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Lines, Fred Norman

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Fred Norman
Surname Lines
Gender M
Age 23
Date of Death 18-12-1939
Next of Kin Son of James Fred and Eveline F. Lines, of Coventry.
LINES FN

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Vickers Wellington IA
Serial Number N2962
Markings OJ-B

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 1.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 199

Enlistment Information

Service Number 70892
Service Royal Air Force
Group 3
Squadron 149 (East India)
Squadron Motto Fortis nocte (Strong by night)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location Church of St. John, Beck Row, Suffolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Slate Tablet on rear external wall of Church
Memorial Text In remembrance of all who served at RAF Mildenhall and associated aerodromes in the cause of freedom, 1939-1945
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Location St. George's Church, Methwold, Norfolk
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Roll of Honour & inscribed window
Memorial Text Roll of Honour of 149 Sqn RAF and a window remembering the men and women of all Nations who served at RAF Methwold, 1939-1945
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Miscellaneous Information

The first aircraft shot down, it was attacked by Me110s and dived into the sea from 10,000 feet
Coventry local news Wednesday, December 27th 1939: ‘Coventry RAF Pilot Missing’ – Took part in raid on Heligoland; An officers graphic description of how the machine of 23 years old Coventry airman, taking part in the RAF raid on Heligoland of December 18, was seen to dive towards the sea, after having shot down an enemy fighter, is contained in a letter received by Mr. and Mrs. J. F. Lines, 59, Sackville Street, Coventry. Their son, Pilot Officer Frederick Norman Lines, is reported missing. He is Coventry's first RAF casualty of the war. The letter Mr. and Mrs. Lines have received from the officer in command of the raid reads 'Though I suppose there maybe the very faintest gleam of hope that he might have been picked up by the other side, I must tell you personally how I feel that your son and his crew lost their lives during the battle carried out between Wilhemshaven and Heligoland on December 18'. Continuing the officer writes: "I expect it is small consolation that he died fighting it out, and had already brought down one of the enemy fighters. In his first engagement he and his crew were doing splendidly, and in another five minutes would have been clear of the attack. The aircraft that shot him down was shot down in flames as he pulled away. That gave us some satisfaction. He was flying in the aircraft directly alongside me at the time, when he was hit and went down. This was some sixty miles or so out to sea. No one was able to see exactly what happened as we were all too busy engaged until the attacks were finally broken up”. Mr. and Mrs. Lines had a letter from the Air Council confirming that Pilot Officer Lines is missing. Pilot Officer Lines was a gifted young man. He was a Freeman of the City of Coventry having been admitted in 1937. He served his apprenticeship after education at Wheatley Street School and the Coventry Technical College with Humber Ltd., being employed as a draughtsman. During his apprenticeship he wanted to get into the air force. Mrs Line told a Midland Daily Telegraph reporter "but he was unable to do so until two years ago. Then he joined the volunteer reserve. An only child, Pilot Officer Lines was a keen athlete. He was a member of the Automobile Engineers.”

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1000/6

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.

Ellis W J (AC2)
Hammond R R (Sgt)
Sinton J H (LAC)
Speirs J H C (F/O)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 18-12-1939
End Date 18-12-1939
Takeoff Station Mildenhall
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Daylight attack on shipping off Wilhelmshaven by 24 Wellingtons
Reason for Loss Picked up early by an experimental German Freya radar on the island of Wangerooge and, in clear conditions, were scattered by accurate flak and then attacked by fighters. Twelve of the 22 aircraft which had reached the target area were shot down for 2 German fighters. This operation, together with an earlier and similarly disasterous operation on 14th December, had a profound effect on British bomber policy and did much to dispel the myth that bombers in a tight formation would always be safe from attacking fighters.

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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.