Died
4 March 1945
Born
1911
Sources
Ancestry
Websites: RAF Command & 49 Squadron
Place
Walks
Frank Benson
RAF
1897888 SERGEANT
F. N. BENSON
FLIGHT ENGINEER
ROYAL AIR FORCE
4TH MARCH 1945 AGE 33
IN MEMORY OF FRANK NORMAN
AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN
AND IN THE MORNING
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
This is a standard Commonwealth War Grave headstone, made a bit unusual by the succession of stones at the foot, the first reading:
TREASURED MEMORIES OF
JEAN MARIE BENSON
DIED 9 DEC 1999
BELOVED WIFE OF THE
ABOVE FRANK
AND MOTHER OF LESLEY BROWN
DEAR MOTHER-IN-LAW OF
MICHAEL BROWN
A death notice appeared in the Barrow News 10 March 1945.
The CWGC website says that he was the son of John and Elizabeth Blanch Benson; husband of Jean Maree (sic) Benson, of Herne Hill, London. Blanche’s maiden name was Exelby, another name in Urswick graveyard. John Benson had died, and Blanche married Alfred G. Eddy in Barrow in 1924.
Frank was in 189 Squadron flying in Avro Lancaster Mk. 1 NG 325 which took off 18.37hrs. 3 Mar 1945 from Fulbeck to bomb the Dortmund-Ems Canal near ladbergen. On return it was intercepted by an intruder and shot down, crashing 01.18hrs 4 Mar 1945 near the railway station at East Rudham, 6 miles WSW of Fakenham Norfolk.
Six others died in the crash.
Another online account suggests “In early March 1945, the German Luftwaffe, in an isolated display of resistance, developed a tactic which, had it been deployed earlier, could have neutralised the WWII operations of Royal Air Force Bomber Command. In the early hours of 4th March 1945, in Unternehmen (Operation) Gisela, some 200 Junkers JU88 nightfighters of the Luftwaffe Nachtjagdeschwader Gruppen (Night Fighter destroyer Group) had been deployed to intercept the allied bombers returning to base at their most vulnerable point, just before landing. The marauding aircraft crossed the North Sea at points stretching between the Thames Estuary and up the east coast to the North Yorkshire moors. The fact that these intruders were able to cross the North Sea coast without being picked up by English radar operators would seem to have been a result of a degree of complacency that had set in amongst Bomber Command, as the Luftwaffe appeared to be subdued. …….
01.18hrs. Over Norfolk, F/O Reid and crew of 189 Squadron were heading back to Fulbeck from the Ladbergen trip, when a night fighter shot them down; there were no survivors as the Lancaster dived into the nearby East Rudham Railway Station. ……
The attack had lasted just two-and-a-half hours, and during that time 13 Halifaxes, 9 Lancasters, one Fortress and a Mosquito had been shot down. Whilst over England, the Germans had strafed anything that moved on the ground; as a result 17 civilians had been killed and 12 seriously wounded. The night had served as a timely reminder that the enemy was still a capable and deadly opponent.”
1939 Register
From Ancestry, the 1939 Register has Frank N. Benson (DoB 13 April 1911) living in communal occupation at Gilmour House, Renfrew Road, Lambeth. As are the other residents, he is a Metropolitan Police Constable. According to the marriage records on Ancestry, he married Joan (sic) M. Genese in the first quarter of 1940 in Lambeth.
In the 1939 Register Jean M. Genese (DoB 30 November 1918) is living at “Birchfield”, Querns Lane, Cirencester, Glos., where she is a Children’s Nurse. Her birth had been registered in Hackney, London.
The National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) 1945 has:
BENSON Frank Norman of 52 Danecroft-road, Herne Hill, London S.E.24 died 4 March 1945 on war service Probate Carlisle 8 December to Jean Marie Benson widow. Effects £523 10s 9d.
