Sargeant in the RAF

[ritchiewilk]

Hi,

I have recently found out that a nephew, Gideon Cairncross, of my g-grandfather was a sargeant in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.  He was killed in action in North Africa.  My father says he was missing in action which would tie in with his name being on the Alamein Memorial rather than a headstone in the cemetery.

What I would like to know, just to fill in gaps and built up a better picture is what did a sargeant do in the Air Force? and where would I find information about him when he was in the RAF?

Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks

Ritchie

[Flakdodger]

Hello Ritchie,
have you searched at  http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=1536110 where you will see that he was lost whilst serving with 37 Squadron on 07 July 1943.
At this time 37 were flying Wellington bombers from Kairouan/Temmar in Tunisia.
Other 37 Squadron members lost that day are:  Edwards  Eyton-Jones  Helm  Nelson  Ousey  Walklin  Webb and Wheeler
I will do a bit more digging to see if the aircraft and or mission can be traced.
Dave

[rafcommands]

Briefly discussed as operation to Palermo on RAF Commands in 2004

http://www.rafcommands.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=show_thread&om=5163&forum=DCForumID6&archive=yes

Regards
Ross

[Flakdodger]

Thanks Ross,
I'm turning finals and returning to base!
Dave

[ritchiewilk]

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply.

I now have info telling me his service number and the exact location at the Alamein Memorial.  Also that he flew in Wellingtons as a wireless operator and the names of the brave men who flew with him.

I would like to find out more about the crew and where they were based.

Thanks for your help.

Ritchie

[brockkerbyivanhoe]

He was in my great uncle's crew in Nov & Dec 1942 with 37 Sqn RAF

[GrahamSimons]

37 Sqn ORB is digitised, see https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2503026

[MollyC]

The link in #2 no longer appears to work.  At the second attempt it diverted to some current information.  Anyone know where it is?

[GrahamSimons]

Go to the search page on cwgc website; if you use Cairncross as a search term it retrieves 20 names, and so it's easy to find Gideon