Sgt
John Carey Woodcock was Observer, when he and his crew were lost.
view details
He flew with
the same crew during the Battle of Britain.
Update May 2015: Have recently
been contacted by Robert Cattle, nephew of Sgt Woodcock. He kindly
sent in the following details and the picture of John. Thank you
Robert.
"Sgt.
John Carey Woodcock, Observer, RAF. (RAF Reg. No. 580991).
John was
the son of Spencer and Gracie Woodcock. John was born 26th. December
1919. His older sister and brother were Mary and Raymond, his younger
brother was William.
He must
have joined the Royal Air Force in 1939 after the outbreak of the
war with Germany in that year. John started to fly in Bristol Blenheim
bombers in 1940. Until earlier in that year he had been in Sunderland
Flying Boats at a number of different bases including Shetland Isles.
But he saw an opportunity to fly in "land craft" and he took it.
The families
of those who had been lost had hoped for a long time that the crew
may have been captured. There were entries in newspaper announcements
to the effect that "we await news and we are thinking of you". Mrs
Joan Van Blokland wrote to John's mother, Gracie Woodcock, from
Andover to express mutual sorrow at their disappearance and the
hope of their capture. She had never been apart from her husband
for such a long time. Both the Air Ministry and fellow airmen had
continued to hope; and they all asked for any information to be
passed on. But as time wore on, it became clear that there was to
be no return.
John and
his fellow crew members' names are recorded In Memoriam at the Runnymede
memorial to those lost airmen of no known grave.
John was
but a month from his 21st birthday...
Tribute
To John: Robert has compiled John's letters home to family
along with other information. Download
the PDF (1mb) here.
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