Flying Officer Peter Huxly Looker

[Walter 63]

Hello all,

Having been a keen student of the WW2 RAF since my teens, I got myself into some REAL research about 5 years ago now when I learned that a Bristol Blenheim bomber (serial T2254 of 13 Sqdn) had actually crashed near my hometown of Aartselaar (South of Antwerp) on 26.06.1942.  A visit to the crew's graves left a deep impression on me and made me determined to find out as much as I possibly could about these three young men and their aircraft.  They were Flying Officer Peter H. Looker RAF, pilot, Flight Sergeant William "Bill" G. O'Neill RNZAF, observer and Sgt Gordon Cox RAFVR, wireless operator/air gunner.

My research has had some amazing results so far and I am now corresponding with nieces of both Flt/Sgt O'Neill and Sgt Cox!

I would very much like to find any relatives of F/O Peter Looker as well of course but have had no success so far.  I checked with various "official instances" but with no results.   So when I came accross Rootschat whilst browsing the web a few days ago I noticed there's a lot of family history knowledge about and thought of giving it a try!

I did manage to collate a bit of information on F/O Looker from the various letters exchanged between the Looker, O’Neill and Cox families after their sons’ deaths and found some details on the internet as well :

- Peter Huxly Looker, born 1920, birth registered in the district of Kingston in  the first quarter of that year.
- father:  Charles Cecil Looker, born 1887, birth registered in the district of Thanet in the third quarter of that year.  Died November 1947, death registered in the district of Pancras.
- mother:  Elsie Henson, born ?, married Charles Cecil Looker in March 1913, marriage registered in the district of Pancras.   Date of death unknown but I understand she did not survive her husband for many years.

When Peter was killed in action his parents resided at the Ardmay Hotel in Surbiton – apparently they were staying there to be close to their beloved and only child, 13 Sqdn was stationed at Odiham at that time.   After her husband’s death, Mrs Looker took a two room flat at “Kambara”, 10 Avenue Elmers in Surbiton (I have a copy of a letter she wrote from that address to Flt/Sgt O’Neill’s mother dated 14.02.1948).   From that same letter I understand she left the hotel because of the cost and also that she had a widowed sister with whom she spent a lot of time, no name given though.
                     
I wrote a letter to the present occupant of that address and actually got a reply!   The gentleman in question kindly wrote to me that the present 10 Avenue Elmers is not the residence that Mrs Looker resided at, that house having long since being demolished, no further info available though.
 
That is about all I have been able to find until now and so I was hoping that any Rootschatter out there might be able to help me a bit further in one way or other in order to find possibly still living relatives of Peter Looker.    Mr and Mrs Looker would have received Peter’s Log Book from the Air Ministry, in memory of their son, and I am sure they would never have parted with this so there is a slight chance that this has been passed on into the family.

The attached photo shows the three airmen together, left to right Bill O'Neill, Peter Looker, Gordon Cox.  Bill was 21, Peter & Gordon where 22 when they died...   

Any help given will be most appreciated.  Anyone wanting the results of my research so far in detail, feel free to contact me.

Thanks in advance & best regards from Aartselaar,

Walter

[Dave Francis]

Hi Walter - and a very warm welcome to Rootschat!

If Peter was an only child, then I guess we are looking for cousins.

His father, Charles, had an older sister called Ellis. She married a William Lloyd in 1918.

1891 Census of Ramsgate (St Lawrence) Kent
RG 12/732 folio 143 page 5

2 Twin Villas
William C Looker, head, 51, brick manfacturer, Kingston Surrey
Mary M., wife, 34, Kensington London
Ellis M., daur, 7, scholar, New Malden Surrey
Charles C., son, 3, Ramsgate Kent

1901 Census of Guildford (Stoke Within) Surrey
RG 13/603 folio page 10

68 Woodbridge Road
William C Looker, head, 61, living on own means, Norbiton Surrey
Mary, wife, 44, Kensington London
Ellis, daur, 17, New Malden Surrey
Charles C., son, 13, Ramsgate Kent

Birth Registration:
Ellis Looker
June qtr 1883 Kingston vol 2a p 318

Marriage Registration:
William E Lloyd & Ellis M Looker
March qtr 1918 Kingston vol 2a p 931

So...bearing in mind that Ellis was in her mid-thirties when she married, I wonder if they had any children?

[Flakdodger]

Hello Walter and welcome to Rootschat.
Greetings to Aartselaar. My last Belgian ancestor left nearby Kontich to go off to the Californian gold rush.
Fancy leaving the land of wonderful beer and chocolate. Madness!!
I have followed you through and see you have made the right specialist connections with The Blenheim Society and the RAF Commands forum.
Have done a Times Archive search which gives a death entry for  Peter's father which gives the detail of death on 18 Nov 1947 at Surbiton. Peter and his loss was mentioned and donations to The RAF Benevolent Fund are suggested.
Charles Looker was director and manager of Crookes Laboratories Ltd.
An 'In Memoriam to Charles (and mentioning Peter) appeared several times, the last being in 1955.
An 'In Memoriam to Peter last appeared in 1959.
A search for Elsie brought no results.
Nice back up family info from Dave Francis.

[Walter 63]

Hi Dave & Flakdodger!

Many thanks for the warm welcome and for the most helpful info given.

Dave, can I just ask, the placename given in the census info, behind the person's age, would that be the person's place of birth?  For William Looker it changes from Kingston Surrey to Norbiton Surrey though, whereas for Mary, Ellis & Charles the places remain unchanged.

Flakdodger (do I rightly suspect an aviation interest?) - thanks for the tip re the Times Archive, new to me and I'll be registering right away!    As an In Memoriam for Peter last appeared in 1959, I suppose his mother may have been still alive then.

Cheers,
Walter

[Flakdodger]

Hello Walter,
I am a Dave also (just to confuse you!). Oh yes...a lifetime of aeroplanes and aviation literature.
For us the UK, we have access to The Times Archive by membership of our local public library. If you have problems signing up then send me a PM and I'll do any look ups for you.
The link that shows in my browser is http://infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/0/1/1/purl=rc6_TTDA?sw_aep=esusslib
I agree that 1959 is a likely guide to Elsie still being alive.
Just in case (the other) Dave does not pick up the response, yes, the place name after the census age is the place of birth.

[Flakdodger]

Walter,
looking again at your posts, I now see your confusion about Kingston and Norbiton.
Norbiton is an area of Kingston, so on the 1901 Census, William was being a little more specific.
In addition, Kingston would be the Registration for any Norbiton births.
May I please take you on another English geography brief?

When Peter was killed in action his parents resided at the Ardmay Hotel in Surbiton – apparently they were staying there to be close to their beloved and only child, 13 Sqdn was stationed at Odiham at that time.

There is no particular geographical link between Surbiton and Odiham.
Hope this helps.

[Walter 63]

Hi again Flakdodger!

Thanks for your offer of help re the Times Archive but I did manage to register alright.   A quick search actually found me an in memoriam to Charles Looker & Peter in 1960!   So Elsie Looker may have lived much longer than I thought.

You're quite right about Surbiton being nowhere near Odiham of course, can't remember where I picked up the "to be near their son" part.   Could Peter's parents actually have lived at the Ardmay Hotel on a permanent basis?   In the last letter from Elsie Looker to the O'Neill family she mentions her husband's passing away and that she took a small flat because of the hotel becoming too expensive.  If they'd had a house somewhere she obviously could have moved there... I suppose.   Perhaps some people did live in hotels on a permanent basis in those days.

Thanks again Dave,
Cheers,
Walter

[jorose]

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/
If you search for 10 Avenue Elmers here you can find some persons connected with that address.  There was a Frank Donald Wagner there around 1941, and a couple of entries in the 1960s - Priscilla Bridget Jane Johnson (spinster, renouncing surname of Lucas) - and Miss Frances Amelia Cooke (died in 1969).

She certainly didn't move far! The Ardmay Hotel in Surbiton was at 6 Avenue Elmers.

[Walter 63]

Many thanks for that link Jorose, and for situating the Ardmay Hotel!

Cheers,
Walter