225813 Sgt. John Desmond Butterly Royal Air Force 12 Squadron from:Howth, Dublin (d.7th July 1943) I am named after my uncle, John Desmond Butterly, who died after his Lancaster was shot down on returning from a bombing mission on 7th of July 1943. The bomber crashed into the Firth of Forth in Scotland. My mother, John's sister, told me that there were no survivors and that the bodies were never recovered.
There is a record somewhere that John survived the crash and returned it his own country where he died of his wounds. This we believe is not true.
There is another story that his elder brother, Lewis, travelled from Dublin area to Belfast to Scotland and then bought his body back to Howth. There is a large gravestone in a cemetery just outside Howth, his home town, with a tombstone with his name on it along with names of his parents, my grand parents. Also there is the RAF memorial stone there with his name, Military number, date of death etc on it.
How can I find out if he is still in the Firth of Forth or if he is really buried in the grave outside of Howth? We are also looking into Church records etc.
Editor's Note: The Commonwealth War Graves record that John is buried in Kilbarrack Cemetery in Dublin.
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