Aiae Φθanomen......Always Ahead
No.625946, Flight Sergeant (Wireless Op/Air Gunner), Ernest Burton WILCOX
Aged 23
Died on Active Service on Wednesday, 28th May 1941
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Ernest Burton Wilcox was born on 4th August 1917 in Streatham (Wandsworth Q3-1917 1D:859), the son of William Cossack and Sarah Elizabeth Hardwick WILCOX (née HARDWICK)
of Clapham, London.
In the 1939 register his widowed mother [21-2-1890] was cook to George H and Annie HARDWICK at Warbraham Farm, Heath Road, Burwell. With them was Alice WILCOX [1-3-1911] married quite possibly the wife of Ernest, although such marriage has not been identified as yet. |
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150 Squadron, R.A.F. was equiped with Vickers Wellington IC bombers in 1941, based at RAF Newton, near Nottingham.
Returning to RAF Newton from a mission to Boulogne, Wellington Mk1C ser.no.R1044 c/s JN-Y emerged from low cloud and crashed at 04:45 on 28th May 1941, breaking in two on Colborough Hill, just south of the Salisbury Arms, Halstead, halfway between Leicester and Rutland Water The crew were:- Pilot- Sgt. Vernon Douglas HUGGETT; pilot- Sgt. Vernon Edward PEREIRA; observer- Sgt Peter JARVIS; wirelss op/air gunner- F.Sgt. Ernest Burton WILCOX; air gunner- Sgt Michael Edward GARDINER; air gunner- WO Lewis EDMUNDS. Warrant Officer EDMUNDS was the sole survivor, with a broken back. He survived to receive the D.F.M. but died of polio in 1943. Sgt Vernon Preira is commemorated on the Rougham Memorial click here to go to his entry on this website. |
The headstone carried the wrong year for 60 years until noticed by members of the Burwell Archives
who informed the CWGC and the figure '4' was changed to '1'
click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details