Help needed to trace crewmans relatives in South Essex from a researcher in Holland

I heard this article on BBC Essex this morning - you need to go to 2hours 33 mins and 24 seconds into the programme.

Rob Lanting from the Netherlands is seeking relatives of Bertram Henry Scudder who came from Hadleigh which is in South Essex.

He was a tail gunner on a Halifax that crashed in Holland in 1943. He is arranging a memorial in September this year for the two crew who died in the crash near his town. The five others of the crew became POW's.

I have e-mailed him this evening for full details of his project and am awaiting a reply. In the meantime anyone interested in helping can listen to the programme.

This is his e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01cdh18

Going to be difficult with him being an only child, but you'd hope someone will remember the family. His birth is actually registered in London City, London 1925. A bit more and a photo on this site www.rcaf434squadron.com/air-crew-photos/...s-now-total/17745945

STAN11;129970 wrote:

I heard this article on BBC Essex this morning - you need to go to 2hours 33 mins and 24 seconds into the programme.

Rob Lanting from the Netherlands is seeking relatives of Bertram Henry Scudder who came from Hadleigh which is in South Essex.

He was a tail gunner on a Halifax that crashed in Holland in 1943. He is arranging a memorial in September this year for the two crew who died in the crash near his town. The five others of the crew became POW's.

I have e-mailed him this evening for full details of his project and am awaiting a reply. In the meantime anyone interested in helping can listen to the programme.

This is his e-mail address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01cdh18

The aircraft Halifax V IP-L of 434 squadron, target BOCHUM, was shot down from 19500ft , crashing near Enschede. One of 9 aircraft lost on that raid. The pilot 2Lt JT Clary evaded capture, Sgt Scudder and F/O WG Bellinger were killed. The remaining 4 crew were taken POW.

An interesting crew.

The Pilot was USAAF., as was Sgt RW Stewart (probably air-gunner).

Sgt Scudder, RAF, was the flight engineer.

The balance of the crew RCAF.

I looked at a lot of RCAF Halifax crews and they were normally all RCAF except the Flight engineer. It transpires that the RCAF could train Pilots, W/ops, Navigators, Bomb aimers and air gunners, but they didn't have any/many Halifax airframes so could not train F/Engineers. When RCAf crews came over the RAF allocated F/Eng to the squadrons which explains the sole RAF crew member in the loss records.

Halifax V IP-L was serial number DK259, built by Fairey Aviation, Stockport.

Thanks to all for the information.

Other people also have now become involved and things look quite promising:

www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=656117.0

There has been considerable progress with this project and today our local radio station BBC Essex broadcast a follow up report. This will be available on i-player soon, but in the meantime here is what was said:

BBC ESSEX REPORT 30.12.2013

Just to follow this up for anyone interested and bring things full circle. By perseverance we did manage to obtain a link to a family member of Bertram Scudder who eventually provided a photo of him.

Today is the anniversary of the crash and Rob Lanting the main researcher in Holland has sent me an image of Bertram now added onto the painting they had commissioned of the crew.

They have also made a short film of the project which is on 'YouTube' link here:



Attached files [IMG]/community/151464=18210-Painting of Halifax crew with Bertram Scudder added..jpg[/img]

Video of the full ceremony in September 2013: