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Thanks so much - sorry I am struggling here.  I can't seem to find any of this!  Can you let me know the district - is it registered as Maria Patricia Bradley nee Tomlinson as the mother?


FreeBMD shows there's also a possible sibling* whose birth was registered in Jun qtr 1945 - same surname, same mother's maiden name and same district.  (*Obviously Victor could not be the natural father having died in August 1943).

Victor's CWGC record shows his wife's name, and there is a Jun qtr 1943 marriage which may be theirs - if so her maiden name matches the mother's maiden name on the above two birth registrations.

Ok, thanks

Looking for the child of Victor Thomas Bradley Rank:    Sergeant
Service Number:    1259352
Royal Air Force
Battalion:    76 Sqdn
KIA 31.8.43

Hi - you posted asking about VT Bradley - he was my uncle and I have the following info. for you.  I wondered why you were interested in him?  Best wishes:

The plane was nicknamed:'Saint the Second'/Bomber Command
Squadron:No. 76 Squadron RAF
He is buried at ROERMOND (KAPEL IN 'T ZAND) ROMAN CATHOLIC CEMETERY in the Netherlands.

On the night of the 30th/31st of August 1943 the RAF dispatched a force of 660 aircraft for an operation to Monchengladbach and the nearby town of Rheydt.
The force was made up of 297 Lancasters, 185 Halifaxes, 107 Stirlings, 57 Wellingtons and 14 Mosquitos. The plan was for the Pathfinders to mark Monchengladbach with target indicators first, and two minutes later, to mark Rheydt. Visibility was good and target marking was described as "model". The result was that around half of the buildings in both towns were damaged or destroyed with the main railway station in Rheydt being particularly hard hit.

Charles Akroyd-Stuart and his crew took off from RAF Holme-on Spalding Moor in Halifax DK207 MP-S at 12.06am on the morning of the 31st of August for the operation; the target for his aircraft was Monchengladbach.

The aircraft was shot down by a German night fighter flown by Oberleutnant Martin Drewes of II/NJG1 and crashed at 3.58am near Grathem (Limburg). Two of the crew survived to become prisoners.

The crew were:-

Squadron Leader Charles Anthony Letteblere Akroyd-Stuart (Pilot)
Sergeant Douglas Gordon Jackson Powell (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Kenneth Holme (Navigator)

Sergeant Victor Thomas Bradley (Air Gunner)

[/b]Sergeant Stuart Cameron MacLennan RCAF (Air Gunner)

Sergeant WG Williams prisoner of war (Stalag VI B Mulhberg)
Sergeant DJ Doe prisoner of war (Stalag VI B Mulhberg)

Theirs was one of 25 aircraft which were lost on the operation.