Genealogy Chat

My cousin, Thomas Albert Stevens, was "Tail End Charlie" in a 467 Squadron Lancaster which was shot down on 11/12 May 1944. All the crew were killed.

The crew numbered eight instead of the usual seven because the Squadron CO went on the raid as an example to his men after losing three aircraft on the previous sortie.

The crew are buried in Belgium and I have visited the cemetery.

Having sent for the AIR/27 Squadron Operations Record Book I was disappointed to find that where the personnel missing are listed at the end of the month, the record for his aircraft, for some inexplicable reason, does not include his name.

The fact that he has been overlooked and not in the Squadron record is sad.

I am satisfied from other records pertaining to him plus the grave where he is with the rest of the crew that he should be there. :-(

Is this him from the Commonwealth Graves site:-

Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt Of Honour Transcription
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First name(s) Thomas Albert
Last name Stevens
Birth year 1921
Age 23
Death year 1944
Death date 11 May 1944
Number 1472482
Rank Sergeant
Unit 467 (R.A.A.F.) Sqdn
Regiment Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Grave reference 5. D. 9.
Cemetery or Memorial Heverlee War Cemetery
Burial country Belgium
Additional information Son of Thomas Charles and Jane Elizabeth Stevens, of Stoke Newington, London.
Link https://www.cwgc.org/find/find-war-dead
War Second World War, 1939-1945
Record set Commonwealth War Graves Commission Debt Of Honour
Category Military, armed forces & conflict
Subcategory Second World War
Collections from Great Britain, UK None

I have no idea about why his name is missing. Could it just be a simple mistake, or because he is in a Volunteer Reserve Regiment.

You need the help of someone with more knowledge than me. Could you perhaps ring the Regimental Museum if there is one?

Kath. x

Yes, that is him.

I did wonder if he was missed off because his name would have been the eighth in the crew (tail end Charlies were always last on the crew list) and the WAAF who typed up the Op Rec Book assumed it was a mistake as there should only have been seven in a Lanc..

I've not get found a link to a 467 Squadron Association, made more difficult because it was a RAAF designated Squadron so most links are to Oz.

The raid was a bit of a disaster because the target was supposed to be an army camp at Leopoldsville in the run-up to D-Day but they were 3 miles off target and hit a village killing over 80 civillians.

His plane was shot down near the village and an engine from his plane was recovered years later, cleaned up and is in their Civic Centre as a memorial to the casualties.

There's a Facebook page re 463/467 Squadrons - don't know if anyone following that might be able to advise:

https://tinyurl.com/yb4pkkjx

Just a possible straw to grasp at!


Or maybe useful contacts here ??

http://www.raafa.org.au/contact

Just in case you haven't seen it, there is a video about the crash and recovery of parts of the wreckage on youtube (commentary in Flemish):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpR9JkHdd4M

Also details of the crew on this Belgian site:

http://www.belgians-remember-them.eu/crew-lim-bevo1.php