1160730, Flight Sergeant(Pilot), Cyril James MATTHEWS
Aged 22
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Cyril James MATTHEWS was born on 19th September 1920 (Conway Q4-1920 11B:746), son of Arthur James and Lilian MATTHEWS (née CARISS).
Educated at Culford School. On Christmas Day 1940, in Bury St.Edmunds Cathedral, he married Dorothy JACKAMAN. In the 1939 register, at 76 Newmarket Road, Bury St.Edmunds were Cyril (a railway clerk/ special constable), father Arthur J [4-12-1889] a golf professional; his mother Lily [8-3-1890] and brother Roger D [14-5-1923] a fitter's mate. There are two closed records. |
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On 30th May 1942, at 22:55, Vickers Wellington Ic ser.no. R1235, call sign OR-O of 22 O.T.U. took off from RAF Wellesbourne Mountford
(Warwickshire) as part of the first thousand bomber raid on Cologne. Using training aircraft and crews to make up the number was very soon
discontinued due to unacceptable losses of such a/c and crews.
For this mission the crew was:- Pilot - F/Sgt Cyril James MATTHEWS, RAFVR; Observer - F/Sgt Philip GRIMSHAW, RCAF; W/Op.Air Gunner - P/O William Frazer CALDWELL DFM, RAFVR ; W/Op/Air Gunner Sgt Denis Henry EDWARDS, RNZAF and Air Gunner P/O Dudley Arthur TALLIS DFM, RAF. They were all killed when crashing at 01:43 at Kalenberg, 20 km west of Bonn. The aircraft was shot down by the night fighter crew of Oberleutnant Bokemeyer and Unteroffizier Laakmann of the 5./NJG 1, who were flying a Messerscnmidt Bf 110 from St Trond (Sint-Truiden) airfield in Belgium. Initially buried in Scheven graveyard, they were re-interred in a collective grave at Rheinberg on 24th June 1947 |
photo: Commonwealth War Graves Commission
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