War Memorial – Casualties of World War II

Harold William Burson was born 24 September 1902 in Grove, the son of William and Susan Margaret (nee Merrifield) Burson.  He was described as a Journeyman  Baker and he and Susan had 10 children.  The 1911 census showed Harold living at the bay Tree Inn, Denchworth Road, Grove.  He married Mary Elizabeth Grandey on 4 January 1931 at St John The Baptist Church, Coventry, Warwickshire when he was described as a Confectioner.  The 1939 Register shows Harold living at 39 Grafton Street, and his job was Confectioner Cake maker (assistant).  Before joining up he had worked for Mr J Fordham, a butcher in Wantage.  Mary died in 2009 and their son Colin William Burson died in 2024.  There were two other sons.

14241513 Driver Burson Royal Engineers died of tuberculosis after 19 months of illness on 27 July 1946 (sic) in the Berkshire and Buckinghamshire Joint Sanitorium, Rotherfield Peppard, Berkshire and previously in Papworth Everard Military Hospital, Cambridge, aged 43.  He had joined the Royal Engineers Bomb Disposal Squad in 1942.  His address was “Rosedale”, Grove.

He is buried in Grove Churchyard.

Roger Arnold Henderson was born on 22 June 1909 at 42 Queens Gardens, Bayswater, London W2, the son of Arnold and Helen Medline (Nee Evans-Gordon) Henderson.  He was described as of independent means.  In the 1911 census Roger was living at Moffats, Hatfield, Hertfordshire a 17 bedroom house, now a Grade II listed building.  He returned from Montevideo in 1928.  In 1932 he returned from Australia when he gave his address as Writtle Park, Essex and described as a stockbroker.  He married Judith (Judy) Violet Christina Thornley on 4 April 1934 in Victoria, Australia.  He and Judy returned to England on SS Strathallan in June 1938 (Melbourne to Plymouth) giving his address as 9 Whiteheads Grove, Chelsea, London SW.  They were accompanied by their children, Davinia aged 2 and David aged 1.  In the 1939 register they were living at Grove House, Mill Lane, Grove and he was described as a Company Director.  Judy and the children returned to Australia in August 1945 and she died in 1966 in Victoria.

83932 Flight Lieutenant Henderson 13 Officer Training Unit, Training Command, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve was killed on Sunday 23 November 1941 whilst flying aerobatics in an Avro Tudor K8171 with the Chief Instructor, Squadron Leader Murray James Tully, at Ploughley, Bicester, Oxfordshire aged 32.  They took off from Bicester for local flying practice.  Crashed while flying inverted, at Hardwell Farm, Caversfield, on the west side of the airfield.  The death certificate states there was no evidence as to what caused the aircraft to crash.

He is remembered at Oxford Crematorium Left Hand Column.

A memorial at Oxford Crematorium, Bayswater Road, Oxford commemorates 47 servicemen and women of the Second World War whose remains were cremated there.  This is a panel of green slate affixed to the terminal of the semi-circular wall facing the Garden of Rest.  Above the names is an inscription which reads:  1939 – 1945 THESE MEMBERS OF HIS MAJESTY’S FORCES DIED IN THE SERVICE OF THE THEIR CONTRY AND WERE CREMATED.

Robert Hitchcock was born on 31 March 1902 in Grove the son of Arthur and Julia (nee Barwick) Hitchcock.  Arthur was a Railway Labourer and he and Julia had 12 children.  Arthur was well know as he had a race with the local tram.  According to the 1911 census Robert was living at Kent’s Cottage, Main Street, Grove.  His older brother Frederick, was killed in World War I.  Robert married Ada Dorothy Ware on 3 November 1924 at the register Office, Plymouth, Devon when he was described as a Private 5330072 2nd Battalion The Royal Berkshire Regiment based at Tregantle Fort, St Germans, Cornwall.

5330072 Private Hitchcock, 1st Battalion The Royal Berkshire Regiment died on 17 December 1942 at 2 Kent’s Row, Main Street, Grove aged 40.  He had been discharged from the Army and died of tuberculosis.

He is buried in Grove churchyard.

Arthur Harrington Jefferies

Arthur (Jeff) Harrington Jefferies was born on 11 November 1922 in Grove, the son of George Cornelius and Bertha (Nee Spicer) Jefferies.  He was described as a Banksman (coal pit) and living in Warmsworth, Yorkshire, the same address as his mother when she registered the birth four weeks later.  Bertha was a sister of Alfred Spicer, the father of Arthur Spicer, see above.  However, in 1944 they were living Grove.

George evidently became an aircraft fitter because this involvement in aircraft encourage Jeff to join the RAFVR in late 1940.

A local residents remembers Arthur living at the bottom of Oxford Lane and flying low over his house.

The full history of his service, details of his crew and photographs of the crashed plane are to be found on www.aircraftremembered.com/jefferies-arthur 

He was posthumously awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (Flying) – London Gazette 21 December 1945.

1313283 Flight Sergeant Pilot Jefferies CGM 550 Squadron Royal Airforce Volunteer Reserve died on 31 March 1944 aged 21 flying a Lancaster Bomber Mk III LM425 BQ-N from RAF North Killingholme, Lincolnshire.

A description of the final operation is set out below, written by one of the three survivors.

Operation:  Nurnberg.  Take off 21.45 North Killingholme.

Outbound, hit by flak from batteries near Liege and crashed at the “Barrage de la Gileppe”, 8km East of Verviers (Belgium).

The three survivors were thrown out as the Lancaster blew up, Sergeant Keirle sustaining very serious stomach, ribs and leg injuries.

At 39, Sergeant Paxton was amongst the oldest airmen to be killed on Bomber Command in 1944 and was well above the average age normally associated with operational aircrew.

Initially, the dead were buried by the Luftwaffe at St. Truiden (Belgium), but their graves are now in Heverlee War Cemetery.  There is also a monument erected in the woods near “Lac de la Gileppe”.  The co-ordinates are:  50.34.54.N – 5.59.02.E

Stan Keirle, wrote on 11 December 1992….

“…… The bright moonlight obviously would be advantageous to the night-fighters, who certainly be infiltrating the bomber force ….. Just before midnight….. suddenly, the plane was junking all over the sky.  I had no idea what was going on, but soon learned that we had been attached by a night-fighter, but not hit as far as was known….Just toddling along at the same speed as the bomber force.  They knew that the fighter that had attacked, was now sitting just below us.  We knew that sometimes in clear conditions, two fighters would attack in tandem, so all eyes were peeling on the surrounding sky, expecting to see a second fighter appear.

After a little while, all hell was let loose.  Rather surprisingly, we had been mortally hit by FLAK.  We had been hit in the starboard wing, the outer engine was on fire.  Jeff and Paxton used the fire extinguishers and tried to feather the prop.  I don’t know whether they managed to do that or not.

Then Jeff ordered “parachutes on”.  I clipped the parachute on my harness and got back to the intercom and looked out the astrodome.  The engine fire died down for a while, then broke out a fresh with increased intensity and crept back into the wing itself, which burnt through very quickly….

I watched the out engine and the wing outboard of the engine fall off and disappear…. and started to spiral downwards with the remaining engines….

The G force was tremendous.  I remembered floating through the air past the navigator’s position and getting my feet tangled up with the cockpit controls…. I then passed out.

… What happened next is very vague memory, which could even be imagination.  I found myself in open air with wind rushing past my face.  Slowly the realisation came that I was falling through space and that I should pull the ripcord of my parachute.  The chute pack was not on my chest, found it dangling around my feet.  Having hauled it in via the loose harness, I pulled the D-ring and something camp up and hit me under the chin, knocking me out again.

I woke up to find myself tumbling through the trees and at the same time sensed that my right arm was entangled in a bulky object, I passed out again….

…. Gradually my head cleared enough to know that I was stretched across something and that all around was quiet… At that time the truth dawned that I was still alive… I could not breathe too easily, left leg was doubled up under my backside and hurting quite a lot and my back was extremely painful….”

More information “For You: the war is over” As remembered by Stan Keirle.

Crew members:

• Flight Sergeant A H Jefferies CGM +
• Sergeant R H Paxton +
• Sergeant H Simpson +
• Flight Sergeant D S Jeffrey (Prisoner of War)
• Sergeant K A Keirle (Prisoner of War)
• Sergeant W G Upton (Prisoner of War)
• Sergeant J W Whitley +

Flight Sergeant A H Jefferies remains are buried in Heverlee War Cemetery plot 5 B 19.

George Jefferies

George Jefferies was born on 14 April 1921 at Upper Lambourn, Hungerford, Berkshire the son of Charles Hedges and Marjorie Ethel (nee Glover) Jefferies.  He was described as a farmer.  In the 1939 Register, he is listed at Monk’s Farm in Grove (working for Albert Burson as a cowman), and his brother John said that George was working on a farm at Grove before he went away, so that would probably be why he’s commemorated there.  (According to his service records, his address when he signed up was Broadleaze Farm, Wescot, Wantage).

The details have been given by Guy Puzey (George’s great nephew).

George joined the Royal Air Force on 17 May 1940, and was killed precisely 2 years later.  The unit he was serving in when he was killed was 42 (Torpedo Bomber) Squadron, which was part of Coastal Command, and he had been with 42 Squadron since completing his training in September 1941.  He was a wireless operator and air gunner on Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber aircraft, and he usually sat as the rear gunner.

He and the rest of the crew were killed just off the coast of occupied Norway on 17 May 1942 (an important day in the Norwegian calendar, as it is the main national holiday, Constitution Day).  They took off from RAF Leuchars, in Fife, and they were part of a large-scale attack on the German Cruiser Prinz Eugen, which was heading to Germany for repairs after being damaged by HMS Trident.  The Beaufort had a crew of four, and this was the full crew (George normally flew with another crew, but for some reason he was with a different crew that evening):

• Pilot; Flying Officer Rodney Bainbrigge Archer DFC, aged 24 (of Rose Bay, NSW, Australia – his middle name is unfortunately misspelt as ‘Bainbridge’ on most memorials)
• Observer; Flight Sergeant David North Keeling, aged 23 (of Karori and Otaki, New Zealand)
• Wireless Operator; Sergeant Barry Cain, aged 19 (of Deptford, London)
• Rear Gunner; Sergeant George Jefferies, aged 21

Sadly, only one of the crew (Barry Cain) was ever found.  His body was washed ashore at Blomvag, in Norway, and he is now buried at Sola, just outside Stavanger.  The other three crew members are classified as lost at sea and are commemorated on the Air Force Memorial at Runneymede, in Surrey.

In his time with 42 Squadron, George appears to have flown on at least 23 operational sorties.  These included involvement in the Channel Dash on 12 February 1942, and in March 1942 being on readiness at RAF Sumburgh to attack Tirpitz (in what would have been practically a suicide mission, the Beauforts not having enough fuel to reach the target and return to Shetland).  It is worth noting that in 1942, over one tour of duty (which in Coastal Command, was 200 flying hours), the crew survival rate was 17.5%, while over two tours it was just 3%.  To underline the perils they were facing even when not under enemy fire, returning from a strike operation on 20 March 1942, George was on the crew of the Squadron’s commander, Wing Commander Mervyn Williams, when there aircraft crashed landed at Sumburgh.  The torpedo exploded, destroying the aircraft and a building on the airfield, but the crew escaped in time.  There is a photograph of the crater left behind, and the incident is still in living memory among local residents.

George was survived by his mother and two sibling; Jean Jefferies (later Puzey, 1918 – 1984) and John Jefferies (1919 – 2019).  A younger brother, Jimmy, had already died in 1930, aged 5.

926101 Sergeant George Jefferies of 42 Squadron Royal Airforce Volunteer Reserve died on 17 may 1942 aged 21.  His parents were living in Denchworth, Berkshire.

He is remembered at the Runnymede Memorial, Panel 86.

Albert Charles Mayo

Albert Charles Mayo was born 30 June 1918 in Grove, the son of Arthur and Emily (nee Dawson) Mayo.  He was described as a Journeyman Blacksmith.  He had a son Albert Mayo Jefferies born 9 April 1944 who died 5 May 2014.

The North Berks Herald of 2 march 1945 stated that he had joined the militia in July 1939.  He served in France and was evacuated from Dunkirk in 1940 but then went back to France at D Day in June 1944.  He was a centre half for grove Rangers FC and had been employed in the building trade.  He had two brothers Ernest and Williams who also served in World War II.

5340094 Private Albert Mayo served with the 5th battalion Wiltshire Regiment.  He was killed in action during the Battle of the Reichswald on 15 February 1945.  The Reichswald is a forested area close to the Dutch-German border.  The 5th Battalion were involved in operations near the village of Bedburg in early February 1945 and Albert was one of 188 casualties during this period of fighting.

He is buried at Reichswald Forest war Cemetery in plot 57 C 2.

Alfred Victor Twyford was born 4 April 1909 at 182 Bravington Road, Maida Vale, London W9, the son of George Alfred and Lily Ann (nee Tarry) Twyford.  He was described as a House painter.  In the 1911 census he was living with his maternal uncle and aunt at the Green, Grove.  In 1930, 1935 and 1945 he was living on his own in North of Street (sic), Grove.  He is believed to have worked as a labourer on the Burson’s farm and also for the cook family.

During World War II he served with the Royal Artillery as he is recorded as enlisting with them in 1940 and having been allocated the army number 167547.  No further information is known at present.

Alfred died 20 December 1947 (sic) at Wantage Hospital aged 38.  His home address was 1 Brook Cottages, Grove and he was described as a General Labourer at the RAF Depot at Milton.  Before the war he had work on the roads for the County Council (presumably Berkshire).

He is buried in Grove Churchyard.

Derek West was born 25 March 1922 at Venn Mill, Garford, Abingdon, Berkshire, the son of Aubrey George and Edith Maria (nee Clarke) West.  He was described as a Farm Bailiff.  They later moved to Station Road, Grove.

Aubrey and Edith gave the gates at the entrance to Grove Church in memory of their sons.

5349950 Lance Corporal Derek West 10th Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment died on Monday 7 February 1944 aged 21 at Anzio having served in Iraq and Sicily beforehand.  His battalion was involved in an offensive near the village of Carroceto.  Unfortunately, just before the attack a strong German patrol attempted to infiltrate through and around the battalion.  This was frustrated by a rapid counter-attack, by the Royal Berkshires but obviously there were casualties, amongst them being Derek West.

He is buried at Beach Head War Cemetery, Anzio (Italy) in plot III 8 6.

Kenneth Aubrey West was born 11 June 1920 at Bradfield Cottages, Grove, the son of Aubrey George and Edit Maria (nee Clarke) West.  He was described as a Farm Foreman.  Note this different address and occupation in the details about his brother above.

Aircraftman 2nd Class Kenneth West 1153852 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve died on Sunday 27 October 1940 at RAF Honnington, Suffolk aged 20 as a result of a motor accident at the base.  The death certificate states “Due to ward operations”.  He had only joined the Royal Air Force in May 1940.

He is buried in Grove Churchyard.

Mr and Mrs West presented the gates leading to the church in their sons’ memory.