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Archive Report: Allied Forces

Compiled from official National Archive and Service sources, contemporary press reports, personal logbooks, diaries and correspondence, reference books, other sources, and interviews.
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157 Squadron Crest
20.01.1943 No. 157 Squadron Mosquito II DD777 F/O. Paul

Operation: Interception

Date: 20th January 1943 (Wednesday)

Unit: No. 157 Squadron (motto: 'Our cannon speak our thoughts')

Type: Mosquito II

Serial: DD777

Code: RS-?

Base: RAF Hunsdon, Essex

Location: North Sea - 30 miles east of Clacton-On-Sea

Pilot: F/O. Keith Walter Paul AUS/411817 RAAF Age 26. Missing - believed killed

Nav: P/O. Cornelius Patrick Finbarr Cronin 60358 RAFVR Age 30. Missing - believed killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Taking off from RAF Hunsdon north of Harlow in Essex at 20:00 hrs on an interception patrol and vectored to enemy aircraft at about 12,000 ft some 30 miles east of Clacton-On-Sea.

F/O. Paul reported that he was out of control ar 22:25 hrs from what is thought to be from an attack from an enemy aircraft which they had engaged. Nothing further was heard and both crew members listed as missing.

On this day Germany's daytime bombardment of the Sandhurst Road School killed 41 schoolchildren, ranging in age from 6 to 14 years old, along with six teachers. The school was located in the London suburb of Catford and the German Luftwaffe bombers arrived with little warning.

Burial details:

F/O. Keith Walter Paul. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 189. Born on the 09th October 1916 at Parramatta, the son of Walter Robert Paul and of Lily Elizabeth Kate Paul of 22 Wigram Street, Granville, New South Wales, Australia. Joined 157 Squadron from 51 Operational Trading Unit on the 14th October 1942. Trained on the Tiger Moth, Avro Anson and the Cessna Crane. Prior to service when he enlisted on the 02nd September 1940, worked as a clerk.

Nav: P/O. Cornelius Patrick Finbarr Cronin. Runnymede Memorial. Panel 189. Son of Daniel and Teresa Cronin. (Batchelor of Arts, London)

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to the Australian Archives and to the sources indicated below:

KTY 15.05.2019

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Acknowledgements
Sources used by us in compiling Archive Reports include: Bill Chorley - 'Bomber Command Losses Vols. 1-9, plus ongoing revisions', Dr. Theo E.W. Boiten and Mr. Roderick J. Mackenzie - 'Nightfighter War Diaries Vols. 1 and 2', Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt - 'Bomber Command War Diaries', Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tom Kracker - Kracker Luftwaffe Archives, Michel Beckers, Major Fred Paradie (RCAF) and MWO François Dutil (RCAF) - Paradie Archive (on this site), Jean Schadskaje, Major Jack O'Connor USAF (Retd.), Robert Gretzyngier, Wojtek Matusiak, Waldemar Wójcik and Józef Zieliński - 'Ku Czci Połeglyçh Lotnikow 1939-1945', Archiwum - Polish Air Force Archive (on this site), Anna Krzystek, Tadeusz Krzystek - 'Polskie Siły Powietrzne w Wielkiej Brytanii', Franek Grabowski, Norman L.R. Franks 'Fighter Command Losses', Stan D. Bishop, John A. Hey MBE, Gerrie Franken and Maco Cillessen - Losses of the US 8th and 9th Air Forces, Vols 1-6, Dr. Theo E.W. Boiton - Nachtjagd Combat Archives, Vols 1-13. Aircrew Remembered Databases and our own archives. We are grateful for the support and encouragement of CWGC, UK Imperial War Museum, Australian War Memorial, Australian National Archives, New Zealand National Archives, UK National Archives and Fold3 and countless dedicated friends and researchers across the world.
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