Ernest Chadwick ....

[Jan Willems]

Hello,

I am a Belgian (local) historian.

On June 03,1942 a British RAF-bomber (a Wellington IC- DVF786) crashed in the fields of my hometown Brussegem, about 15 km N.W. from Brussels. The whole crew, 5 British young men, died immediately.

One of them was Ernest CHADWICK (RAF.nr 1006926). He was the 'observer/navigator' in the aircraft ... 25 years young and son of Ernest and Ellen Chadwick from Anfield, Liverpool.

It is my intention - when I can finish my research successfully - to ask our local authorities to, at long last, for paying some more attention and respect to these 'victims of war' who passed away, far from home and from their relatives and friends.
I will push our municipal institution to erect a memorial stone on the place where their aircraft crashed, with (at least) the names and photos (if available) of these young heroes who gave their lives during the war.
In addition a (yearly or two-yearly) commemorative ceremony can be organized and a brochure in regards to this 'war incident' will be published and distributed among the inhabitants of our village, the schools and libraries .

As Ernest Chadwick seems to be coming from Liverpool, I joined this forum in the hope finding living descendants (family) and/or persons who have known him or who have been told, years ago, about this young man who has been killed in action during the Second World War, so I can include some background information about his childhood, his parents, brothers, sisters, his profession, his decision to join the R.A.F, his character, and so on ... and so on ...

So everybody who knows something about this "Liverpool guy" ... please let me know.

Sorry for my English language errors ... but I am a 'Flemish' Belgian.

Thanks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

e-mail : janwillems [at] telenet.be
postal address : Jan Willems, Brusselsesteenweg 97, 1785 Merchtem, Belgium
email address amended to prevent spamming, change the [at] to @ to use

[daggers]

Hello Jan and welcome to this forum.
You have an excellent project which will be very pleasing to relatives of those whose lives were lost. I hope you are successful in your efforts.

There are some good people who make up this forum and may be able to help, though I regret that I am not one with the necessary knowledge of how to trace relatives of aircrew from 1942.

It is clear that you have used the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's site. There are several sites dedicated to RAF squadron histories, which you may have looked at.

I hope others will be able to help you.

Best wishes

Daggers

[MaryA]

Hi and welcome to the forum. We will try our best with this, although we have to be careful, as we are a family history group, we try not to name living people to preserve their privacy, however, if we manage to get to recent details I'm sure we can send some information to you by private message.

Can I ask if these heroes are buried in a CWGC cemetery and have CWGC headstones?

[Bertieone]

Hi and welcome,

I think this is Ernest's parents and siblings,

Ernest Chadwick married Ellen Birch, 1914, West Derby.

Children,
Births Jun 1920
Chadwick, David Birch W.Derby 8b 663
Births Sep 1922
Chadwick, Dorothy Birch W.Derby 8b 722
Sep 1925
Chadwick, Leslie Birch W.Derby 8b 756
Mar 1928
Chadwick, Muriel Birch W.Derby 8b 1047

Ernest Chadwick, registration West Derby 1916, I believe a transcription error has been made on mothers maiden name, registered as, Binch.

[Katie]

A member of staff at Liverpool Archives asked me for help on this inquiry. I found no pictures of these men, I did locate a Roll of Honour notice on the anniversary of their disappearance, which I copied and passed over. If they were recorded as missing in action it could be quite a while before anything in the papers.

[Bertieone]

Headstone photo,

http://www.156squadron.com/view_aircrew ... rewId=1753

[Jan Willems]

Hello,

Thanks to everyone for your replies, information and support.

This is the information I have about Ernest Chadwick : CHADWICK ERNEST, Sergeant (observer/navigator), RAF-nr. 1006926. 156 Squadron. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Aircraft : Wellington IC - DVF 786. Target : bombing Essen. Died : 3 June 1942. 25 years. Son of Ernest en Ellen Chadwick, from Anfield, Liverpool. Coll. Grave X. 15. 3-5. , Brussels Town Cemetry, CWG. 2109091.

I have also a photo of his gravestone as well of the gravestone registration report (on my PC) ... but I do not know how I can put photos on this forum.
I suppose I can attach them on a personal message.

Kind regards.

Jan

[MaryA]

Thanks for your response, we'll keep looking. To show a photograph in your message use these instructions
https://www.liverpool-genealogy.org.uk/ ... =16&t=9817

[Jan Willems]

[Jan Willems]

Dear MaryA,

Thank you for forwarding me the procedure to put photos into the forum messages.
Mine are not 100% O.K. ... but for a first trial ... I am satisfied with the result.

In the previous message you can see a picture of the Military Graveyard where Ernest Chadwick (and his crew members) are burried, as well as two documents on which the name of Chadwick is noticed.
When I did not make any mistake, hereunder you should see the gravestone of Ernest Chadwick.

[MaryA]

You have done perfectly, thank you. At least he is commemorated by the CWGC however it is wonderful of you to be thinking of a collective memorial for these young heroes.