Gibbons, Alfred Norman
Personal Information
Rank | Sgt |
Forename(s) | Alfred Norman |
Surname | Gibbons |
Gender | M |
Age | 23 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 30-07-1943 |
Next of Kin | Son of Thomas and Sarah Alice Gibbons, of Bilston, Staffordshire. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Avro Lancaster III |
Serial Number | EE172 |
Markings | OF-O |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Becklingen War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | 14. E. 11. |
Epitaph | DEAR TO OUR HEARTS, MEMORIES OF NORMAN. LOVED BY MOTHER, BERNA AND FAMILY |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 169 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 617297 |
Service | Royal Air Force |
Group | 8 |
Squadron | 97 (Straits Settlements) |
Trade | Flight Engineer |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Other Memorials
Location | Church of the Holy Spirit, RAF Coningsby, Coningsby, Lincolnshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Stained Glass Window |
Memorial Text | A stained glass window remembering 97 Sqn in the Church of the Holy Spirit, RAF Coningsby |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/767/14 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/767/13 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 29-07-1943 |
End Date | 30-07-1943 |
Takeoff Station | Bourn |
Day/Night Raid | Night (4% moon) |
Operation | Hamburg. 787 aircraft, 17 losses (2.2%). For the second consecutive raid, Brig. Gen. Anderson, the commander of the American 8th Air Force, flew as an observer on this operation. PFF used H2S to mark the target but were approximately 3km east of the centre of the city but was at least concentrated, leading to concentrated bombing with little creepback. This raid caused a firestorm resulting from very high summer temperatures and low humidity following a particularly dry spell. Most of the fire crews were in the west of the city following the raid of three nights earlier and few could make the journey to the new fires due to rubble blocking roads. The fires quickly joined into one mass of fire, drawing so much oxygen into the area that it caused storm-force winds. The fire raged for over three hours after the raid and only subsided when all combustible material was consumed. Approximately 40000 civilian deaths mostly from asphyxiation resulting from lack of oxygen. The raid led to an exodus of over 1.2 million people fearing another raid. |
Reason for Loss | Coned by searchlights from 1./Flakscheinw.Abt.501(0), 1. & 2./Flakscheinw.Abt.530(0) & 4./Flakscheinw.Abt.608(0) of 3.Flak Div & attacked by a N/F flown by Fw Wilhelm Kurreck 8/NJG3 at 01.33hrs, crashed at Wohnste, South West of Buxtehude to the South of Hamburg. |