Little is known of Sgt Schwind at this time. He was observer when he and his crew were shot down over France near the Belgian border.

Update: March 2012 - Recently been brought to my attention by Marc Lewendon, who submitted the pictures of the graves of Brogan and Schwind, that their pilot, Richard Shaw is buried in the Netherlands, some 170 miles away from his crew.. I have also received information from Iain Shaw (cousin of P/O Shaw), that Richard is buried next to his brother, who was shot down whilst flying a Mosquito on 'D' day.. For more info on the flight.. view details

Update: March 2012 - Gordon Schwind's only brother, Flight Lieutenant Lionel Harold Schwind died when his Hurricane was shot down near Sevenoaks in Kent on September 27th 1940. These brothers are mistakenly recorded as being Jewish by a couple of sources. Because of his Germanic sounding name, Harold Schwind was thought by the locals to be a member of the Polish Air Force and for years a wreath was placed on the crash site to commemorate the fact. (submitted by Bob Muncaster - researching the Schwind family history).

Update: Dec. 2012: Acting Pilot Officer to Sgt Air Observer

With the help of Bob Muncastor - who sent in the photo of Gordon and the following information...

"London Gazette - Feb. 20th 1938 - Gordon was granted a Short Service Commission as an acting P/O."

We discovered that their was a discrepancy between his known rank when he lost (Sgt) and the rank he held in the picture above (that we now know is 'Acting' Pilot Officer).

On further research, we discovered that on the 24th March 1939 - Gordon's Short Service Commission was terminated on cessation of duty as an A/P/O under "Equipment Branch - General Duties".

It appears that Gordon was initially commissioned as an A/P/O (General Duties) - and not as an aircrew officer - and later as the RAF General Duties Branch structure changed (to include the duty of Air Observer) in 1939-40, he applied to become an Air Observer, thus losing his commissioned rank and later re-entered service as a Sgt Air Observer...

I guess Gordon felt, like many others that he could better serve his country being 'actively' involved on the front line...

Thanks Bob.