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Those known to have served at RAF Hartford Bridge during the Second World War 1939-1945. - Curtis Douglas. Cpl.
- Gill CdG.. Kenneth. F/Lt.
- Hoare Maurice Frederick. Flt.Sgt. (d.18th July 1944)
- Hoeg Thorkild. P/O. (d.22nd Oct 1943)
- Thorpe Leslie Amos. F/O. (d.22nd February 1945)
- Tribbeck Herbert Reginald. F/O. (d.9th September 1944)
- Zeller Warren Robert. F/O. (d.9th September 1944)
The names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please
Add a Name to this List
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The Wartime Memories Project is the original WW1 and WW2 commemoration website.
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Want to find out more about your relative's service? Want to know what life was like during the War? Our
Library contains an ever growing number diary entries, personal letters and other documents, most transcribed into plain text. |
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Wanted: Digital copies of Group photographs, Scrapbooks, Autograph books, photo albums, newspaper clippings, letters, postcards and ephemera relating to WW2. We would like to obtain digital copies of any documents or photographs relating to WW2 you may have at home. If you have any unwanted
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Did you know? We also have a section on The Great War. and a
Timecapsule to preserve stories from other conflicts for future generations.
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Want to know more about RAF Hartford Bridge? There are:20 items tagged RAF Hartford Bridge available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Second World War. |
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Cpl. Douglas Curtis 88 Sqd. My father, Corporal Douggie Curtis, was posted to 88Sqn sometime at the end of 1943, at Hartford Bridge, Hants. He was a ground engineer (airframes), and helped convert the aircraft for the smoke laying mission on D-Day. He always told me that the pipes and fittings were standard plumbers fittings. He also told me that the invasion markings were hand painted, so that when you see photos they look a bit ragged. Also the white noses marked the Bostons as smoke layers.
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P/O. Thorkild "Teddy" Hoeg 107 Squadron (d.22nd Oct 1943) Teddy Hoeg was the fourth son of Danish parents and was born in 1921 at Wallington, a small village near Baldock, Hertfordshire. He always wanted to fly and he got his chance by volunteering for flying duties with the Royal Air Force. After an intensive period of training to become a pilot in Tampa, Florida, USA he was awarded his wings and returned to the UK as a Sgt. Pilot, flying mostly Harvards and Stearmans. Teddy was selected for multi-engined aircraft and posted to OTU at Bicester, Oxford, piloting Ansens, Oxfords and Blenheims as the next stage of his training. It was at Bicester that he flew with his crew for the first time.
Joining 107 Squadron at Great Massingham, Norfolk in early 1943 he learnt to fly the twin-engined Boston 111 and with his crew flew on several low-level operations, bombing targets in Belgium and Holland.
Being made up to Pilot Officer in late 1943, flying from 107's new posting at Hartford Bridge, the Squadron mounted a low-level bombing operation to strafe busy railway marshaling yards at Ceurcelles in Belgium on 22nd October 1943. This proved to be the tragic end of Teddy's short career as a pilot, for the raiding Bostons made a faulty landfall over the Dutch coast and several were shot down by a nest of German light ack-ack that opened up on them as they flew in. Shot down and killed with his crew, Teddy has no known grave, but his two colleagues are buried in a cemetery in Holland. In addition to the other crews lost on the raid, the CO of 107, Wing- Commander Geoffrey England, DFC, who led the Squadron, perished with his comrades.
Teddy is remembered on a Memorial Panel, (No 132), at the RAF Memorial at Runneymead in Surrey. His crew P/O Neville Gardner, (Navigator), and Sgt. Cliff Rodham, (W/0p A/G), are buried at Flushing North Cemetery, Holland, graves No's 29 and 30. Information about this tragic operation and the 107 crews who took part, including those brave men who never returned, is available at Great Massingham in the Air Museum set up by Sister Laurie who, sadly, is no longer with us.
The above information has been related to me by Teddy's brother John who lives in Hempton, Norfolk and at the time of writing, (2014), has just celebrated his 89th birthday.
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F/O. Herbert Reginald Tribbeck 418 Squadron (d.9th September 1944) Flying Officer (Navigator) Herbert Tribbeck was the Son of James Henry and Gertrude Tribbeck, husband of Doris Maud Tribbeck, of Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex.
He was 28 when he died and is buried in the Limmen Protestant Churchyard, Noord-Holland, Netherlands,
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F/O. Warren Robert Zeller 418 Squadron (d.9th September 1944) Flying Officer (Pilot) Warren Zeller was the son of Walter P. and Nettie E. Zeller, of Westmount, Montreal, Province of Quebec, Canada, husband of Janet Foster Zeller, of Westmount.
He was 25 when he died and is buried in the Limmen Protestant Churchyard, Noord-Holland, Netherlands
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F/O. Leslie Amos Thorpe 418 Squadron (d.22nd February 1945) Flying as a navigator, Leslie Thorpe was 22 years old when he was killed. He was the son of Amos and Rose Ethel Thorpe of Altrincham, Cheshire.
He is buried in the Nieuwe-Schans General Cemetery, Groningen, Netherlands.
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Flt.Sgt. Maurice Frederick "Moggie" Hoare 264 Squadron (d.18th July 1944)  Maurice Hoare was my uncle who was killed before I was born at the tender age of 21. He was the much loved son of my Nan and granddad, Ivy and Fred Hoare of Watford, Herts, and brother to my Dad, Geoff Hoare, who also served in the RAF as an engineer.
From an early age I remember noticing the photos of Uncle Maurice in my Nan's house and she spoke of him with great pride. My dad called him Moggie and up to his death in 2016 made a trip to the local war memorial on Remembrance Sunday every year.
Uncle Maurice did some of his training in South Africa and at the time of his death was on diver patrol, flying the de Havilland Mosquito out of RAF Hartford Bridge.
Unfortunately, he was involved in a collision with a Tempest EJ530 as they both dived for the same target. The Tempest was piloted by W/Cdr CH Hartley who baled out and broke his ankle on landing.
When my parents died I inherited Maurice's log book, medals and various other momentoes of his short but meaningful life. He is buried in North Watford Cemetery.
He would have been 96 this year so I doubt I will ever find any colleagues who knew him but if there is anyone with any stories of him, I would love to hear from you!
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F/Lt. Kenneth Gill CdG. 342 (Lorraine) Squadron Having taken his civilian pilot's licence as a young man in the late 1930's, my father, Kenneth Gill was welcomed into the RAF as a Trainee Pilot Officer at the outbreak of war. He ended his service in the rank of Flight Lieutenant. On more than one occasion, he piloted Field Marshall Montgomery and, at the end of the war, literally on V.E. Day the 8th of May 1945, he flew the high ranking war criminal (and former Austrian Head of State), Arthur Seyss-Inquart, to his trial at Nuremberg and subsequent execution, courtesy of Mr Albert Pierrepoint, in October 1946. It's all in his Logbook.
Much of Dad's war was spent ferrying aeroplanes and high ranking staff to various locations all around Britain, so he had experience of many different aircraft, including those iconic Spitfire and Hurricane fighter planes. His combat training, however, was for twin-engine light bombers and, in the Spring of 1944, he carried out an incredible 31 bombing missions in his fast and very powerful (2x1000hp) American-built Boston IIIA seconded to the famous French Groupe Lorraine (342 Squadron) which was based at Hartford Bridge during the war. These missions were mainly carried out over Northern France as part of the softening up process during the build-up to the D- Day landings. The payload was usually 4 x 500-pound bombs and his log-book typically lists targets such as marshalling yards, ammunition dumps and enemy troop concentrations.
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