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Marsh, Alfred Beazley

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) Alfred Beazley
Surname Marsh
Gender M
Age 30
Decorations DFC
Date of Death 04-04-1943
Next of Kin Son of Alfred Edward Marsh and Catherine Edith Marsh (née Beazley), of Leicester. Brother of Edward Marsh who died in 1955 at the age of 43.
MARSH AB

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster I
Serial Number ED615
Markings GT-

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Kiel War Cemetery
Grave Reference 1. J. 16.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 204

Enlistment Information

Service Number 107993
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Group 8
Squadron 156
Squadron Motto We light the way
Trade Navigator
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

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.
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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
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Miscellaneous Information

Alfred was a cycling record breaker, having broken the Road Records Association tricycle record from Edinburgh to York in 1938. This record was itself broken by 966219 Albert Watson, a member of the same cycling club, who was himself killed on a training flight in Canada on 23 March 1943. Alfred was a member of the North Road Cycling Club, his father and grandfather having also been members. He was also a member of the Cyclists' Touring Club, the Tricycle Association and Leicestershire Road Club
Worked as a bank clerk before enlisting. Trained at Miami University, Florida where he achieved the best results of the British contingent and only narrowly bettered by the leading American. Posted to RAF Warboys, he would have been very familiar with the landscape over which he now found himself flying due to his cycling experiences with the North Road Cycling Club. He flew eight operations in March and April 1943: two over St. Nazaire and six over Germany. His Captain, the Honourable Brian Grimston DFC was renowned for flying stunts over the family estate in Hertfordshire (Gorhambury Estate). Grimston's brother was also killed, on the strength of 524 Squadron (Coastal Command) in 1944.
Promoted to Flight Sergeant with effect from 18 Oct 1941 in the London Gazette dated 2 Dec 1941. Promoted to Flying Officer with effect from 1 Oct 1942 in London Gazette copy date 10 Nov 1942. His death was confirmed in the same copy of the London Gazette as his DFC was promulgated - copy date 29 May 1945

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1041/30
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1041/29

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.

Girrbach K (F/O)
Grimston B (S/L)
Hazelwood K R (F/S)
Portch A L S (P/O)
Stafford G C (W/O)
Volante S J (P/O)
Woodward T J (Sgt)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 04-04-1943
End Date 05-04-1943
Takeoff Station Warboys
Day/Night Raid Night (0% moon)
Operation Kiel. 577 aircraft, making this the largest raid of the war so far, with the exception of the 1000-bomber raids. 12 aircraft lost (2.1%). Thick cloud and strong winds in the target area made PFF marking difficult. Decoy fires also drew some bombing. As a result there was little damage caused
Reason for Loss Other aircraft reported seeing an aircraft bursting into flames and spiralling downwards in the target area. Thought to have been a victim of Wurzburg directed fire from 1.Marine Flak Regiment. Crashed at 23:08 near Rosenfeld, north of Preetz, Schleswig-Holstein. Only five of the eight bodies were recovered- the remainder are commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial, including that of the Hon. Brian Grimston DFC.

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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.