OLD AZURIANS
ASSOCIATION
Ronald Frederick Tapp: Flyingt Officer RAFVR, aged 26, of 18 Squadron RAF Oulton, was killed on 13 April 1941 when the Blenheim L9247 aircraft in which he was the observer crashed into the sea off the Dutch coast while on anti-shipping duties. Buried at Sage War Cemetery, Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany. His parents Frank and Rose lived at 64 Normandy Road, and his wife (Audrey Doris Cock) lived in Leeward Road, Worthing. He was an accomplished sportsman both at school and in the Old Azurians Rugby and Cricket Clubs, and was a keen member of the school Dramatic Society. After leaving school he was with a local firm of solicitors for eight years. He joined the RAF as a Leading Aircraftman at the beginning of the war and was promoted to Pilot Officer about two years later.
Born 23/9/1914; school years 1926-31
Francis Richard Harry Tate: Flying Officer RAFVR, crew member on Lancaster W4254 from 57 Squadron RAF Scampton, was killed on a bombing raid to Stettin on the night of 20/21 April 1943. Commemorated at Runnymede Memorial (no known grave). Parents Harry and Harriett lived at 1 Highfield Road Worthing. He joined the RAF in January 1940. Before the war he worked in his father’s monumental mason’s business and played for the Old Azurians RFC.
Born 12/7/1916; school years 1929-32
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John Edwin Tibbetts: Flying Officer pilot RAFVR 34 Squadron, died 22 February 1945, aged 24, taking part in Hurricane ground attack operations against Japanese forces in Burma (Myanmar). He was buried in Taukkyan War Cemetery, Myanmar. Having joined the RAF in 1939 he trained as a wireless operator/air gunner. In 1942 he was transferred to South Africa where he successfully completed training as a pilot and received his commission. Then, via Egypt and Calcutta, he was posted to Burma where he served in a hurricane squadron for two very hectic years. He was present at Palel when it was besieged and shelled by the Japanese and he took part in the battles of Kohima, Kennedy Peak and Fore White. Jn civilian life after leaving school Tibbetts worked for the Cresta Motor Co. in Broadwater Road. He was a keen motorcycle racer. Parents Henry Alfred and Gertrude Rose lived in Funtington.
Born 2/12/1920; school years 1930-32
Patrick William Tucker-Feltham: Flight Sergeant RAFVR killed, aged 23, on the night of 28/29 August 1942 on a bombing raid to Nuremberg, when Halifax W7700 of 35 (newly-formed pathfinder) Squadron from RAF Graveley crashed at Montcornet, France. Buried Montcornet Military Cemetery, Aisne, France. Parents Charles William and May Isabel lived at 127 Dominion Road, Worthing.
Born 15/10/1918; school years 1930-35.
Edward Waterman: lived in Littlehampton and attended the school from 1924 to 1926 when he left for Australia. He became a Flight Sergeant in No. 1 Operational Training Unit RAAF, East Sale. He was killed, aged 28, in an accident off King Island, Tasmania, on 28 April 1943. Commemorated on Sydney Memorial.
Born 21/5/1910; school years 1924-26
Bernard Frederick Widdecombe: Sergeant RAFVR, wireless operator/air gunner was killed on only his second operation, aged 18, on 14 October 1941 when Wellington Z8844 of 115 Squadron, RAF Marham, on a bombing raid to Munich, was hit by flak and crashed 5 Km from Ludwigshafen, one of its bombs exploding. He is buried in Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany, along with the rest of the crew. Parents Stanley C and Elizabeth A lived at 9 Haynes Road Worthing.
Born 11/12/1922; school years 1936-39.
Dennis Peter Will: Flight Lt. Pilot RAFVR killed 6 August 1944, aged 23, when his Mustang FX984 flying from an advanced base of 65 Squadron RAF exploded on bombing run. Buried in Le Thuit Churchyard, Eure, France. Parents George Frederick and Caroline Margaret; wife Margaret Isabel lived in Church Street, Storrington.
Born 20/9/1920; school years 1933-36.
John Walter William Williams: Lt. RN (Air), son of Mrs Doris V Jackson, and step-son of Captain Alfred F Jackson of Wokingham and West Worthing died in a flying accident over Ireland on 2 March 1946, aged 23. Buried in St. Canice churchyard, County Londonderry, N. Ireland. This young man had a very eventful career during WW2. (read on)
John Astil Wilson-Law: Sergeant RAF of 39 Squadron which operated Blenheim aircraft against Italian targets in East Africa, including an airfield at Dire Dawa, died on 20 August 1940, aged 29, believed to be the first OA to die in WW2. Buried in Dire Dawa African War Cemetery, Ethiopia. His father (a motor engineer) and mother lived at 92 First Avenue, Lancing.
Born 5/12/1920; school years 1932-36.
Cedric Warren Woolgar: Sergeant night fighter pilot RAFVR born in Worthing 10 January 1911, parents Charlie Warren and Edith Fanny. Obtained a BSc from King’s College, London 1933, Research Fellowship Birmingham University 1933-1935, worked for oil companies in South America up to 1939. Killed in an accident on 8 September 1941, aged 30, when Blenheim aircraft T2228 from 54 Operational Training Unit crashed near Huggate, Yorkshire in bad visibility. Buried in Kirkby Wharfe St John the Baptist Churchyard extension, Yorkshire. Wife Marianne Dorothea.
Born 10/1/1911; school years 1924-28.
Thomas Edward Wootton: Pilot Officer observer RAFVR, 15 Squadron RAF Wyton was killed, aged 27, on a bombing raid to Nurenberg on the night of 12/13 October 1941 when Stirling N6047 was shot down by a night fighter and crashed at Mariembourg . Buried at Citadelle Military Cemetery, Dinon, Belgium. The only child of Edward & Bertha Wootton of 54a South Farm Road, Worthing. A former Vikings House Captain, he regularly played for the Old Azurians RFC after leaving school to become articled to Bowles & Stevens, solicitors. By the early age of 23 he had passed his final Law Society examination with distinction, being awarded the John Mackrell Prize for knowledge of the practical side of law. He enlisted into the RAFVR in October 1939, took up duties the following May, and was promoted to Pilot Officer in Bomber Command a few months before his death.
Born 19/12/1914; school years 1926-33.
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Donald Barclay Young: Leading Aircraftman RAFVR attended aircrew training courses at #36 Service Flying Training School (SFTS), Penhold, Alberta, Canada that ran from 23 March 1943 to 6 August 1943. He was still on the second of these courses when he died on 13 June 1943, aged 18. The Oxford aircraft T1181, in which he was on a training flight, crashed on R. Lynn Farm near Rowley in the Drumheller district. Buried in Red Deer Cemetery, Alberta.
Mother Florence Ada lived at 35 Grove Road Worthing.
Born 1/10/24; School years 1937-41
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Joseph John Christopher Young: Telegraphist RN, aged 23, aboard the armed merchant cruiser HMS Comorin, missing, presumed killed, along with 19 others when the ship, sailing from the Clyde to Sierra Leone caught fire in heavy seas in the North Atlantic and sank on 6 April 1941. Commemorated on Portsmouth Naval Memorial. Parents Joseph John and Mabel lived in Shoreham. He was a successful cross-country runner with Worthing Harriers.
Born 28/4/1917; school years 1928-34.