Deeply regret to inform you - a photo on Flickriver

From the War Memorial Display, “a Village at War” in the lane approaching the church.

Sergeant Cederic Roland Minns
Cederic Roland Minns was born on 15 May 1921, at Hill House, Caistor St Edmund. He joined the RAF in the Autumn of 1940, largely as a result of his brother Douglas already having signed up. He was a pilot and only flew on four operations before being shot down over the English Channel in June 1943. The plane came down in the sea and whilst three of the crew were washed ashore and buried in Holland, his body was never recorded. (There is also a picture of the Telegram notifying his failure to return and a letter from Buckingham Place sympathising with their loss.)

MINNS, CEDERIC ROLAND
Rank:………………………….....Sergeant
Service No:……………………1270648
Date of Death:………………23/06/1943
Age:……………………………...22
Service:………………………...Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
………………………………….....218 Sqdn.
Panel Reference:………….Panel 159.
Memorial:……………………...RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL
Additional Information:
Son of Henry George and Margaret May Minns, of Caister St. Edmund, Norfolk.
CWGC: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1076933/MINNS,%20CEDE...

No obvious Civil Probate for this airman.

Birth and family

The birth of a Cederic R Minns was registered in the Henstead District in the April to June quarter, (Q2) of 1921. His mothers maiden name was Tubby.

Until September 1911 the quarterly index published by the General Registrars Office did not show information about the mothers maiden name. A check of the General Registrars Office Index of Birth for England and Wales 1911 – 1983 shows only five children registered with the surname Minns, mothers maiden Tubby, including Cederic. They are all potentially his siblings as they are recorded in the Henstead District.
Douglas F…….Q1 1923
Granville C G…Q2 1927
Claude J……….Q2 1930
Shelia G T…….Q4 1935

The 1939 National Register was a mini-census which was used to do a stocktake of the nations skills, (with the view to making best use of the available resources in the event of war) and as the basis for the issue of ID cards and ration books. There is no obvious record for Cederic.

On the day

There are pictures of Cederic, along with a biography of his time with the Squadron here:-
218squadron.wordpress.com/sergeant-cederic-roland-minns-1...

Sergeant Cederic Minns start on the squadron was less than smooth, his original skipper Sergeant Norman Robinson was killed while flying a second pilot trip with Canadian Flight Lieutenant Turner RCAF on May 4th 1943. Cederic’s two former friends and crews mates were Sergeant Denzey & Lancaster who were both killed when struck by Stirling BF480 which crashed out of control on the morning of May 14th. Cederic was born and lived at Caister St Edmund 3 miles south of Norwich, he arrived on the squadron via No,1657 Conversion Unit w.e.f 16th April 1943. He flew 8 operations as an wireless operator / air gunner with Australian James Smith RAAF. The circumstances surrounding the loss of BF572 HA-K is unclear. Rear gunner Sergeant Farr parachuted from Stirling BF572 HA-K spending the remaining war years a PoW, his post war report records the following :
“We were attacked and set on fire. To the best of my knowledge Sgt Smith was either severely injured or killed in the first attack, after which the machine caught fire and went into a steep dive.”

Hptm Wittgenstein 6./NJG5 (detached 1./NJG1) claimed a Short Stirling at 02.19 hours over the North Sea 50 miles NW of Hoak Van Holland. At 02.35hrs a RAF tracking station on the East Coast transmitted a fix on BF572, the position was recorded at 52 10N – 03 20E. Could Hptm Wittgenstein be the cause of the crews demise, if so this would mean that Sergeant Farr parachuted into the North Sea, not an ideal prospect even in June. Another possibility is that the incident recorded by Sgt Farr did not result in the Stirling crashing, Farr took to his parachute only for the Stirling to continue on until attacked and shot down by Hptm Wittgenstein 50 miles out to sea .Cederic’s body and that of two over crew members were never found, his name is recorded on the panels of the Runnymede Memorial panel 159.
218squadron.wordpress.com/sergeant-cederic-roland-minns-1...

In the book From St Vith to Victory: 218 (Gold Coast) Squadron and the Campaign against Nazi Germany by Stephen C Smith it has Cederic recorded as a Wireless Operator.
books.google.co.uk/books?id=0we5BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA308&amp...

Rest of the crew

Flight Sergeant James Brooks Hamilton Smith, Pilot, RAAF, aged 20. Buried Castricum Protestant Churchyard, Holland.
CWGC: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2620124/SMITH,%20JAME...

Sergeant Gilbert Ernest Rose, RAFVR, aged 32. Remembered Runnymede Memorial.
CWGC: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2940576/ROSE,%20GILBE...
chippenham1939-1945.weebly.com/sgt-g-e-rose.html

Sergeant Reginald Harrison Cramm, RAFVR, aged 21. Remembered Runnymede Memorial.
CWGC: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1085186/CRAMM,%20REGI...

Sergeant Wyndham Henry Davies, Bomb Aimer, RAFVR, aged 21, Now buried Bergen-Op-Zoom Canadian War Cemetery, originally interred Zandvoort.
CWGC: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2641631/DAVIES,%20WYN...

Flight Sergeant George Labiuk, Air Gunner, RCAF, aged 22. Buried Amsterdam New Eastern Cemetery.
www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2619627/LABIUK,%20GEORGE

Flight Sergeant P W Farr, Prisoner of War.

BF572 HA-K failed to return from a raid on Mulheim on the night of the 22nd/23rd June 1943.
218squadron.wordpress.com/short-stirling-mk-i-mk-iii/

The blog post above which refers to the shooting down by Wittgenstein of the plane at 2.19 and the location fix at 2.35 assumes the plane had been shot down and was broadcasting its position from the sea – I don’t know if a Stirling would have stayed afloat that long. Wittgensteins claim in the official Luftwaffe records gives a location for the combat as 05 Ost S / HH 59: 4,400m.
However at 2.29 there is a claim for a Stirling by Oblt. Sorko, also of 1./NJG. (05 Ost S/KG 42: 3,200m) and at 2.36 and 2.39 there are claims by other pilots for a Lancaster and a Halifax in area O5 Ost S . Even experienced night-fighters could be mistaken about the planes they shot down, so those last two should not be ruled out. Finally, my understanding is that Britain was on Double Summer Time on that date, bringing it pretty much in line with the Central European Time used by the Luftwaffe. If that’s wrong then probably worth considering the Halifax claim by Oblt. Sorko in 05 Ost S at 03.25 – note these are all accepted claims as evidenced by gun camera film. There were Stirling claims in other areas and there may well have been other claims that were not accepted and claims that would have been lodged by night-fighters that failed to return. Nor should it be assumed the loss was due to a night-fighter –damage suffered on the journey or a technical issue may have forced the craft to ditch.

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / Dunston (show map)

Taken on: August 7, 2015

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Caistor St Edmund

Norfolk

In memoria

Dulce et decorum est

Old Soldiers rest in peace

Remember them

Caistor St Edmund War Memorial

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Cederic Minns

Cederic Roland Minns

218 Squadron

218 Sqn

23/06/1943

22nd June 1943

Short Stirling Mk111

Target- Mulheim $Everybody's photos tagged with Air Gunner\Radio Operator$ Air Gunner\Radio Operator

Henry George Minns

Margaret May Minns

BF572

Stirling BF572 HA-K

James Brooks Hamilton Smith

Gilbert Ernest Rose

Reginald Harrison Cramm

Wyndham Henry Davies

George Labiuk « less

Sets appears in: • In memoria • Dulce et Decorum Est..Pro Patria Mori more » • War Memorials • Caistor St Edmund « less

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