AR banner
Search Tips Advanced Search
Back to Top

Info LogoAdd to or correct this story with a few clicks.
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.
Check our Research databases: Database List

.

We seek additional information and photographs. Please contact us via the Helpdesk.

500 Squadron crest
10.10.1941 No. 500 Squadron Blenheim IV V6171 MK-F F/O. Webb

Operation: Nomad Patrol

Date: 10th October 1941(Friday)

Unit: No. 500 Squadron 16 Group Coastal Command

Type: Blenheim IV

Serial: V6171

Code: MK-F

Base: RAF Bircham Newton, Norfolk

Location: North Sea off Overstrand, Norfolk

Pilot: F/O. Charles Cecil George Webb 79738 RAFVR Age 28. Killed

Observer: Fl/Sgt. Robert Carlson Roberts R/56163 RCAF Age 31. Missing - believed killed

W//Op/Air/Gnr: Sgt. Ronald Harry Coomber 812107 RAF (Auxiliary) Age 20. Missing - believed killed

REASON FOR LOSS:

Took off at 21.25 hours from RAF Bircham Newton, Norfolk for a nomad patrol - no further information why they crashed near Overstrand 2 Miles South East of Cromer.

Pieces of the wreckage later were washed ashore, the body of the pilot also washed up further south along the coast. Sadly, the remaining crew bodies were never recovered.

Sgt. Coomber (then AC2) escaped death when the Anson N5066 MK-B after running out of fuel, ditched in the English Channel at 22:45 hrs. on the 09th September 1939 - all four of the crew were rescued.

F/O. Charles Cecil George Webb and grave. Any relative who would like a higher resolution copy of the grave image we would be delighted to send a copy.

Burial Details:

F/O. Charles Cecil George Webb. Caister Old Cemetery. Sec M. Grave 898. Son of Henry Hay Webb and Margaret Webb, of Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand, husband of Nancy Bray Webb. of Timaru. B. Arch. 547 Flying hours logged and completed 59 operational sorties. Grave inscription reads: "He Did His Duty".

Fl/Sgt. Robert Carlson Roberts. Runnymede Memorial Panel 60. Son of Fredrick Charles Percy and Jessie Helen Brown Roberts, of St. Lambert, Province of Quebec, Canada.

Sgt. Ronald Harry Coomber. Runnymede Memorial Panel 41. Son of John and Edith Coomber, of Harrietsham, Kent, England.

Researched and dedicated to the relatives of this crew with thanks to the research by Errol Martyn and his publications: “For Your Tomorrow Vols. 1-3”, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Weekly News of New Zealand, other sources as quoted below:

KTY Updated 21.05.2019

Pages of Outstanding Interest
History Airborne Forces •  Soviet Night Witches •  Bomber Command Memories •  Abbreviations •  Gardening Codenames
CWGC: Your Relative's Grave Explained •  USA Flygirls •  Axis Awards Descriptions •  'Lack Of Moral Fibre'
Concept of Colonial Discrimination  •  Unauthorised First Long Range Mustang Attack
RAAF Bomb Aimer Evades with Maquis •  SOE Heroine Nancy Wake •  Fane: Motor Racing PRU Legend
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.
Click any image to enlarge it

Click to add your info via ticket on Helpdesk •Click to let us know via ticket on Helpdesk• Click to buy research books from Amazon •Click to explore the entire site
If you would like to comment on this page, please do so via our Helpdesk. Use the Submit a Ticket option to send your comments. After review, our Editors will publish your comment below with your first name, but not your email address.

A word from the Editor: your contribution is important. We welcome your comments and information. Thanks in advance.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning we will remember them. - Laurence Binyon
All site material (except as noted elsewhere) is owned or managed by Aircrew Remembered and should not be used without prior permission.
© Aircrew Remembered 2012 - 2024
Last Modified: 13 March 2021, 13:25

Monitor Additions/Changes?Click to be informed of changes to this page. Create account for first monitor only, thereafter very fast. Click to close without creating monitor