Name/Title
97/Kirkwood Crew: Kirkwood, death certificateEntry/Object ID
2022.1.512Description
Civilian death certificate for James Kirkwood after he was killed on 17 December 1943. (2 images)Photograph Details
Type of Photograph
DigitalContext
The Kirkwood crew all died on 17 December 1943 due to fog. The aircraft crashed near RAF Gransden Lodge, in isolated farmland, and caught fire.
This is a very unusual item in the Archive.
The description of the location of death is incorrect. It gives RAF Station Graveley, where a number of other 97 Squadron aircrew were killed that night.
The originating certificate had been sent to the civilian authorities by Group Captain J L Airey, DFC, who had assumed command of RAF Station Bourn on 24 November 1943. RAF Station Bourn was where 97 Squadron and the Kirkwood crew were based.
The incorrect information must thus have come from Airey. The mistake is perhaps understandable as there were 28 death certificates to be filled out for 97 Squadron aircrew who had died in the fog of 16/17 December 1943, besides many other items of paperwork relating to the multiple fog-caused accidents.Collection
97 Squadron, The Bombing War: 16/17 December 1943, YY: RPA DIGITAL ITEMSCategory
QRD: Official documentation re losses & accidents