A Cultural Tradition; Remembering the Fallen

In my home country of Great Britain, Remembrance Day has always been a big part of the cultural tradition, just like it is in so many other countries that were involved in the allied forces' fight to end the First and Second World Wars. Since it is Remembrance Day on Friday this week, I thought I would use this opportunity to write more about the men with whom my husband's grand uncle Tommy flew and died. 

Thomas Andrew McRobbie; 1923-1944

Last June, on the 80th anniversary of D Day I posted the story of my husband's grand uncle, Thomas Arthur McRobbie, aka Uncle Tommy. His story outlined his last week, in the days running up to D Day, and how on that fateful morning his plane was the only allied aircraft to be shot down where all hands were lost. This past summer my family and I were fortunate enough to be visiting Normandy, where we visited the British Normandy Memorial, at Ver Sur Mer, and the Bayeux War Cemetery, where Tommy and his fellow British flight crew members were all laid to rest. After finding Tommy's grave, we decided to find the graves of all the other flight crew, who died with Tommy on the 6th June 1944. Tommy's  friend, and crew member Morris Campbell Murray was Canadian, and was buried at the Canadian War Cemetery, close at Beny Sur Mer, and we visited his grave too.

Morris Campbell Murray's grave marker can be found at the Canadian War Cemetery, in Beny Sur Mer.

"Until the day break and the shadows flee away"

We already knew a lot about Morris' life, before the war. His story is well researched, and made available via the Juno Beach Centre, which we also visited. My husband's grandmother and aunt remained in contact with Morris' family for a long while, which also allowed us to know about his life. But it occurred to me that we don't know much about the other men who died and were buried alongside Uncle Tommy. I decided there and then, standing in the midst of hundreds of tidy white grave markers, that I would research each of the men; an homage to these seven men who died on the day that the allied forces began to win the war against  Hitler and the Nazis.

Morris Campbell Murray, 1915-1944.
You can read about Morris' life at the Juno Beach Centre website.

Morris Campbell Murray was the crew's navigator. He was the only crew member who was not British. Born in Ontario, Canada Morris was far from home. He was 29 years old when he died on the 6th June 1944.

Sitting in position #1 was Pilot Officer S A D Walker (pilot), #2 Flight Sergeant M C Murray (navigator), #3 Sergeant N J Neal (flight engineer), #4 Flight Officer I R Draper (bomb aimer), #5 Sergeant D W H Edsall (wireless operator), #6 & #7 Sergeants P Craig, and T A McRobbie (air gunners) (Sergeant was the lowest rank a flight crew member could have. Ranks lower than sergeant were relegated to ground crew.)

Sergeant Peter Craig was an air gunner in the Handley Page Halifax III that flew from the squadron's base at Holme on Spalding Moor, Yorkshire, on 6th June 1944. Peter Craig was the son of Annie and Peter Merrilees Craig. Annie (whose maiden name was Trevis) was from Dudley, Worcestershire, in England, and I believe she met Peter, from Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland, sometime during the First World War. Peter was a coal and clay miner and worked for a brick works in Dudley. They married in 1918, in Dudley, Worcestershire, and their first son was born 25th January 1920; James Thomas Craig. Tragically James Thomas Craig died on the day he turned 10 months old, after a fatal accident. A saucepan on the stove top was upset, causing the scalding hot water to hit the baby. James lived for two excruciating days before passing. The parents Peter and Annie must have been bereft at their baby's tragic loss. 

The following year, the 1921 census shows that the couple were still living in Dudley, along with her sister Florrie, and her two brothers Thomas and Henry. But they weren't to stay there for long. Perhaps as a result of trying to start afresh after the tragic loss of their first born, the couple moved to Falkirk, Scotland; Peter's home town. In 1922, Peter Craig was born, although I have been unable to ascertain his exact birth date, or if he was born in Falkirk or Dudley. Neither Scotland's People, nor the GRO have been able to locate birth records for him. Nevertheless, Peter Craig was a Falkirk son, and in 1942, at the age of 20 he married his sweetheart Margaret Miller, the daughter of a shoemaker, at St John's church, Camelon, Falkirk, Stirlingshire. At the time of their marriage Peter was working as a house painter, although the record also states that he was 'engaged in war service', and the letters "LAC RAF" were written under his name on the marriage record, meaning that when he married he was a Leading Air Craftman with the Royal Air Force. It was at the age of 20 that men in the UK were conscripted to war service, and he would have completed his basic training, enough to have achieved LAC rank. LACs were still required to be supervised and he would have been relegated to ground staff completing cooking tasks, aircraft maintenance, and/or clerical duties. I have found no record of Peter and Margaret having had any children together. Perhaps there just wasn't the time. I have been unable to find out what happened to Peter's parents, Peter and Annie. It is impossible to imagine the grief they must have felt at the loss of both their first child as a baby, and then their second child, as an adult. Peter Craig was 22 years old when he died on the 6th June 1944.

Peter Craig's grave marker is found at the Bayeux War Cemetery, in Bayeux, France.
"They Shall Grow Not Old As We That Are Left Grow Old"

Ivor Reginald Draper was the crew's air bomber. He was the youngest son of Ellen Elizabeth and Walter Reginald Draper. When Ivor was born Walter was a supervisor wharfinger at a wharf owned and run by Leach & Co, on Tooley Street, Potter's Fields, located just south of the Thames in south east central London. Walter had had quite a varied career until that point. Born in 1873, Broadstairs, Kent, Walter had worked as a fruit broker, and pawnbroker. He had been married to Ethel Hyde in 1899, but the marriage was fruitless, and clearly unhappy. Ethel filed for divorce in 1907, citing adultery and desertion as her reasons for divorce. The divorce papers didn't name the other woman or women, but it is likely that Ellen Elizabeth was the woman who had turned Walter's head. Walter married Ellen in the fall of 1908, and a year later their first child was born; Walter John Draper. Their daughter Gwendoline arrived in 1914, and then, possibly as a surprise, Ivor was born in 1921, when Ellen was 47 years old. The 1921 census shows the family living at 136 Strathyre Avenue, when Ivor was just 3 months old. In the 1939 register the family continued to live at the same address. By this point Gwendoline had married general clerk George Edward Brown in 1938, and the newly weds were living in Sutton. Walter, Ellen (sometimes recorded as Helena), and the two sons were all together at the family home, where Walter the father was a senior clerk at the Waterside Wharf, while sons Walter and Ivor were a sanitary civil engineer, and unemployed clerk respectively. 

Ivor turned 20 in 1941, and would have been conscripted in March of that year. He joined the RAF and in January the following year he married his sweetheart, 20 year old Lambeth born, Edna Margaret Filer. Ivor achieved the rank of Leading Air Craftman in March1943, and went on to climb to the rank of Flight Officer. I have not been able to establish what Ivor's brother Walter John did during the war. He married in 1934, a Jersey lass named Vera Kathleen Le Sueur. From what I can tell from records available, they lived together in Surrey, and died in the 90s. Meanwhile I believe Gwendoline's husband George Brown died during the war. I can't find a reliable record to support this, but nevertheless, Gwendoline remarried in 1956. She died in Sutton in 1988. Edna, Ivor's widow, married again in 1947, to a 35 year old architect's surveyor by the name of Herbert Todd. They lived in Surrey, and Gwendoline died in the early 2000s.  Ivor Reginald Draper was 23 years old when he died on the 6th June 1944.

Ivor Reginald Draper's grave marker is also found at the Bayeux War Cemetery.
"Ever Living In Our Hearts"

Douglas William Henry Edsall was the crew's wireless operator, and air gunner. Douglas was the son of Julia and William Edsall, and was born in Islington, London in April 1922. His father William Edsall was a true London lad, having been born in St Pancras, London, and worked as an omnibus driver for the London General Omnibus Company. Douglas' mother was Julia Mendoza at birth, and was a native of Spitalfields, London. Julia was born in 1893, at a time when Spitalfields had a reputation as being one of the most dangerous places to live. Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel murders had come to an end just a couple of years before her birth, and notorious gangsters ruled the slums in which the residents lived. The Whitechapel murders had brought the world's attention to the awful conditions of the area, so by the time of her birth slum clearances had begun. By 1901 her family had moved to Shoreditch, a slightly safer neighbourhood, where her father worked as a leather dealer. Before marriage Julia worked as a pattern card maker, making cards for programming weaving looms.  By the time of the 1921 Census Julia and William were living in a two room apartment at 9 Elmore Street, Islington. By that time they had the first two of the four children they would have; Ronald William (born 1913), and Yvonne Lily (born 1918). The following year Douglas William Henry arrived in April 1922, and the baby of the family, Marjorie Julia Louise was born in 1932. When the Register of 1939 was taken, the family were living at 43 St John's Road, Southend on Sea, where William continued to work as an omnibus driver, and Yvonne was working as a chemist's assistant in a surgical department. Later in 1943, at the age of 25, Yvonne volunteered with the Land Girls, leaving her job as a chemist's assistant behind. Something tragic must have happened shortly before February 1944, as she quit the Land Girls, her resignation being accepted on compassionate grounds. This was several months before D Day of the same year, so I can only guess that perhaps a sweetheart had died in combat. It is probable that Douglas' older brother Ronald also saw active duty in WWII, I cannot, however, find any records as yet, relating to his service. Marjorie, the youngest sibling, was a slip of a lass in 1939, when the war began, and was recorded as a 7 year old student in 1939. She later married Ronald Stephen George Markham in 1949. Marjorie died in the 1970s. Ronald, the eldest of the four children died in 1980, and Yvonne passed away in the early 2000s. Strangely for this group of air crew members, Douglas William Henry Edsall's grave marker had no epitaph from the family, and no notes are left on the War Commission sites about those who mourned Douglas at his passing. This may have been the result of a clerical error. Douglas William Henry Edsall was 22 years old when he died on D Day, 1944.

D W H Edsall, Sergeant #1336890, is laid to rest at Bayeux War Cemetery

Norman John Neal was the flight engineer of the crew, and the eldest by far. Born in 1909 Norman was 35 years old in June 1944. As the first of five children born to Albert and Elizabeth Neal, he was used to being the eldest. Norman was also the only son and the big brother to four sisters; Phyllis (born 1910), Bertha Dorothy (born 1911), Irene (born 1913), and Margaret (born 1915). Albert, Norman's father, was  a postman, and in 1921 the family lived at 37 Princes Street, Kettering, Northamptonshire. Each of the sisters married, to men who appeared to have survived the war. Norman John Neal married Hilda Betts Tiney in the fall of 1940. Hilda was a tobacconist's ledger clerk in 1939, when she lived with her family in Thrapston, Northamptonshire. When they married Norman was 31, and Hilda was 21 years of age. There is no record of them ever having children together. It seems that Hilda remained a widow for along time after the war, only remarrying in 1983, to a John Elford. Norman's parents, Albert and Elizabeth died in 1958 and 1960, respectively.

Norman John Neal was the eldest of the flight crew.

Stanley Arthur Douglas Walker was the pilot of the Halifax III bomber. Stanley was the youngest of four children born to Ada Violet Walker. Ada and her husband, Henry James Walker were married in September 1907 at St Gabriel's, on Chrisp Street, Poplar, an area of east London now known as Tower Hamlets. Poplar was a very deprived area, and was badly bombed in the first world war, due to its thriving port. During WWI zeppelin night raids caused indiscriminate damage to buildings, and the deaths of many innocent civilians. Henry was a blacksmith and in 1911 was working for London County Council, repairing tramway lines. Unfortunately, shortly after Ada became pregnant with Stanley, Henry James Walker died, from influenza and pneumonia, in October 1918; probably 'Spanish Flu'. A few years later the small family of Walkers were living at the same home on Abbotts Road in Poplar, just one road south of the Poplar gas works. Mother Ada was recorded as a widow, with her four children, including three sons and one daughter; Henry Charles Edward (born 1909), Leslie Frederick George (born 1913), Lilian Irene May (born 1917), and Stanley Arthur Douglas (born 1919). Baby Stanley had never met his father, who died six months before he was born. 

Abbott Road runs diagonally from top left to bottom right, with the gas works just north. The colours on the map show the bomb damage done to the buildings in the area, during the WWII bombings. The dark red/black colours represent buildings that were irreparable.

It seems that Stanley's older brother Henry was a sailor, and sailed in a ship named SS Corinthic to New Zealand. In 1930 the police at Wellington, NZ issued an arrest warrant for him, due to his desertion of the ship. He was arrested on the 3rd December 1930. By all accounts, he did not return to the UK, and remained in New Zealand for the rest of his life, dying in 1980. Ada's second child, Leslie, became a fireman, and as such would have been protected from conscription. His time during the war years would have been spent doing a lot of very dangerous work, putting out fires after bombing raids on London, and so on.

At the time that the 1939 Register was taken, at the start of WWII, Ada, Stanley's mother, was working as a hospital orderly, and Lily, Stanley's sister was working as a swimming bath attendant. I have been unable to locate Stanley in the 1939 Register, so it's not possible to identify what career he had settled upon. Lily married George William Hutchinson in late 1939, or early 1940. George served as a chief petty office with the Royal Navy during the war. He was stationed on HMS Tamar, in Hong Kong when the island was invaded by the Japanese. George was taken as a prisoner of war by the Japanese, and was later put on a Japanese transport ship called the Lisbon Maru. It was on the 2nd October that the Lisbon Maru was hit by torpedoes fired by a US submarine, named Grouper. Grouper left the scene when they saw the ship going down, and Japanese sailors being taken off. What they didn't know was that in the hull of the Lisbon Maru were 1800 POW from the allied forces, who all died in the most awful of conditions as the ship sank. Lily must have been devastated to hear this news. After the war she remarried and lived in Southend on Sea. 

Ada did not appear to marry again, and died in 1967, at the age of 82. The inscription that she added to her youngest son, Stanley Arthur Douglas Walker's gravestone speaks to the grief she must have felt so keenly.

"Memories are treasures no one can steal leaving a heartache no one can heal. Mum"

Stanley Arthur Douglas Walker was laid to rest at the Bayeux War Cemetery

Thomas Andrew McRobbie was my husband's granduncle. He was the youngest child, and only son of Thomas Andrew McArthur McRobbie and Agnes Grainger Ramsey, of Edinburgh. His sister, Margaret McArthur McRobbie was 12 years his senior. It was to Margaret that the telegram was sent, advising her and the family that Tommy had died. 

"....deeply regret to inform you that SGT Thomas Andrew McRobbie is now reported to have lost his life as the result of air operations on 6/6/44 the air council express their profound sympathy [to] his mother.."

Tommy was 20 years old on the 6th June 1944, and the youngest of the flight crew.

Thomas Andrew McRobbie was an Air Gunner with Squadron 76, whose motto was "Resolute"
"At the going down in the sun and in the morning we will remember them"

The crew were initially buried by the villagers of Graye Sur Mer, where their plan had crashed, in an orchard. When we visited Normandy this summer we visited the village to see if there was any mention of their plane crashing. We found nothing, except for a very peaceful church and graveyard. After the war had ended the men were all exhumed and each was buried in the places where they remain today; the British six at Bayeux, and the lone Canadian at Beny Sur Mer. 

We happened to be staying just a block away from the Mont Fleury battery, which was their target on the morning of D Day. Bizarrely, Mont Fleury battery is now someones home. But next door, there now stands the British Normandy Memorial which we were able to walk to from the house in which we were staying. Whilst the men are no longer buried together, their names are all listed together on the British Normandy Memorial, in the central block. It is a very moving place; so very many names. This year, a special art installation was commemorating the 80th anniversary of D Day and we felt honoured to see it. I came back at day break on our last morning to watch the sun rise behind the many silhouettes of military men. This particular silhouette made me pause; that of an airman.

Whilst these men and their families lived their lives many decades ago, and the Second World War did come to an end, the world has never seen a moment's peace since their passing. This Remembrance Day my family and I will be thinking about these men, the sacrifices they made, and the loved ones they left behind, and will be hoping and praying that one day we will experience the peace for which they hoped, fought, and died. As it says on Uncle Tommy's grave,  we will remember them.

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https://www.layersoflondon.org/map/overlays/bomb-damage-1945

https://www.royalmarineshistory.com/post/the-battle-for-hong-kong-and-the-lisbon-maru-massacre-royal-marines-roll-of-honour