Romilly, Esmond Mark David

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Esmond Mark David
Surname Romilly
Gender M
Age 23
Decorations
Date of Death 30-11-1941
Next of Kin Son of Bertram Henry Samuel Romilly and Nelly Margaret Ogilvy Romilly (née Hozier), of London, England. Husband of Jessica Lucy Romilly (née Freeman-Mitford), whom he married on 18 May at Bayonne, France. Father of Anne Constancia Romilly, born 9 February 1941 in Washington D.C.
ROMILLY EMD

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Armstrong Whitworth Whitley V
Serial Number Z6506
Markings GE-V

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 60.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 235

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/5677
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 4
Squadron 58
Trade Observer
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Miscellaneous Information

Esmond was born born on 10 July 1918 in London, England. Both parents were born in England, his father, a Colonel in the Scots Guards, was born at Kington, Herefordshire and his mother in London. His father died in 1939. He had a brother Giles, who became a prisoner of war in Germany. The schools he attended were Newlands, Seaford 1927–1931 (Prep school) and Wellington College, Berkshire, England 1931-1934. Esmond enjoyed a variety of sports including tennis, swimming, squash and riding. He worked as a writer and author in various places: World Film News, London as an assistant editor and manager 1935-1936; News Chronicle as Special correspondent during 1937; for Graham and Gillis as copy writer 1937-1939. He then emigrated to USA and worked at Topping & Lloyd, New York as a copy writer 1939, then in Washington D.C. as a feature writer 1939-1940.
Esmond enlisted on 25 July 1940 and after initial training was posted to the U.K. He embarked from Canada, arriving at 3 PRC on 29 June 1941, then continued to 10 OTU on 2 August 1941 and 58 Squadron on 9 October 1941. Sadly Esmond was then to lose his life on 30 November 1941.
Despite having lived in France and USA he enlisted in Canada and remained a British citizen.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/544/22
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/544/21

Fellow Servicemen

Comber-Higgs E D (P/O)
Davies G C (Sgt)
Marlow T H (Sgt)
Whewell A (Sgt)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 30-11-1941
End Date 01-12-1941
Takeoff Station Linton-on-Ouse
Day/Night Raid Night (93% moon)
Operation Hamburg
Reason for Loss Lost without trace

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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.