Adams, John Edmund

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Personal Information

Rank Flying Officer
Forename(s) John Edmund
Surname Adams
Gender M
Age 21
Date of Death 20-11-1945
Next of Kin Son of John Buchanan Adams and Annie Bertha Adams, of Newcastle-on-Tyne.
ADAMS JE

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Gloster Meteor F3
Serial Number EE316
Markings

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 266.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 3
Panel Number Not yet erected on site

Enlistment Information

Service Number 197688
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Group 83 Group, 121 Wing
Squadron 245 (Northern Rhodesian)
Squadron Motto Fugo Non Fugio (I put to fight, I do not flee)
Trade Pilot
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Miscellaneous Information

This was a 1335 (Meteor) Conversion Unit aircraft. F/O Adams was attached to this unit from 245 Squadron.
His Mention in Despatches was promulgated in the London Gazette on 1st January 1946.
His DFC was promulgated in the London Gazette on 23 August 1945

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

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Last Operation Information

Start Date -
End Date -
Operation Unauthorised sortie
Reason for Loss Times newspaper: 'A Meteor Mark III was flown away from the RAF Station, Molesworth, Huntingdonshire at 0058hrs on November 20 by an unauthorised person. The aircraft took off without the aid of airfield lighting and flew away in a south-westerly direction. It has not so far been traced. The amount of fuel in the aircraft would permit a flight of one hours duration. An official enquiry is now taking place. An RAF officer pilot who was recently suspended from a conversion course to Meteor aircraft is missing from this station. The missing pilot is Plt Off J E Adams.' The Meteor came from 1335 Conversion Unit, to which Adams was attached for Meteor conversion. He had been suspended from training as 'temperamentally unsuitable' but in the early hours of the morning he took Meteor III EE316 and flew away from the base. No trace was ever found of Adams or the aircraft and it is assumed that the aircraft crashed into the North Sea or the English Channel.

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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.