"The Fallen" - Remembered
The Bomber Crash at Holtby (part 2). The seven RAF aircrew members who all died in this incident on 8 Sep 1942 were, like many others, brave young men flying in aircraft built only for a deadly purpose in war, and were exposed to lethal risk on every flight. Their homes were not in this village, but it was here they fell. Two of the seven are described below – more next month.
The pilot of bomber Halifax W1228 was 1023368 Flight Sgt John Eric Nicholson, age 28. Born on 24 Jul 1914 in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Lancashire, he was the elder son of Percy H. Nicholson (who died in 1935) and Edith (née Blackwood) who died in 2005. John graduated from Manchester University with a BA degree, followed by the MEd degree, and then became a schoolteacher.
He joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve, and by Feb 1940 entered war service with the RAF at Padgate. His first operational flight with 76 Sqdn was on 10 Apr 1942 to Le Havre as second pilot. After a number of similar flights, he flew as captain in this same aircraft on the night of 26/27 July 1942 to Hamburg.
After the crash the bodies of the aircrew were recovered and taken to RAF Pocklington. John’s grave is in St Catherine’s Churchyard at Barmby Moor, in the special ‘war cemetery’ section. He had married Matilda Grace Newth in 1940 at Barnsley; she died at Pendleton, Salford, in 2005.
The second pilot of W1228 was 902444 Warrant Officer Alfred Norman Thompson, age 22. He was born in 1919, in Edmonton, Middlesex, and was a son of Alfred John Thompson and his wife Mary Elizabeth (née Reeves). Alfred also joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve.
His family in Hornsey chose to have the burial in Tottenham and Wood Green Cemetery, Middlesex, where his grave is in the Park section. One of his siblings was Renee Mary Thompson, who had married Harold Ayers in Edmonton in 1941, had two sons, and lived on till 2006.
Father Val Hollands (faithirV@googlemail.com / 01904 489 283)