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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Derbyshire => Topic started by: dragonq on Saturday 06 September 08 07:37 BST (UK)
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I am researching the loss of Stirling Bomber, LK383 of 149 Squadron, Methwold, which was lost without trace on a mission to Brest in France on the night of 6/7 August 1944. My uncle, John Adolphe Prior was the navigator. The reason I am writing to this thread is that I am trying to trace the other crew members. The pilot of the plane was a man called Douglas Alan Moore Adams, aged 30, described as being the husband of Maud Elizabeth Adams of Derby. His service number is 173518 and he is commemorated with the rest of the crew on the Runnymede Memorial.
Can anyone at the UK end give me more information about Doug or his family, and especially, suggest if there might be any living relatives? A website is being set up about this plane, initially in French, but I am considering an English one. This was the last Stirling bomber to be lost on a bombing operation during World War II, as the plane was in the process of being phased out.
I've attached a photo. My uncle is the tall man at the far left. I am not sure if Doug Adams is one of the others, but suspect he may be.
You can see the website here. If you can read French, it does provide quite a lot of additional information:
http://www.absa39-45.asso.fr/Pertes%20Bretagne/Finistere/7%20aout%201944/7_aout_44.htm
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Hi,
I think these are the details of the Birth & Marriage of Douglas A M Adams:-
Births Sep Quarter 1913 Brentford 3a 278
ADAMS Douglas A M name of mother ADAMS
you can see this for yourself on http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/
Marriage December Q 1941 Surrey N.W. 2a 1059
ADAMS Douglas A M = White
WHITE Maude Elizabeth = Adams
This information is from Ancestry.co.uk.
Hope this is of some assistance.
Spendlove
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Hello Spendlove,
Thanks very much for taking the trouble to look these up. I have to admit I couldn't find the records myself when I looked (was obviously typing in the wrong thing), but it does sound like the right man, given the initials match. Also, a birthday in the last quarter of the year would match an age of 30 at the time of the accident--Doug Adams would have died just short of his 31st birthday.
I am particularly interested in Doug Adams, because we have my uncle's log book, and it shows that they met while training. My uncle was the plane's navigator and Doug was its pilot. Pilots, navigators and bomb aimers all trained together. As you read through the log book you see that Doug Adams's name pops up more and more regularly throughout the training period. It seems to me that they must have hit it off somehow. During the war, the RAF let men form their own crews. I would say that Doug and my Uncle John probably formed the nucleus of a crew during their training and then hooked up with the others when they "crewed up" in the last stages of training.
What I don't understand is what the connection with Derby is when all his other connections were in the south. I am wondering if perhaps his wife came from Derby originally, in which case surviving family would quite likely be in Derby. It would also be useful to know if they had a child--quite possible, I would think, as they were married nearly two years.
But anyway, some clues are emerging, so thank you very much again for your efforts on my behalf. This is a difficult name to research, because of the author by the same name. I might now try and advertise for him on the Middlesex board, given the Brentford connection.
By the way, since you saw the record and I did not: is there no record of the father? Was his mother merely the person who made the registration, or does this imply he may have been illegitimate?
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Hi Dragonq,
It looks as if your man was illegitimate otherwise the child would have a different name to that of the mother. Having said that I once thought the same about one of mine and then discovered the parents were cousins with the same surname! The only way to be absolutely sure is to send for the Birth Certificate.
Jill
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Hi Dragong,
The information I gave is from Marriage & Birth Indexes, to discover full details
it would be necessary to purchase the certificates using the references stated.
The birth index gives only child's name and Mother's Maiden name.
It is possible that Douglas A M Adams was illegitimate, however it is also possible
that his Father Mr ? Adams married a Miss Adams.
Re the Derby connection, haveyou tried a letter to the Editor of the Derby Evening Telegraph? e-mail contact
on http://www.youandyesterday.co.uk/articles/Derby_Telegraph
Regards
Spendlove
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Thanks for the tip about the newspaper, which I would not have known about otherwise. I will certainly follow it up.
It would be interesting to know the story of Doug Adams's parentage. My immediate guess, given the middle names, is that his mother was Miss Adams and his father was a man called Alan Moore, or possibly even Douglas Alan Moore. Or of course, it could just be a coincidence of names--I know of a couple, family friends, where a Miss Johnson married a Mr Johnson, completely urelated to her.
You're right about the certificate, but I'm going to see what more I can find out before I start buying these, as with six men to track down I can see this starting to get expensive. I've just spent about 40 pounds ordering my uncle's service record, and am still gasping from the cost of the draft.
Latest information is that an eyewitness saw the plane crash in flames into the sea off Brest.
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I realise I have been a bit quiet about this lately, but hope that some of you are still interested, because I do have some more information.
First of all, the men in the photo have all been identified. Unfortunately, Douglas Alan Moore Adams was one of the two crew members not included for some reason, so I do not have a picture of him. However, I have spoken to the widow of one of the other crew members and she has told me that he was a lovely man, and that her late husband had a great regard for him. Evidently he was usually known as Alan, and our earlier surmises about his illegitimate birth were correct: Alan Adams grew up in a Barnado's home.
I have also been told by my informant that, like her, Alan Adam's wife was pregnant at the time of his death, and that she gave birth to a posthumous daughter in November of 1944. That now makes two of our crewmen who never saw their little girls.
I'm still hoping we may find some more information, so please--any suggestions are welcome.
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Hi,
To discover the birth of this child, it is necessary to look for both male and female births, as memory plays tricks. It is necessary to search the birth registrations from ~December Quarter 1944 to
May Quarter 1945. You need to look for an Adams birth with the Mother's maiden name of White.
I have done this, and will send results via personal message, as this person may be still alive and
not wish to be identified on a public site.
Perhaps if other readers have time they will also take a look as it is so easy to miss an entry.
Regards
Spendlove.
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Hi, I am the daughter of Douglas Alan Moore Adams my father had no connection with Derby however my mother who came from the South of England remarried a Derby man and settled in Derby. I am also trying to research more information on my fathers life in the RAF and the loss of his plane.
Any information that you have would be much appreciated.
I am researching the loss of Stirling Bomber, LK383 of 149 Squadron, Methwold, which was lost without trace on a mission to Brest in France on the night of 6/7 August 1944. My uncle, John Adolphe Prior was the navigator. The reason I am writing to this thread is that I am trying to trace the other crew members. The pilot of the plane was a man called Douglas Alan Moore Adams, aged 30, described as being the husband of Maud Elizabeth Adams of Derby. His service number is 173518 and he is commemorated with the rest of the crew on the Runnymede Memorial.
Can anyone at the UK end give me more information about Doug or his family, and especially, suggest if there might be any living relatives? A website is being set up about this plane, initially in French, but I am considering an English one. This was the last Stirling bomber to be lost on a bombing operation during World War II, as the plane was in the process of being phased out.
I've attached a photo. My uncle is the tall man at the far left. I am not sure if Doug Adams is one of the others, but suspect he may be.
You can see the website here. If you can read French, it does provide quite a lot of additional information:
http://www.absa39-45.asso.fr/Pertes%20Bretagne/Finistere/7%20aout%201944/7_aout_44.htm
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Hi Moocher, Good to hear from you. I have just sent a private message to you, and look forward to helping with your enquiry.
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Hi Folks,
Anyone with an Interest in 149 Sqn, its crews and Aircraft from the start of WW2,is welcome to contact me, either through http://www.stirlingpilot.org.uk or http://www.mildenhallregister.stirlingpilot.org.uk I have fairly extensive records. "Stirlingpilot" is a tribute site to my Uncle and the Mildenhall register is an association of people who had connections to 149 in any shape or form. It also embraces 15 Sqn, 90 Sqn and 622 Sqn. Membership is free and a few members are crew who flew around that time, from Methwold.
A. Fraser. 149Sqn Historian.
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I have recently started to research my Mothers half brother, who name was Douglas Alan Moore Adams. They lived at Chobham, Surrey, before and during WW2. I happened upon your request for information about him and his RAF career and family. It looks as if we have a picture of your uncle with his squadron with Douglas. Should you wish to contact me - please do so through this forum. Western Sandpiper
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Hello Moocher - My mother was your fathers half sister - I would love to get in touch. I have some photos of your father in his home village and in uniform. regards western sandpiper
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I know this post is old. But. I was hoping someone will see it. We have a Douglas Adams listed on the War Memorial in my home town of Mildenhall, Suffolk. Was wondering if this was the same person?????