Remembered Today: Squadron Leader Henry E. Maudslay, DFC (1921-1943)

Squadron Leader Henry E. Maudslay, DFC

Remember today is ‘Dam Buster’ Henry Eric Maudslay who lived at Foxhill Manor, Broadway. Henry who was born on 21st July 1921 in Lillington, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. He was killed in action, aged 21, during a Dam Buster raid on 17th May 1943.

Henry was the son of the Reginald Maudslay, the founder of Standard Motor Company, Coventry, and Susan Gwendoline, née Herbert. Henry had an older brother, John born in 1912, and an older sister, Margaret Kate, born in 1910. During the late 1930s the family moved to Foxhill Manor, Broadway, where they continued to live until 1954. Henry’s father died suddenly in London after a short illness in 1943. His mother lived in Broadway, moving to Barn House, until her death in 1974.

After leaving Prep School in Gloucestershire, Henry attended Eton College (1935-1940) where he is remembered for his athletic and rowing accomplishments. He volunteered for the RAF in 1940 and trained as a pilot in Canada. In May 1941 he was assigned to 44 Squadron as a Hampden pilot. After 29 operations, he was recommended for the Distinguished Flying Cross and assigned to Lancaster training; he apparently did some test flying for Rolls Royce during this period and was later assigned to 44 Squadron’s training flight.

Whilst a member of the training flight he flew all three of the ‘Thousand Bomber Raids’. In January 1943 he started a new operational tour with 50 Squadron, with which he completed 13 operations before being assigned to 617 Squadron as B Flight commander.

Operation Chastise

On the night of 16th/17th May 1943, Henry and his crew took off from RAF Scampton (with Guy Gibson Dam Busters) in Lancaster ED937 Z, part of Operation Chastise to bomb the dams in the Ruhr area of Germany. Following successful bombing of the heavily defended Mohne Dam, they headed east and successfully bombed the Eder dam but the Upkeep (the Barnes Wallis bouncing bomb) seems to have either gone off prematurely or was dropped late and the explosion damaged their Lancaster. The aircraft limped towards home but was shot down by a German flak battery near the Dutch border in the town of Emmerich. All, the crew, including Squadron Leader Henry Maudslay, DFC, were killed.

The crew of Lancaster ED937 Z

Pilot S/L H E Maudslay DFC
Flight engineer Sgt J Marriott DFM
Navigator F/O R A Urquhart DFC RCAF
Wireless Op. W/O A P Cottam RCAF
Bomb-aimer P/O M J D Fuller
Front gunner F/O W J Tytherleigh DFC
Rear gunner Sgt N R Burrows

The crew are all buried in the Reichswald Forrest Cemetery, Germany,  and there is a bronze memorial plaque to Henry E. Maudslay in the church of All Saints’ Sherbourne Park near Warwick. Henry is also commemorated on the Willersey War Memorial, St Peter’s Churchyard, Willersey, Gloucestershire.

A blue plaque was unveiled in his memory on 27th July 2017 at his old home, 1 Vicarage Road, Lillington, in the presence of two of Henry Maudslay’s nieces, his great-niece and his great-great niece and two great-great-nephews.

 

 

Debbie Williamson
Broadway Remembers

 

 

Further reading:

Leamington History Group: http://leamingtonhistory.co.uk/henry-eric-maudslay-dfc-dam-buster-pilot

 

 

Remembered Today: Sergeant-Pilot 562657 Maurice Cotterell

Maurice Charles Cotterell was the eldest son of Charles Cotterell and Dorothy Cotterell (née Hensley) of Leamington Road, Broadway. He was born in Broadway on 16 March 1912, the brother of Winifred and Michael.

After leaving Prince Henry’s School, Maurice worked at Russell’s, for the furniture designer Sir Gordon Russell, in the village before joining the RAF. He served at RAF Halton, Buckinghamshire, with 90 Squadron as a Sergeant-Pilot.

Maurice was killed, aged 27, in an air crash in 23rd March 1940. He was piloting a Bristol Blenheim Mk. IV L4873 when it flew into Foel Wen in the Berwyn Mountains, Wales, after breaking formation from two other aircraft after entering cloud. All three members of the crew, Maurice, Sergeant Observer Ronald J. Harbour and Aircraftman 2nd Class Kenneth C. Winterton (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) were killed instantly.

Maurice and his crew, were buried in the churchyard at St Mary the Virgin Church, Shawbury, on Shropshire, on 28th March 1940. Canon Burns conducted the funeral which was attended by Maurice’s widow and family. His coffin was draped in the Union Flag and borne by members of the RAF.

Maurice was the first man from Broadway to be killed in the Second World War and had only been married Marjory Patricia Ingram, of Abingdon, for 7 weeks. He is commemorated on the Broadway War Memorial and on the Roll of Honour inside St Michael and All Angels Church.

 

Debbie Williamson
Broadway Remembers

 

 

 

Sources:

Peak District Air Accident Research

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remembered Today: Sergeant Air Gunner 1815603 Peter Samuel Cotterell (1923 – 1945)

Peter Samuel Cotterell was born in Broadway, in 1923, the son Mildred Agnes Cotterell. Peter was a member of Broadway Air Training Corps and joined the RAF Voluntary Reserve in the summer of 1944.

Headstone Sgt. Peter S. Cotterell,
Dürnbach War Cemetery
(Dom Howard from http://www.158squadron.co.uk)

Peter trained as an Air Gunner with training unit 1664 HCU before being posted to 158 Squadron, on 9th November 1944, at RAF Lissett, Yorkshire.

The following year, Peter was killed whilst on a bombing mission, Operation Hanau¹, in a Halifax Mk. III NR195 NP-I. At 3.44pm, on 6th January 1944, the Halifax took off from RAF Lissett. After bombing its target the Halifax was involved in a mid-air collision with a Lancaster (PB288) from 635 Squadron. Shortly after 7pm, 17,000 feet above Grossauheim, near Hanau on the east bank of the River Main, the Halifax strayed into the path of the Lancaster and the Halifax disintegrated in mid-air². All 7 members of the Halifax crew lost their lives: Flight Officer John J. Krefter (Pilot), Sergeant Alexander T. Clyde (Flight Engineer), Flight Sergeant Leslie G. Morgan (Navigator), Sergeant James Gore (Air Bomber), Flight Officer K. Nerney (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner), Sergeant Ernest H.M. Barr (Air Gunner) and Sergeant Peter S. Cotterell (Air Gunner). The pilot of the Lancaster PB288, Flight Lieutenant Rowland RAAF, was the sole survivor of his crew and he was captured by the Germans the following day 25 miles from the crash scene.

Peter and the rest of the crew of the Halifax and those of the Lancaster were all initially buried in the cemetery at Grossauheim before being moved to Dürnbach War Cemetery in 1947.

Sergeant Peter Cotterell is also commemorated on the Broadway War Memorial and on the Roll of Honour inside St Michael and All Angels Church, Broadway.

We will remember them.

Debbie Williamson
Broadway Remembers

 
Notes:
1. Hanau, east of Frankfurt, was an important junction on the German railway system.
2. The Germans tried to take credit for the two aircraft claiming their Flak battery had taken down the aeroplanes.

 

Sources:
http://www.158squadron.co.uk
Air Crew Remembered

Remembered Today: Leading Aircraftman 1440292 Brian Cross (1921-1942)

Brian Cross was the only son of James Cross and Eliza Kate Cross (née Jones) from Herefordshire. He was born in Hereford in 1921 and had a younger sister, Pauline, born in 1926. His father, who was from Lancashire, served as Broadway’s Postmaster for many years having worked for the Post Office since 1913.

Brian was educated at Hereford High School and Evesham Grammar School. On leaving school, Brian went to work for Lloyds Bank in Selly Oak. It is not known when his parents moved to Broadway but his sister and parents are recorded as living at 45 Leamington Road, Broadway, in the 1939 Register.

Aerial View of RAF Staverton in 1941

Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Brian, aged 18, enlisted with the RAF and served as a Leading Aircraftman (LAC). In 1942, Brian was based at RAF Staverton which served as a training base for No. 6 Air Observer School¹. On 24th August 1942, a practice bombing flight in a twin-engined Avro Anson crashed 25 minutes after taking off from Staverton.  Its crew of three; pilot Sergeant Edward Perkins, aged 20, LAC Lawrence Roper², aged 29, and LAC Brian Cross, aged 21, struck high ground at Stockend Wood, north of Stroud. Brian was taken to Stroud Hospital but died of his injuries on 27th August 1942.

Brian was later cremated in Cheltenham and his ashes were scattered in the Garden of Remembrance at Cheltenham Crematorium and an RAF service was held in his honour. After Brian’s death, his parents moved to Leek, Staffordshire, in 1944, where James worked at the Post Office until his retirement. His sister, Pauline married locally.

Brian is commemorated on the Broadway War Memorial, the Roll of Honour in St Michael and All Angels Church and on the bronze memorial plaque on the wall in the cloisters at Cheltenham Crematorium. Staverton Airport, now Gloucestershire Airport, is currently raising money to erect a memorial to LAC Brian Cross and the other men who trained or flew from RAF Staverton.

We will remember them.

 

Debbie Williamson
Broadway Remembers

 

Notes:

1. From 1938, reservist airman could be trained at Staverton by civilian organisations.
2. Sgt Edward Perkins and LAC Lawrence Roper are buried in Gloucester Cemetery.

 

 

 

 

 

Remembered Today: RAF Bomber Crash at Broadway Tower on 2nd June 1943

The Memorial at Broadway Tower, Worcestershire

At 2.15pm on 2nd June 1943, an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley V bomber whilst on a training mission from Honeybourne airfield, crashed in poor visibility on top of the Cotswolds hills near to Broadway Tower. All members of the RAF crew: Pilot H.G. Hagen, Sgt E.G. Ekins, Flt Sgt D.H. Kelly, Sgt D.A. Marriott and Sgt R.S. Phillips were killed.

We will remembers them.