In Memory Of

RUNDLE, CECIL RICHARD

Service Details
Age:
 30
Date of Birth:
 1912-03-02
Service No:
 778696
Rank:
 Sergeant
Unit:
 76 Sqdn.
Regiment:
 Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Date of Death:
 1942-09-08
Cause of Death:
 Died in Aircraft Accident, Halifax W1228 near Holtby, Yorkshire, aircraft took off from Middleton St.George at 1958 hrs to undertake an operational flight to bomb Frankfurt. Not long after taking off the aircraft caught fire roughly in the York area, given the crew would have known their proximity to York abandoning the aircraft may have been ruled out by the captain. The aircraft exploded at around 500 feet in height would would suggest that the pilot had partly descended to try and land, perhaps opting to try and land the aircraft at Pocklington which was the closest airfield. Why any of the crew did not bale out previously though is not known, the pilot would not have needed his full crew to effect the landing. It is possible that by lowering the nose of the aircraft any burning fuel inside the aircraft further back ran forward damaging their parachutes and trapping them (but purely speculation). It could be that the fire took hold so fast they did not have time. The explosion resulted in wreckage being scattered over a wide area and not surprisingly all on board the aircraft were sadly killed.
Commemoration
Grave Reference:
 Row D. Grave 2.
Cemetery:
 BARMBY-ON-THE-MOOR (ST. CATHERINE) CHURCHYARD
Localitly:
 Yorkshire
Country:
 United Kingdom
Additional Information
Son of Frank Walliss and Maria Petronella Rundle, of Southern Rhodesia.