On 18 October 1942, a Vickers Wellington from 311 Squadron crashed near South Ruislip. The incident led to the deaths of 20 people, including all of the crew and passengers on board. On the anniversary of this incident, this post will look at some of those who lost their lives, and the discussions about where they would be buried.
The Day
On board the Wellington on 18 October were two Wellington crews; both groups have been invited to London for a debrief, following their successful attack of German U-boats the previous month. At this time, the squadron was based at RAF Talbenny in Pembrokeshire, and was part of Coastal Command. In addition to these crews, other members of the squadron opted to come on the journey to enjoy a day out in London on Czechoslovakia’s independence day.
Almost all on board were Czechoslovakian, except one: the transport officer for the squadron, Pilot Officer Georges Strauss-Leemans, was Belgian. There were nine passengers on board in total, plus the six crew members.
Policies around Commemoration of Czechoslovakian War Dead
The Imperial War Graves Commission had a relatively standardised approach to international war dead which provided some flexibility towards repatriation; war dead could be exhume to a national plot or repatriated to their country of origin if the individual had not been buried in a pre-existing plot maintained by the Commission, provided they had the consent of the relevant authorities and the next of kin. The Czechoslovak government utilised both of these options, with a national plot created within Brookwood Military Cemetery in Surrey which had a large memorial erected in the centre to honour all Czechoslovak war dead of the Second World War.
However, in reality there was some resistance to repatriating air force war dead, possibly because they were serving in the Royal Air Force at the time. In Commission terms, the “nationality” of war dead was their country of service; however, records today show that this is listed as Czechoslovakian for the majority of the war dead in this accident. Despite the complexities in identity in this case, the Commission enforced that the remains of Pilot Officer Bedrich Gissubel could not be exhumed from the plot at Brookwood. As one of the 14 killed in the incident on 18 October, the dead had been buried in a trench-style multiple-occupancy grave which would make distinguishing between the remains difficult and the disturbance of other remains unavoidable. Therefore, he remains in the Czechoslovakian plot at Brookwood Military Cemetery.
However, due to Pilot Officer Georges Strauss-Leemans nationality, a different approach was enforced for his remains. The Czechoslovak government requested the removal of non-Czechoslovak war dead from their plot; this was agreed to by the Commission, who permitted the exhumation of Pilot Officer Strauss-Leemans to the Royal Air Force section of Brookwood Military Cemetery. The Belgian government did permit repatriation of its dead, but as Pilot Officer Strauss-Leemans’ next of kin or ‘full identity’ could not be confirmed at the time of his exhumation, regulations relating to British Empire war dead were adhered to.
Today, all fourteen service personnel on board of the Wellington are buried at Brookwood Military Cemetery. The civilians who also perished in the incident, two sisters, Lily Reay and Phyllis Street, who were out with their four young daughters named Marion and Ruth (Reay) and Phyllis and Beryl (Street), are buried in St Nicholas Churchyard in Brockenhurst, Hampshire. This churchyard has a number of First World War dead buried there.
Further Reading
CWGC/1/2/A/181 (A 40/4 PT2), Allied War Graves – Czechoslovak Graves
CWGC/1/2/A/184 (A 40/4 PT 5), Allied War Graves – Czechoslovak Graves
CWGC/7/4/2/1/10319-10 (CEM 10319 PT 10), Brookwood Military Cemetery Woking
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