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Ridgers, Cyril Frederick

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Personal Information

Rank F/O
Forename(s) Cyril Frederick
Surname Ridgers
Gender M
Age 27
Decorations DFC
Date of Death 26-02-1944
Next of Kin Son of Frederick George and Minnie Maria Ridgers, of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
RIDGERS CF

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Avro Lancaster II
Serial Number DS791
Markings EQ-F

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Durnbach War Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave 4. E. 8-11.
Epitaph BELOVED ELDEST SON OF MR. AND MRS. F.G.RIDGERS, HAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 232

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/14577
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 408 (Goose)
Squadron Motto For freedom
Trade Navigator
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Village Centre, Linton on Ouse, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stone Memorial and inscribed slate tablet
Memorial Text In memory of 408 (Goose) and 426 (Thunderbird) Squadrons of R.C.A.F
View On Google Maps View On what3words

Miscellaneous Information

This crew were experienced and were nearing the end of their operational tour

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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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.

Draper C O (P/O)
Beer L S (P/O)
Bowler R E (F/S)
Crofts F (P/O)
Smith W R (F/L)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 25-02-1944
End Date 26-02-1944
Takeoff Station Linton-on-Ouse
Day/Night Raid Night (6% moon)
Operation Augsburg. 594 aircraft, 21 losses (3.6%) although at least four were Lost due to collision. A highly successful raid in clear weather conditions with more than 2000 tons of bombs being dropped. This was another two-wave raid after the success of the Schweinfurt raid the previous night. This raid was controversial because it completely destroyed the beautiful old town and, due to the very high concentration, very little damage to the industrial areas that one might have expected to be the target. Approximately 3000 houses were destroyed and 85000+ people were bombed out of their homes. It was exceptionally cold and as a result the River Lech was frozen over, limiting the supply of water to fight the many large fires that resulted from the bombing. Of particular note was the loss of works of art, which local reports put at an astonishing 800 million Reichmarks. The Germans were quick to condemn this raid in the media and coined the phrase 'terror bombing'. Bombing during the second wave did spread to the suburbs and an important aircraft component factory and the M.A.N. factory were damaged.

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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.