Gillis, Hartley David Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/L
Forename(s) Hartley David
Surname Gillis
Gender M
Age 21
Decorations DFC
Date of Death 08-06-1944
Next of Kin Son of Robert Archibald and Mary Watson Gillis, of Paddington London.
GILLIS HD

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster III
Serial Number ND577
Markings GT-E

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country France
Burial/Memorial Place les Mersnuls Churchyard
Grave Reference Coll. grave.
Epitaph WE LIGHT THE WAY

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 170
GILLIS HD

Location

Row -
Panel 170
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 170

Enlistment Information

Service Number 170350
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Group 8
Squadron 156
Squadron Motto We light the way
Trade Flight Engineer
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location To right of village war memorial in front of cemetery, Les Mesnuls, 78 - Yvelines Prefecture
Country France
Memorial Type Sculptured inscribed stone memorial
Memorial Text A nos amis de la RAF morts pour la liberte - Lancaster ND577
Translation "To our friends of the RAF who died for freedom – Lancaster ND577"
Location Rural location, in forest of the four pillars, Chemin du Haut-Cornu, Saint-Leger-en-Yvelines, 78 - Yvelines Prefecture
Country France
Memorial Type Stencilled composite information panel
Memorial Text Souvenons nous sans cesse vous qui passez devant ce lieu ou dans la nuit du 7 au 8 Juin 1944 s'est abattu un quardrimoteur (Lancaster ND577) De la RAF avec tout son equipage de 8 jeunes aviateurs Anglais. Ils ont donne leurs vies pour que nous redevenions libres. Recueillons nous ou deposons un humble bouquet de fleurs en leur memoire
Translation "Let us always remember, you who pass by this place, where on the night of June 7th to 8th, 1944, a four-engine RAF Lancaster ND577 crashed with its crew of eight young British airmen. They gave their lives so that we might regain our freedom. Let us pause in silence or lay a simple bouquet of flowers in their memory"
Location On Grass Verge, Ramsey Rd, Upwood, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone & Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text From RAF Upwood, crews from 139 and 156 Sqns, No 8 Pathfinder Group marked targets for Bomber Command
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

His alma mater was the highly regarded Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, London which lost an incredible 26 of their alumni to Bomber Command in WW2.
Excerpt from "The Fallen Latymerians of The Second World War": Hartley David Gillis was born on November 7th 1922. The son of Mr R. A. Gillis, a Secretary and Accountant, of 35 Shaftesbury Avenue, W6, he entered Latymer on January 14th 1936 from Chiswick Central School. Nothing more about him appears in the admissions register but ‘The Latymerian’ tells us that he served with great distinction in the R.A. F. And mentions him several times. Hartley David Gillis was born on November 7th 1922. The son of Mr R. A. Gillis, a Secretary and Accountant, of 35 Shaftesbury Avenue, W6, he entered Latymer on January 14th 1936 from Chiswick Central School. Nothing more about him appears in the admissions register but ‘The Latymerian’ tells us that he served with great distinction in the R.A. F. and mentions him several times. In the Easter 1942 edition he was listed as ‘Training as Observer in the R.A.F. Volunteer Re-serve’. In Easter 1943 he is reported as having also qualified as a Navigator. The Autumn 1943 magazine records him being on a Pathfinder Course and continues, ‘He has done 20 operational flights including raids on Berlin, Hamburg, Essen, Cologne, Munich, Kassel, Nuremberg and Milan. Then in Summer 1944 he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant and awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross “for long, meritorious service”. After completing all his original tours of service, he volunteered for pathfinding and had only two more operations to complete on his second operations series when he was reported missing on a night raid over Germany.’

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1042/12
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1042/12

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
Campbell I (Sgt) Died
Conlon W M (F/L) Died
Gibbs L E (F/S) Died
Hopton C G (S/L) Died
Larkins A R P (W/O) Died
Moyes P J (F/L) Died
Wood D T (F/L) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 07-06-1944
End Date 08-06-1944
Takeoff Station Upwood
Day/Night Raid Night (98% moon)
Operation Versailles- to bomb rail communications. Part of a 337 bomber strong force to bomb various lines of communications behind the Normandy beachhead. There was less cloud cover than the previous night with all targets being accurately bombed and fewer civilians killed. Because the targets were further inland than recent raids, the German night-fighters had a greater opportunity to infiltrate the bomber stream and as a result, losses were higher. 28 aircraft were Lost (8.3%).
Reason for Aircraft Loss Crashed at les Mesnuls (Yvelines), France
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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.