CAMACHO, F/L Vivian Evelyn (J4899) – Distinguished Flying Cross – No.59 Squadron -

Award effective 1 September 1944 as per London Gazette dated 15 September 1944 and AFRO 2373/44 dated 3 November 1944.
Born 1919 in British West Indies (Antigua); served in Officer Training Corps, England, 1932-1936.  Home in Radcliffe, Manitoba; enlisted in Montreal 24 August 1940.  Trained at No.1 ITS (graduated 3 November 1940), No.3 EFTS (graduated 23 December 1940) and No.5 SFTS (graduated 17 March 1941).
Invested with award by King George 29 June 1945. This officer completed a tour of operational duty on Hudson aircraft.  He has since taken part in many anti-submarine patrols.  Early this year he was captain of an aircraft which delivered a telling attack on an enemy U-boat.  This attack was pressed home in the face of extremely heavy anti-aircraft fire and in very bad weather.  Since the above action Flight Lieutenant Camacho has continued to display great keenness and a fine fighting spirit.

NOTE: Public Records Office Air 2/9276 has original recommendation dated 17 July 1944 when he had flown 23 Very Long Range sorties (326 operational hours); he was reported as having flown 500 hours on his first tour ! This officer joined No.59 Squadron on the 12th November 1943, and has since completed 23 sorties. This is his second operational tour wit Coastal Command, having already competed a tour on Hudson aircraft prior to joining this unit. On the 27th May 1944, Flight Lieutenant Camacho was captain of aircraft “S” (No.59 Squadron) when a U-boat was sighted in an estimated position of 62∞ 37′ North, 00∞ 57′ East.  The weather conditions at the time were extremely bad and the captain was forced to descend below 300 feet before breaking cloud and making his sighting, having previously obtained a radar contact. The captain, however, pressed home a very determined attack at low altitude in the face of extremely heavy flak. During the run in, the starboard engine was damaged by a cannon shell to such an extent that the aircraft returned to base on the remaining three engines.  The attack was, however, well executed, and an analysis given by higher authority was “probably sunk”. Since the above action, Flight Lieutenant Camacho has continued to display great keenness and aggressiveness in carrying out his duties concerning U-boat warfare, and has been a fine example to junior and less experienced members of the squadron.
[Source: Air Force Association of Canada; courtesy Jerome Lee]

Aircrew  Flt Lt  Warren Maurice,  LIGHTBOURN
Service No: 119573  Service: RAFVR
Trade/Branch:   Pilot Squadron(s): 610 Sqn
Station/Unit/Ship: B.78 Eindhoven
Group: 127 Wing     Command:   2TAF
Nationality: Bahamas Disposal:   KIA   Age  25  yrs   Date Died:    14 Feb 1945
Aircraft 1: Spitfire XIV DW-?
was at Bolt Head in July 1943. He was killed on 14th February 1945 aged 25. Destroyed ½ Flying Bomb. Flew as No 2 to Freddie Crewe. Lightbourn and Freddie Crewe were Squadron representatives at wedding of Sousse Venesoen in Anglesey. Flew from Bolt Head in Tiger Moth on 1st August returning to Bolt Head on 2nd. Winds so strong that trains were overtaking the Tiger on return journey. On 14 Feb 1945, a 610 Sqn pilot downed a Me 262.

Buried At: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Grave/Memorial : 1.A.15
Next of Kin: Son of Maurice S. and Ida L. Lightbourn, of Nassau, Bahamas.

[Source(s): cwgc; 610squadron.com, rafcommands - courtesy Jerome Lee]

382324 – J. Maura – Bahamas – attested 25.11.40 – F/L Pilot
109493 – commissioned 22.10.42 – S(erious?) inj(ured?) 27.2.42

[Source: NA AIR 2/6876 - Nominal Roll of Coloured Candidates, October 1944]

Flight Lieutenant Stanley Parker Edghill from Barbados volunteered for the war effort and was accepted into RAF pilot training in 1940 at the age of 29 – almost unheard of!
He was posted to 15 Squadron, Bomber Command, operationally flew Stirlings and Lancasters until 1944 when a catastrophic crash in a Stirling at MTOW, departing for a raid on Cologne, ended his operational career.
Afterwards he did testing on Spitfires, Mosquitoes and also flew as a Dakota glider-tow pilot. Demobilized in 1946, returned to Barbados, died in 1988, aged 77.

[Source: Iain Edghill]

George Winthrop Sargent, MOSELEY – F/L
Service No: 114927  Service: RAF Pilot, 305 (Polish) Sq
Nationality: Bahamas
Disposal:  KIA – Age 25 yrs – Date Died: 26 Nov 1944

Buried At: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
Grave/Memorial : Joint grave 12. D. 13-14.
Next of Kin: Son of Daniel Sargent Darling Moseley and Myrtle Howard Moseley, of Nassau, Bahamas.

[Source: CWGC]

Name: WILLIAMS, RICHARD ULICK
Initials: R U
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Flight Lieutenant (Pilot)
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text: 183 Sqdn.
Age: 22
Date of Death: 26/09/1944
Service No: 102158
Additional information: Son of Richard Farewell Williams and Norah Eileen Williams, of Halfway Tree, Jamaica.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: 5. G. 4.
Cemetery: CALAIS CANADIAN WAR CEMETERY, LEUBRINGHEN

Typhoon MN183 hit by Flak – pilot baled out over sea near Dunkirk.
[Source: www.WW2chat.com]

Name: LIGHTBODY, HUGH ARTHUR
Initials: H A
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Flight Lieutenant (Pilot)
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text: 515 Sqdn.
Age: 28
Date of Death: 15/07/1944
Service No: 116893
Additional information: Son of Godfrey Kennett Lightbody and Beatrice Kate Lightbody, of Malvern. Jamaica.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: X. A. 12.
Cemetery: HOTTON WAR CEMETERY

Mosquito FB.VI – PZ293 – escort bombers airfield Florennes, Belgium. Pilot blinded by search lights, crashed 4 km SSW of Chaumont, Namur, 23 km WSW of Dinant, Belgium. Also killed F/Sgt E.J.A. Broomfield – 1451239 (both first buried at Florennes).

[Source: www.WW2chat.com]

1800848 – A.G. Henriquez – Jamaica – attested 2.1.42 – Ach/Pilot – F/O
171932 – commissioned 21.1.44 – Missing

[Source: NA AIR 2/6876 - Nominal Roll of Coloured Candidates, October 1944]

Name: HENRIQUEZ, ALFRED GEORGE
Initials: A G
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Flight Lieutenant (Pilot.)
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text: 630 Sqdn.
Age: 28
Date of Death: 17/08/1944
Service No: 171932
Additional information: Son of Alfred St. Elmo Henriquez and Linda May Henriquez; husband of Essie Adeline Henriquez (nee Silvera), of Buff Bay, Jamaica.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Coll. grave 6. B. 2-8.
Cemetery: POZNAN OLD GARRISON CEMETERY

Lancaster LL972 – crashed near Risznow SW of Medewitz, Kreis [= District] Gammin, Pommern, Germany. Crew first buried Risznow. (Chorley’s Bomber Command Losses Vol. 5, page 387)

[Source: www.WW2chat.com]

Name: SKINNER, JOHN WALROD SEYMOUR
Initials: J W S
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Flight Lieutenant (Pilot)
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text: 640 Sqdn.
Age: 31
Date of Death: 03/06/1944
Service No: 108951
Additional information: Son of Herbert Seymour Skinner and Gladys Cottle Skinner, of St. Michael, Barbados.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Row 1. Coll. grave 27-29.
Cemetery: DREUX COMMUNAL CEMETERY

Halifax MZ677 – crashed near Boutigny-sur-Opton, Eure-et-Loir, 18 km E of Dreux, France.

[Source: www.WW2chat.com]

Flight Lieutenant -  DFC

Son of Mr & Mrs George Barnard of Choiseul, St Lucia. Report states: “Is back on active service after reported missing last September” (1942). Brought down over Lille, eluded capture and escaped through France – Spain – Gibraltar

[Source: The Trinidad Guardian 17 Mar 1943, courtesy Jerome Lee, CMHA]