Wadsworth, Eric Charles
Personal Information
Rank | Sgt |
Forename(s) | Eric Charles |
Surname | Wadsworth |
Gender | M |
Age | 23 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 03-10-1943 |
Next of Kin | Son of Henry Thomas Wadsworth and Mabel Blanche Wadsworth, of Westminster, London. Husband of Freda Primrose Wadsworth, of Westminster. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax II |
Serial Number | LW262 |
Markings | EY-Z |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Hanover War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | Coll. grave 5. K. 12-16. |
Epitaph | GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS, THAT HE LAY DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 258 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 1387152 |
Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
Group | 4 |
Squadron | 78 |
Trade | WOp/AG |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Other Memorials
Location | Adjacent to Clubhouse, Breighton Airfield, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Marble Tablet |
Memorial Text | Dedicated to all who served at this airfield and gave their lives during World War II |
Location | External, All Saints Church, Bubwith, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Stone Memorial, inscribed Metal Plaque |
Memorial Text | 78 Sqn 4 Group Bomber Command Yorkshire 1939 - 1945 To All Who Served |
Location | Internal, All Saints Church, Bubwith, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Wooden Board, Memorial Chapel featuring Cross made from Halifax wreckage |
Memorial Text | The 78 Sqn Memorial in the Churchyard was dedicated by the Bishop of Selby on 7th September 1986. RAF Breighton, two miles from this church was the Sqn's home from June 1943 to May 1945 |
Location | Outside "B" Hangar, RAF Benson, Oxfordshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone & Inscribed Slate Plaque |
Memorial Text | In proud memory of all who have lost their lives serving with 78 Sqn Royal Air Force "Nemo Non Paratus - Nobody Unprepared" |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/660/80 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/660/79 |
Fellow Servicemen
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 03-10-1943 |
End Date | 04-10-1943 |
Takeoff Station | Breighton |
Day/Night Raid | Night (21% moon) |
Operation | Kassel. 547 aircraft, 24 losses (4.4%). H2S blind marking aircraft overshot the aiming point badly and the visual markers could not compensate due to thick haze. Decoy fires were probably also used by the Germans. The Henschel and Fieseler aircraft factories were hit and the suburb of Wolfshanger was devastated, in part due to an ammunition dump being hit. 118 deaths on the ground. |
Reason for Loss | Hit by flak and went out of control. Within seconds of the order to bale out being given the aircraft exploded and crashed at Melgershausen, Germany |