Oakley, Charles Edward
Personal Information
Rank | F/O |
Forename(s) | Charles Edward |
Surname | Oakley |
Gender | M |
Age | 21 |
Date of Death | 22-10-1943 |
Next of Kin | Son of Russell Ernest and Ada Louisa Oakley. Husband of Phyllis Helen Oakley, of Hounslow, Middlesex. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax V |
Serial Number | LK959 |
Markings | ZL-D |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Netherlands |
Burial/Memorial Place | Bergen-op-Zoom War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | 23. C. 2. |
Epitaph | REMEMBERED ALWAYS |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 220 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 143878 |
Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
Group | 6 |
Squadron | 427 (Lion) |
Squadron Motto | Ferte manus certas (Strike sure) |
Trade | Navigator |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Other Memorials
Location | Roman Rd, Leeming, North Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Brass plaque set into a stone plinth into which is carved with the Canadian maple leaf and the Yorkshire rose. |
Memorial Text | This memorial is dedicated to those men and women who served at RAF Leeming during World War II, including those from the Royal Canadian Air Force Squadrons, whose members came from all parts of the Commonwealth from 1942 to 1945; 405 Vancouver, 408 Goose |
Location | Opposite old Main Guardroom, RAF Leeming, North Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Stone Memorial & Metal Plaques |
Memorial Text | In commemoration of those men and women of many nations who served at RAF Leeming during the second world war. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1845/24 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1845/23 |
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.
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 22-10-1943 |
End Date | 23-10-1943 |
Takeoff Station | Leeming |
Day/Night Raid | Night (32% moon) |
Operation | Kassel. 569 aircraft, 43 losses (7.6%), due to the German controller correctly assessing that the raid was on Kassel. Blind H2S marking overshot the target but 8 out of 9 visual markers were accurate. German decoy markers drew off some of the main force but otherwise the raid was exceptionally accurate and concentrated leading to a firestorm. Over 26000 homes were destroyed and a further 26000 damaged. Some 63% of housing in the city became unusable, resulting in 100-120,000 people being displaced. The number of industrial, public and military buildings destroyed are too numerous to list Of particular note, however, was that the railway system was badly damaged and the three Henschel factories which produced the V1 bomb were all seriously damaged. This certainly pegged back the V1 deployment capability significantly. The number of dead was around 5600 |
Reason for Loss | Crashed behind a farm at Groenstraat 25 in Achtmaal which is locally known as Ostaaijen, SE of Roosendaal, Holland |