I’m doing research on the exact crash location in Belgium of the Australian crew from 466 Squadron RAAF Wellington Mk X HF569. I would like to know if their are any records for the crew members P/O J W Edmonds 142522, P/O C Halliday 146010, Sgt P V Cook 1322755, P/O F H Levi 142513, P/O P P G 'O Brien 142835, they crashed in the night of 03/04 July 1943. But nobody knows where they crashed.
Hi Chris2,
Thank you for your post about the crew from 466 Squadron RAAF.
The National Archives should hold service records for any of the crew who were members of the RAAF. We also hold casualty reports for many crashes relating to RAAF personnel.
If we hold records for these personnel, you should be able to find them by searching RecordSearch. The best search term to use if you don’t have the serviceperson’s full name is their service number. You can also search for the aircraft serial number.
It’s worth considering that the crew may not have been Australian. In World War Two, British Empire aircrew in Europe were usually posted to units based on operational rather than national requirements. The aircrew in an RAAF squadron could include crew members from New Zealand, the UK, etc.
You should be able to confirm which nation’s airforce they were serving in by searching the Commonweath War Graves Commission for them. The CWGC has records of the place of burial or commemoration of Commonwealth personnel killed in the First and Second World Wars. The entries in the database should include enough details to confirm where they were from.
If they weren’t Australian, you should contact the National Archives of the country in whose air force they were serving for information.
Regards,
Jessie
