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Flight Sergeant David Robert Newman
Runnymede
1600222
No.254 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
David
Newman was born around 1923 and was the son of David Robert and Dorothy May
Newman. The family lived in Radiator Road, Great Cornard.
David
served in Coastal Command with No. 254 Squadron whose motto was ‘Fljuga
vakta ok ljosta’ (Norse) – meaning ‘To fly, to
watch and to strike’. In 1945 the squadron was based at RAF North Coates on
the Lincolnshire coast equipped with Bristol Beaufighters as part of the
North Coates Strike Wing. The Beaufighter was used by Coastal Command
as both a long range escort fighter and as a torpedo bomber attacking enemy
shipping. From North Coates they covered as far north as the Norwegian coast
down to the Bay of Biscay.
David
was reported ‘missing from operations over the North Sea’ in the
Suffolk and Essex Free Press on 12th April 1945.
David
died aged 22 on Sunday 1st April 1945. He has no known
grave and is remembered on the Air Forces Memorial, Runnymede near Windsor.
A Cross
of Remembrance was laid near to his name in August 2007.
Photo - Shirley Smith
©Shirley Smith - Sudbury &
District Royal British Legion - November 2008 |