and 428 Sqns RCAF who flew from RAF Middleton St George during WW2
Location Allerton Park Castle, Allerton, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Memorial Garden dedicated to the 4272 personnel of 6 (RCAF) Gp based at Allerton Castle who gave the ultimate sacrifice during WWII to preserve our freedom
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Propeller Unit & Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text Dedicated to the men & women of 6 (RCAF) Gp Bomber Command and to the 9980 Canadians lost serving in Bomber Command.

Miscellaneous Information

The "Ossett Observer" had a short obituary for Douglas Gartery: "Horbury Pilot Officer Missing - A telegram was received by Mr. and Mrs. W. Gartery, 120 Quarry Hill, Horbury, on Monday, informing that their only son, Pilot-Officer Douglas Gartery (23), was missing on operations during the night of May 23rd/24th 1943. A letter from him dated Saturday shows that he was in the best of spirits. The Church of England chaplain at his station has since written to the parents expressing deep sympathy with them in their anxiety. A native of Thongsbridge, Huddersfield, he came with his parents to Horbury fourteen years ago and was educated at Horbury Council School, Ossett Grammar School and Leeds University. After obtaining his B.A., he had a fortnight's holiday and then joined the RAF in September 1941. He had previously been in the A.T.C. attached to his University. He received his training in the U.S.A., and on returning to England last summer was posted to a Royal Canadian Air Force station here. He had been on a number of operational flights over Germany and the occupied countries and only recently was in a machine which shot down (by) an enemy fighter. He attended St. Mary's Church at Horbury Junction and was a server and Sunday School teacher. He was engaged to be married to Miss Kathleen Wilson, Horbury Bridge."

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1822/32
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1822/32

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
Brockway A J (Sgt) Died
Gowling G R (F/S) Died
Green A S (WO2) Died
Harrison M A (Sgt) Died
Prieur J F J P (F/S) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 23-05-1943
End Date 24-05-1943
Takeoff Station Middleton St. George
Day/Night Raid Night (78% moon)
Operation Dortmund. 826 aircraft- the largest since the 1000 bomber raids. 38 aircraft Lost (4.6%). PFF met with clear conditions and marked the target accurately, leading to a good raid. Much devastation was wreaked across large parts of the city. In particular the Hoesch steelworks were put out of action. 624 were killed. This was the last sizeable raid on Dortmund for exactly one year.
Reason for Aircraft Loss Starboard outer engine failed on outbound leg and was then shot down by both flak and night-fighter fire. Crashed near Monchengladbach, 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.