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Woodward, Geoffrey Winston

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Personal Information

Rank F/L
Forename(s) Geoffrey Winston
Surname Woodward
Gender M
Age 30
Decorations DFC*
Date of Death 25-10-1944
Next of Kin Son of Frederick John Woodward and Bertha Woodward (née Absalom). Husband of Vera Irene Woodward (née Murdoch), whom he married in Brighton in 1941.
WOODWARD GW

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number MZ945
Markings NP-W

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Rheinberg War Cemetery
Grave Reference 10. D. 22.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 269

Enlistment Information

Service Number 139497
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Group 4
Squadron 158
Squadron Motto Strength in unity
Trade Pilot
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
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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
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Miscellaneous Information

The surviving six crew members all became PoW
Born Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire in the first three months of 1914.
Commissioned as Pilot Officer 6 January 1943. Awarded an immediate DFC in May 1943 after an Operation on Stettin in April 1943. Citation appeared in the London Gazette on 11 May 1943: "Pilot Officer Geoffrey Winston WOODWARD (139497), Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, No. 51 Squadron. One night in April, 1943, this officer was the captain of a bomber detailed to attack Stettin. On the outward flight, whilst still a considerable distance from the target, i of the engines failed. Despite this, Pilot Officer Woodward continued his flight to the target which he ultimately bombed successfully. Displaying superb airmanship he flew the bomber to base on 3 engines and effected a perfect landing. By his great skill, courage and dogged determination, this officer set a most inspiring example". Bar to DFC awarded 9 July 1943 whilst still with 51 Squadron (published without citation).
His Brother Able Seaman Ivor Frederick Woodward was one of 58 men lost aboard H.M.S Express, a minelayer, on 1 September 1940 after the ship inadvertently entered a German minefield off the Dutch coast and struck a German mine, but was not sunk.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1050/2
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1050/1

Last Operation Information

Start Date 25-10-1944
End Date 25-10-1944
Takeoff Station Lissett
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Essen. 771 aircraft, 4 losses (0.5%). Cloud cover dictated the use of sky-marking. The bombing was considered by Bomber Command to be scattered yet the local report states that more damage occurred during this raid than the one 36 hours previous. 1163 buildings were destroyed and 820 people were killed. Aerial reconnaissance after this pair of raids showed much damage to those industrial buildings that had been undamaged so far, including the Krupps steelworks. The pig-iron plant ceased production completely. Essen was now, to the main extent, spent and lost its role as the most important industrialised centre in Germany
Reason for Loss Hit by flak and crashed near Bedburg, Germany

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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.