Alder, Hugh Ralph Lawrence

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Personal Information

Rank Maj.
Forename(s) Hugh Ralph Lawrence
Surname Alder
Gender M
Age 25
Date of Death 13-07-1944
Next of Kin Son of Ralph H. L. and Jetta M. Alder, of Elandskop, Natal, South Africa.
ALDER HRL

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Martin Marauder II
Serial Number FB487
Markings -B

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Italy
Burial/Memorial Place Arezzo War Cemetery
Grave Reference Coll. grave IV. A. 14-24.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 3
Panel Number Not yet erected on site

Enlistment Information

Service Number 102181V
Service South African Air Force
Group
Squadron 12 SAAF
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin South Africa

Miscellaneous Information

Hugh Ralph Lawrence Alder was born in Durban in March 1919 and had served briefly in the Transvaal Scottish prior to enlisting in the Union Defence Force in May 1940, aged 21 years. Posted to the South African Air Force, he attended a pilot's training course in Rhodesia between December 1940 and July 1941 and was seconded to the Royal Air Force for service with No. 45 Squadron in the Western Desert between October 1941 and January 1942; and afterwards in Burma between February 1942 and December 1943, where he received advancement to Temporary Major. Returning to employment with the S.A.A.F. in the Mediterranean theatre of war in May 1944, Alder joined No. 12 Squadron, a B-26 unit, and was killed in action over the Montevarchi area, Italy on 13 July 1944, when his aircraft was probably involved in a collision which detonated the bomb load. The South African Air Force at War, by Martin Louw and Stefaan Bouwer contains a photograph of this tragic incident. Commemoration stone in Durban (St. Thomas) Churchyard cemetery

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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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.

Barnby M (Lt. Col.)
McHugh D H (Lt.)
Bamber T A (Lt.)
Empey R H (WO2)

Last Operation Information

Start Date 13-07-1944
End Date 13-07-1944
Takeoff Station Pescara
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Army Cooperation
Reason for Loss Aircraft damaged when FB437 blew up nose blown away port engine burning the aircraft went down in a slow spiral dive burst into flames crashing W of Montevarchi

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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.