137418, Flying Officer (Pilot), James Franklin BAIRD
Aged 23
Noctividus - Seeing by Night
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James Franklin BAIRD was born in Hastings on 1st April 1921 (Hastings Q2-1921 2B:39), son of Herbert Franklin and Eugenie Virginia BAIRD (née
BLANC) of Hastings, Sussex.
In the 1939 register, a solicitor's articled clerk, he was with his family at 3 Priory Close, Hastings. Father Herbert Franklin [25-1-1883] was a pharmacist (M.P.S.), mother Eugenie Victoria [21-10-1882] and his brother Michael Franklin [23-7-1916] a pharmacist student. There is one closed record. He was a member of the 3rd Bury St.Edmunds Scout Group (Culford School). |
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153 Squadron was a bomber squadron. In July 1944 a detachment was sent to Alghero, Sardinia for intruder missions over southern France. In August
1944 a flight of Spitfires and Hurricanes was added for dawn patrols but the squadron disbanded on 4 September 1944. It is recorded that
James was lost in Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX, ser.no.MH 900 which crashed into the sea 5 miles north of Cap Falcon, Ain El Turk, Algeria. The Squadron Operation
Record Book for August makes no mention of him or his mission.
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photo: Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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