Ratcliff, Alfred Frank Chilvers (Flight Sergeant)

Prisoner of War KIA 1942-July-24

Flight Sergeant Alfred Frank Chilvers Ratcliff RCAF

Birth Date: 1916

Born:

Parents: Son of Ernest David and Ethel Gertrude Ratcliff, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Spouse:

Home: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Enlistment:

Enlistment Date: unkown date

Service

RCAF

Unit

9 (B) Sqn- Squadron (RAF)
Per Noctem Volamus Through out the night we fly

Base

RAF Honington

Rank

Flight Sergeant

Position

Air Gunner (Rear)

Service Numbers

R/78363

Home
Google MapToronto, Ontario, Canada
Target
Google MapDuisburg Germany
Temporary Burial
Google MapGeldern Communal Cemetery, Germany

Remains were later exhumed from this location and reburied

Final Burial
Google MapReichswald Forest War Cemetery
31 E 1

Flight Sergeant Alfred Frank Chilvers Ratcliff (RCAF) was severley wounded when his aircraft was shot down. He survived to be taken as a Prisoner of War but was not sent to a camp. Sadly, he died of his wounds in a German hospital 1942-08-06

Footprints on the Sands of Time, RAF Bomber Command Prisoners of War in Germany 1939-45 by Oliver Clutton-Brock, page 387

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Grave Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Commonwealth War Grave Commission International Bomber Command Centre

Find-A-Grave Finadagrave.com

Canada Primary Source Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Crew or Other Personnel

Wellington Z1577

Flying Officer Henry Ernest Brown RAFVR

Flying Officer Brown, Henry Ernest (RAFVR)
Pilot
Killed in Action
1942-July-24
Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Germany

Pilot Officer Norman Jefferies RAFVR

Pilot Officer Jefferies, Norman (RAFVR)
Navigator
Prisoner of War
1942-July-24
cemetery unknown

Flight Sergeant Alfred Frank Chilvers Ratcliff RCAF

Flight Sergeant Ratcliff, Alfred Frank Chilvers (RCAF)
Air Gunner (Rear)
Prisoner of War KIA
1942-July-24
Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Germany

Flight Lieutenant George Burton Smith RCAF

Flight Lieutenant Smith, George Burton (RCAF)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Prisoner of War
1942-July-24
cemetery unknown

Warrant Officer 2 Jack Arthur Westwood RCAF

Warrant Officer 2 Westwood, Jack Arthur (RCAF)
Observer/Air Gunner (Nose)
Prisoner of War Early Release
1942-July-24
cemetery unknown

Mission

Wellington Mk. III Z1577

Bombing Duisburg Germany 1942-July-24 to 1942-July-24

9 (B) Sqn (RAF) RAF Honington

9 Squadron (Per Noctem Volemus), RAF Honington. Wellington III aircraft Z 1577 WS-T was shot down by heavy flak during an operation against targets in Duisburg, Germany and crashed near Wetten, Kevelaer, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany

Wireless Operator/Air Gunner, Flight Sergeant Alfred Frank Chilvers Ratcliff (RCAF) and Pilot, Flying Officer Henry Ernest Brown (RAFVR) were killed in action

Pilot Officer George Burton Smith (RCAF), Sergeant Jack Arthur Westwood (RCAF), Sergeant Alfred Frank Chilvers Ratcliff (RCAF) and Pilot Officer Norman Jefferies (RAFVR) all survived to become Prisoners of War. However, the severely wounded Sergeant Ratcliff would die from his wounds while a prisoner

Unvetted Source Royal Air Force Serial and Image Database

Unvetted Source Aviation Safety Network