Sibley, Cyril William
Personal Information
Rank | Sgt |
Forename(s) | Cyril William |
Surname | Sibley |
Gender | M |
Age | 21 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 21-02-1945 |
Next of Kin | Son of Cyrill V.W. Sibley and Rhoda B. Sibley (née Jenkins), of Merthyr Tydfil. Husband of Florence S. J. Rogers,whom he married in 1943 at Peterborough. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax III |
Serial Number | MZ351 |
Markings | NP-X |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Rheinberg War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | 20. B. 20. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 241 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 1898606 |
Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
Group | 4 |
Squadron | 158 |
Trade | Air Gunner |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Other Memorials
Location | St. James of Compostola Church, Lissett, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone & Inscribed Metal Plaque |
Memorial Text | Memorial to 158 Sqn, RAF Lissett 28th February 1943 - 17th August 1946 |
Location | St. James of Compostola Church, Lissett, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Stained Glass Window & Inscribed Metal Plaques |
Memorial Text | A stained glass window in memory of 158 Sqn RAF |
Miscellaneous Information
Born 10 October 1923, Merthyr Tidfil. Murdered 21 February 1945 |
Known as Lofty |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1050/10 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1050/9 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 21-02-1945 |
End Date | 22-02-1945 |
Takeoff Station | Lissett |
Day/Night Raid | Night (77% moon) |
Operation | Worms. 349 aircraft, 11 losses. The only large raid on this town of the war. 1116 tons of high explosives were dropped and the town was said to be 39% destroyed. 64% of the buildings were destroyed including the cathedral and many municipal and cultural buildings. 239 people were killed and 35000 bombed out (from a population of just 58000) |
Reason for Loss | Shot down by a night fighter and crashed at Dirmstein, SW of Worms. Sgt. Sibley successfully baled out but his parachute caught in the branches of a tree in a garden belonging to Maria Gessner of Dirmstein. She dressed his wounds but Adolf Wolfert, the local Volksturm leader, quickly appeared on the scene and chastised her for doing so. Wolfert summoned the assistance of two police officers (Georg Hartleb and Heinrich Kress) and the three Germans marched Sibley away and murdered him by shooting him three times. He was laid to rest the next day in Dirmstein cemetery along with F/S Widdowson, but later reinterred in Rheinberg War Cemetery. Adolf Wolfert and Georg Hartleb were hanged on 11 October 1946 for War Crimes. Heinrich Kress was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. A memorial stone (Stolperstein) exists next to the old townhall in Dirmstein. |