Higgins, Sidney William
Personal Information
Rank | Sgt |
Forename(s) | Sidney William |
Surname | Higgins |
Gender | M |
Age | 20 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 13-08-1944 |
Next of Kin | Son of Samuel and Alice Isabel Higgins, of Fulham, London. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax III |
Serial Number | NA604 |
Markings | LK-T |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Durnbach War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | 7. F. 5. |
Epitaph | GONE FROM US BUT NOT FORGOTTEN. NEVER SHALL THY MEMORY FADE. R.I.P. |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 181 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 1319732 |
Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
Group | 4 |
Squadron | 578 |
Trade | Air Bomber |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Other Memorials
Location | Adjacent to A19, Burn, North Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Memorial Stone |
Memorial Text | For all who served in 578 Squadron Royal Air Force Burn 1944 - 1945 |
Location | Methodist Church, Burn, North Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Metal Plaque |
Memorial Text |
Location | Selby Abbey, Selby, North Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | RoH in Glass topped wooden cabinet |
Memorial Text | In memory of all 578 Sqn Aircrew who failed to return from Ops at RAF Burn |
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": Sydney William Higgins was born on January 21st 1924. His father, Mr S. Higgins was a Guard on the Underground and the family lived at 44 Lochaline St W6. He had been a pupil at Fulham Palace Rd Elementary School and a London County Council full fee Scholarship brought him to Class 2A at Latymer on September 10th 1935. There is, sadly, no further information about him in the admissions register. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2052/17 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2050/15 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 12-08-1944 |
End Date | 13-08-1944 |
Takeoff Station | Burn |
Day/Night Raid | Night (30% moon) |
Operation | Russelsheim to bomb the Opel motor factory, with normal PFF marking (unlike the concurrent Braunschweig raid). 297 aircraft, 20 losses (6.7%). Only slight damage was inflicted with may of the bombs falling in open countryside. |
Reason for Loss | Crashed at Mönchbruch, Germany |