Wiggins, Alexander Anderson
Personal Information
Rank | P/O |
Forename(s) | Alexander Anderson |
Surname | Wiggins |
Gender | M |
Date of Death | 07-01-1945 |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Avro Lancaster III |
Serial Number | PB173 |
Markings | F2-C |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Germany |
Burial/Memorial Place | Durnbach War Cemetery |
Grave Reference | 9. A. 14. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 264 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 185673 |
Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
Group | 8 |
Squadron | 635 |
Squadron Motto | Nos ducimus ceteri secunter (We lead, others follow) |
Trade | Air Gunner |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
Miscellaneous Information
The Germans buried six bodies (out of 14 from the two aircraft, which crashed close together) in a communal grave at Germering and the British authorities could only individually identify five of them. |
P/O Wiggins had taken the place of his friend F/Sgt. Robert Catt DFM that night. |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2155/22 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2155/21 |
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.
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 07-01-1945 |
End Date | 08-01-1945 |
Takeoff Station | Downham Market |
Day/Night Raid | Night (36% moon) |
Operation | München. 654 aircraft, 15 losses. According the Bomber Command itself, this was a successful raid with the central and industrial areas being severely damaged. The last major raid on München |
Reason for Loss | Thought to have collided with a 405 Sqn Lancaster (PB229 LQ-X). A 1948 report based on an inspection of German documents and investigations carried out at the Germering Cemetery, confirmed that the aircraft crashed at Unterphaffenhofen on 7 January 1945. The report adds that the aircraft exploded in the air and that the remains of only 2 members of the crew, Pilot Officer Wiggins and Flight Sergeant Watson were recovered. |