Taylor, Ralph Edgar

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Ralph Edgar
Surname Taylor
Gender M
Age 26
Decorations DFM
Date of Death 28-05-1943
Next of Kin Son of William Hansel Taylor and Cora Lee Taylor (née Jones), of Boonville, Indiana, USA. Husband of Winifred Judy Taylor (née Gunn), of Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
TAYLOR RE 109

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Vickers Wellington X
Serial Number HE294
Markings QO-P

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 178.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 251

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/18109
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 432 (Leaside)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin United States of America

Miscellaneous Information

The citation for F/Sgt. Taylor’s immediate DFM appeared in the London Gazette, Issue 35949, Page 1362 on 23 March 1943 and reads as follows: “One night in February 1943, this airman was the pilot of an aircraft detailed to attack Wilhelmshaven. Although the constant speed unit of one the propellers became unserviceable early on in the outward journey, F/Sgt Taylor flew on to the target and bombed it. Shortly afterwards trouble developed in the port engine, when the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and went out of control. F/Sgt Taylor quickly regained control and a few minutes later, when the bomber was attacked by an enemy fighter, he skilfully evaded its fire and enabled his own rear gunner to deliver a damaging burst. Sometime later, the port engine ceased to function but F/Sgt Taylor succeeded in flying the damaged aircraft back to this country. He displayed great courage and devotion to duty throughout". The award was gained while on the strength of 420 (Snowy Owl) Squadron.
Ralph was born 8 November 1916 at Boonville, Indiana, USA. His father was a miner and farmer, born in Selvin, Indiana and his mother was born in Tennyson, Indiana. He attended Polk School, Warwick County, 1923-1933 (General) and Boonville High 1933-1937 (college prep). He graduated with High School Entrance and Junior Matric. His sport interests were track, basketball and softball. Ralph worked on his father’s farm between 1937 and 1941 and then enlisted on 1 May 1941.
After enlisting and early training, Ralph embarked from Canada for the U.K. and arrived at 3PRC on 26 December 1941. He then went to 14 OTU on 21 April 1944, 420 Squadron on 18 July 1942 and 432 Squadron on 1 May 1943. Later that month on 28 May, Ralph sadly lost his life. It was just nine days after his marriage to Winifred.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1860/2
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1860/1

Fellow Servicemen

Allan R G (P/O)
Bailey A G (WO2)
Farnham J A (F/O)
Murray R M (P/O)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 27-05-1943
End Date 28-05-1943
Takeoff Station Skipton on Swale
Day/Night Raid Night (34% moon)
Operation Essen. 518 aircraft, 23 losses (4.4%). PFF used sky marking due to cloud cover. Limited damage to central and northern districts of Essen.
Reason for Loss Shot down 35km west of Texel island by a Bf 110 G-4 night-fighter from Leeuwarden airfield flown by Lt. Heinz Grimm of Stab IV./NJG 1, killing all on board.

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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.