George Cedric
Daniel's enlistment form (picture courtesy
of Mr. Robin Cooper)
The crew
consisted of:
Sgt Alexander Graeme Elder - pilot
Sgt Victor Lawrence Bagley - 2nd pilot
Sgt George Cedric Daniel - air gunner
Sgt Sol Glazer (NZ) - observer
Sgt John La Bassee Tomkinson - wireless
operator
Sgt Douglas Wilmott Waters - air gunner
Group picture.
It is not know who exactly is Cedric.
(picture courtesy of Mr. Robin Cooper) Click
here for larger
picture. SEE ALSO OUR
REQUEST
Group picture.
It is not know who exactly is Cedric.
(picture courtesy of
Mr. Robin Cooper)
They were
on the way to their target, flying over the
Dutch province of Groningen, when they were
intercepted around 23.00 by a German night
fighter, piloted by oberfeldwebel Paul
Gildner. Gildner had been successful
only twenty minutes prior, when he shot down
a Blenheim of 110 squadron (with crew F/L
Dickinson DFC, Sgt Charles William Fry and
Sgt Robert Mower) which crashed west of
Groningen, near Tolbert.
Shortly
after shooting down the Blenheim he engaged
the Wellington flown by Sgt Elder and his
crew over the town of Jispinghuizen.
Machinegun fire was heard among the roaring
engines of the planes. The Wellington was
hit and started to burn. Soon after the
Wellington crashed on the eastside of the
main road running from Vlagtwedde to Ter
Apel.
Ofw. Gildner
and his wireless operator Uffz. Müller
inspecting the tail section of the
BU-M at the crash site. (Nachtjagdarchiv
Horst Diener, via Ab Jansen in Wespennest
Leeuwarden, vol. I, pg 116)
Only the
nose turret gunner, Sgt Douglas Wilmott
Waters, managed to bail out of the burning
plane. He was taken prisoner.
The rest of
the crew was buried at the Esserveld
cemetery in Groningen, where they were laid
to rest together with the Blenheim crew that
was shot down only minutes earlier.
Letter
received by Cedric's family by the CO of 214
Sqn, W/Cdr R.B. Jordan, informing them of
Cedric's death. (picture courtesy of Mr.
Robin Cooper)
While in
captivity, Sgt Waters wrote Cedric's family
about the crash on 9 September 1941. The
letter says:
"Dear Miss
M. Daniels, I have just received your letter
of the ?th July and I am very sorry to
confirm that Cedric xxxx with the rest of
the crew. He was killed by machinegun fire
and the rest of the crew were in the plane
when she hit the ground and blew up. I
managed to jump just in time and broke my
fall in some trees. They are buried in
Holland but at what place I do not know but
I hope to find out after the war. I am
afraid I cannot say more at present and
excuse me if this is a gruesome letter over
a very nasty business. Wishing you all the
best. Yours Sincerely, Douglas W. Waters."
Sgt. Douglas
Waters letter, written while a prisoner of
the Germans. (picture courtesy of
Mr. Robin Cooper)
The family
also received a note from King George.
(picture
courtesy of Mr. Robin Cooper)
Sgt. Daniel
is buried at Plot RP. Row Class 2. Coll.
grave 25.
(picture by
Wim Bastiaanse)
