172428 – Pilot Officer – 1 Group, 12 Sqn – Lancaster JB432 – KIA

Volunteer Trinidad ETS, trained at Piarco, posted 12 Sqn raf Wickenby, Lincoln, No 1 Group. Took off from Wickenby at 2218hrs on 3rd June 1944 to bomb Vierson junction but failed to return to base. Listed as missing. DOD from MOD listed as 3 Jun 44 but CWGC has 1 Jul 44

[Source: CMHA]

605476 – O.E.H. Pollard – Trinidad – attested 287.42 – Sgt. Pilot UK 5.1.43
172428 – P/O – commissioned 25.2.44 – missing (FB) 1.7.44

[Source: NA AIR 2/6876]

581243 – Flight Sergeant – Pilot – 70 Sqn – Blenheim – KIA in Greece, body never recovered

[Source: CMHA]

1397461 – Flight Sergeant – Pilot – 183 Sqn – Typhoon JP402 – KIA 28/1-1944 (at 21) – Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, UK

Educated QRC, volunteer Trinidad ETS, trained at Piarco, 5th Course. A/c was reported to have ditched into the sea 36 miles north of ile de Batz at approximately 1630hrs on 28 Jan 1944, whilst engaged on a fighter sweep. Damage to a/c was sustained over the target. A prolonged SAR failed to find any trace of a/c or body – Son of Henry Browne Philipps and Marie Irene Philipps, of Port of Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies.

[Source: CG, CWGC, CMHA]

Name: PHILIPPS, ROBIN GORDON
Initials: R G
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Flight Sergeant
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text: 183 Sqdn.
Age: 21
Date of Death: 28/01/1944
Service No: 1397461
Additional information: Son of Henry Browne Philipps and Marie Irene Philipps, of Port of Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 221.
Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

[Source: www.WW2chat.com]

05474 – Flight Sergeant – pilot – 542 Sqn – Spitfire EN424 – KIA 14/4-1944 (at 25) – Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, UK

Volunteer Trinidad ETS, last course. Trained at Piarco. Shot down by AA fire at 1425hrs on 14 Apr 1944 twenty miles north of Le Havre. A/C was engaged in air reconnaisance operation at the time. Body never recovered. Commemorated at Runnymead – Son of George Reynold King and Beatrice Ann King, of St. Michael, Barbados, British West Indies.

[Source: CMHA, CG, CWGC]

605474 – H.A. King – Trinidad – attested 28.7.42 – Sgt. Pilot UK 28.3.43
Missing (FB) 14.4.44

[Source: NA AIR 2/6876]

127462 – Pilot Officer – Pilot – 1 Group, 12 Sqn – Lancaster, ND 679 – KIA 28/5-1944 (at 23) – Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, UK

Volunteer Trinidad ETS, Trained at Piarco, Took off at 0015hrs on 27 May 1944 to bomb AACHEN. Aircraft and crew failed to RTB. Name commemorated on Runnymead Memorial. Son of Harold Joseph Kernahan, and of Gladys Eugenie Kernahan, of Port of Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies.

[Source: CMHA, CG, CWGC]

Name: KERNAHAN, KENNETH IAN
Initials: K I
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Pilot Officer
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit Text: 12 Sqdn.
Age: 23
Date of Death: 28/05/1944
Service No: 172462
Additional information: Son of Harold Joseph Kernahan, and of Gladys Eugenie Kernahan, of Port of Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
Grave/Memorial Reference: Panel 211.
Memorial: RUNNYMEDE MEMORIAL

[Source: www.WW2chat.com]

Flying Officer Arthur O. Weeks, from Barbados, and Flight Sergeant Collins A Joseph of Trinidad, photographed while serving as pilots with No 132 Squadron RAF Fighter Command in 1943.
[Copyright: Air Historical Branch (11478)]

1391721 – P/O C.A. Joseph – Trinidad – Pilot – attested 5.6.41

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

182350 – Pilot Officer – Pilot – 130 Sqn – Spitfire, RM750 – KIA at 28 Volunteer Trinidad ETS, Trained at Piarco, went missing at 1530hrs on 31st December 1944 while on an air operation flying Liege, Aachen, Liege. Son of Elmie Joseph, of San Fernando, Trinidad.
[Source: CMHA]

Flight Sergeant – Pilot – 132 Sqn – Spitfire (1943) [Source: MOD]

222 (Natal) Squadron (1942) [Source: RAF Museum London, see below]

Name: JOSEPH, COLLINS ALWYN
Initials: C A
Nationality: United Kingdom
Rank: Pilot Officer (Pilot)
Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Unit: 130 Sqdn.
Age: 28
Date of Death: 31/12/1944
Service No: 182350
Additional information: Son of Elmie Joseph, of San Fernando, Trinidad.
Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial
Reference: VIII. B. 8. Cemetery: HOTTON WAR CEMETERY
[Source: www.WW2chat.com]

[Photograph: courtesy Mehdi Schneyders]

Pilots of No. 132 City of Bombay Squadron (Detling, 1943-1944), featuring three Caribbean Spitfire-pilots:

F/Sgt James Joseph Hyde (from Trinidad) – front row, third from left.

F/Sgt Arthur O. Weeks (or Weekes, from Barbados) – back row, fourth from left.

F/Sgt Collins Alwyin Joseph (from Trinidad) – back row, sixth from right.

Other identified pilots are:

F/Lt Harold Edward ‘Harry’ Walmsley (British) – front row, eight from left.

F/O John Jeremy Caulton (from New Zealand) – front row, fifth from right.

Henry Lacey Smith (Australian) – front row, fourth from right.

(click on photo to enlarge)

[picture: copyright John Caulton, grandson of F/O J.J. Caulton]

Combat Film No 73. Flying Officer Weekes of 132 Squadron on 21/12/1943 at 1200, flying Supermarine Spitfire IX. Target: Focke-Wulf Fw 190. Fragment No. 73 is at 8:00 minutes into the film, which features a number of fragments of 132 Squadron.

[Copyright Imperial War Museum; courtesy John Caulton]

RAF Museum’s Spitfire Vb, BL614, was flown on a Convoy Patrol by Collins Joseph (then a sergeant with 222 (Natal) Squadron) on 29 November 1942. The museum holds a Combat Report in which he claims a Me 109 destroyed. Below, the pages of the Combat Report and Film Assessment (Click on images to enlarge).

[Courtesy Peter Devitt, RAF Museum London]

Flight Sergeant James Hyde of San Juan, Trinidad, a Spitfire pilot who arrived in Britain in 1942 to begin his training, here pictured in 1944 with his Squadron’s mascot, a dog called ‘Dingo’. He is wearing a life jacket, known universally as a Mae West, and is holding an oxygen mask and his flying gloves. Most air battles took place at altitudes in excess of 15,000 feet (c. 5000 metres) and oxygen and thermal protection were vital.

[Source: www.movinghere.org.uk – Imperial War Museum (IWM) Reference CH11978]

1391841 – J.J. Hyde – Trinidad – W/O – Pilot – attested 6.6.41 – M. 25.9.44

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

1391841 – Warrant Officer – Pilot – 132 Sqn – Spitfire IXE, PL316 – KIA at 27 Volunteer Trinidad ETS, trained at Piarco. Took off at 1525hrs on 25 Sep 1944, tasked with providing aerial cover during the battle of Arnhem. Killed in dog fight over Nijmegen. Probably shot down by a/c of Jagdkorps II, probably I/JG26 or II JG26 which claimed 4 Spitfires each. See Top guns of the Luftwaffe, D Caldwell, pg 281. German a/c FW 190D-9 or Bf 109G-6. – Son of Joseph and Millicent Hyde, of San Juan, Trinidad.

[Source: CMHA]

Name: HYDE, JAMES JOSEPH Initials: J J Nationality: United Kingdom Rank: Warrant Officer (Pilot) Regiment/Service: Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Unit Text: 132 Sqdn. Age: 27 Date of Death: 25/09/1944 Service No: 1391841 Additional information: Son of Joseph and Millicent Hyde, of San Juan, Trinidad. Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead Grave/Memorial Reference: 17. A. 7. Cemetery: JONKERBOS WAR CEMETERY

[Source: www.WW2chat.com]  

25 Course 58 OTU Grangemouth, Scotland, August 1942
Front row: Sgt. Mclaren, F/O Sanders, F/L Zweigbergh, S/Ldr Robinson, F/O Siekierski, P/O Czernecki;
2nd row: Sgt. Tamowicz, Sgt. Syperek, Sgt. Pomietlarz, Sgt. Sliwinski, Sgt. Blazejczyk, F/Sgt. Banys;
3rd row: Sgt. Dunajewski, F/Sgt. Chute, Sgt. Hyde, Sgt. Bielicki, Sgt. Ballantyne, Sgt. Bedowski.

[Photo courtesy Kelvin Youngs, aircrewremembered.com]

From Operations Records Book, 164 (Argentine-British) Squadron at Peterhead

3.11.42 Another good day, with light West wind and about 30 miles visibility. the squadron practiced formation-flying, dog-fighting etc. P/O Young with Sgts. Hyde, Hynes & Hingston searched for a crashed Master aircraft from Fraserburgh without success.

12.11.42 Spit. V.B. W3426 Sgt. Hyde J.J. – Convoy Patrol 11:30-13:15 – Routine, without incident
15.11.42 Spit. V.B. AB133   Sgt. Hyde J.J. – Scramble 11:15-11:30 – No interception made
24.11.42 Spit. V.B. EP244  Sgt. Hyde J.J. – Convoy Patrol 15:50-17:10 – Patrol completed, without incident
29.11.42 Spit V.B. AB133   Sgt. Hyde J.J. – Convoy Patrol 9:15-10:50 – Convoy patrol, Patrol carried out without interruption
1.12.42 Spit. V.B. EP249   Sgt. Hyde J.J. – Convoy Patrol 12:30-13:25 – Routine Patrol
8.12.42 Spit. V.B. EP249  Sgt. Hyde J.J. – Convoy Patrol 8:40-1030 – Carried out without incident

View the complete ORB of 164 Squadron at Peterhead: ORB 164Sq Peterhead-Nov 1942-Feb 1943

[Courtesy: Mark E .Salt, Buchan Aero Club/RAF Peterhead Historian]

Pilots of No. 132 City of Bombay Squadron (Detling, 1943-1944), featuring three Caribbean Spitfire-pilots:

F/Sgt James Joseph Hyde (from Trinidad) – front row, third from left.

F/Sgt Arthur O. Weeks (or Weekes, from Barbados) – back row, fourth from left.

F/Sgt Collins Alwyin Joseph (from Trinidad) – back row, sixth from right.

Other identified pilots are:

F/Lt Harold Edward ‘Harry’ Walmsley (British) – front row, eight from left.

F/O John Jeremy Caulton (from New Zealand) – front row, fifth from right.

Henry Lacey Smith (Australian) – front row, fourth from right.

(click on photo to enlarge)

[picture: copyright John Caulton, grandson of F/O J.J. Caulton]

Combat Film No 73. Flying Officer Weekes of 132 Squadron on 21/12/1943 at 1200, flying Supermarine Spitfire IX. Target: Focke-Wulf Fw 190. Fragment No. 73 is at 8:00 minutes into the film, which features a number of fragments of 132 Squadron.

[Copyright Imperial War Museum; courtesy John Caulton]

[Photo courtesy Kelvin Youngs]

J86525 – Pilot Officer – RCAF – 419 Sqn – Halifax – KIA 30/3-1944 (at 26) – Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, UK

Son of John and Eva Greenidge, of Port of Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies.

[Source: CMHA, CG, CWGC]