Kite, Joseph Alec Charles
Personal Information
Rank | P/O |
Forename(s) | Joseph Alec Charles |
Surname | Kite |
Gender | M |
Age | 23 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 02-10-1942 |
Next of Kin | Son of Gilbert Leslie and Elsie Kite. Husband of Dorothy Kite. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Armstrong Whitworth Whitley V |
Serial Number | Z6653 |
Markings | MA-O |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | United Kingdom |
Burial/Memorial Place | Runnymede Memorial |
Grave Reference | Panel 70. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 194 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 49684 |
Service | Royal Air Force |
Group | 38 |
Squadron | 161 (Special Duties) |
Trade | Observer |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Other Memorials
Location | Village Green, Tempsford, Bedfordshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Stone Memorial with inscribed Marble Tablets |
Memorial Text | In honour of the men and women of Special Duties Sqns stationed at RAF Tempsford |
Location | Gibraltar Farm Barn, Tempsford, Bedfordshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Framed Scrolls |
Memorial Text | In memory of 161 Sqn, RAF Tempsford February 1942 - June 1945 |
Location | Church of St. Peter, Tempsford, Bedfordshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Brass Plaques & Roll of Honour |
Memorial Text | In memory of the men and women of 161 Sqn, RAF Tempsford including those of the Royal Australian Air Force, and SOE agents killed during WW2 |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 02-10-1942 |
End Date | 03-10-1942 |
Takeoff Station | Tempsford |
Day/Night Raid | Night (45% moon) |
Operation | Special Operations Executive- Operation Lettuce 7 |
Reason for Loss | Took off from Tempsford at 21:30 and ditched off the Dutch coast at 22:45 after suffering engine failure. There were two survivors: first-pilot, Pilot-Officer Ernest Edge, aged 23, from Liverpool, and bomb-aimer Sgt Denys Taaffe, 19, from Ipswich. They were captured, P/O Edge being detained in Stalag Luft 3 (Sagan), and Sgt Taaffe in Stalag Luft 6 (Heydekrug). Both survived the war. Pilot-Officer Edge was killed in a flying accident on 21 November 1952 when serving as a Flying Instructor with 215 AFS at RAF Finningley, when his Meteor crashed in the River Humber at Faxfleet, near Brough. He is buried in Finningley churchyard. P/O Kite lived at Greenford, Middlesex. |