大象传媒

This story has been contributed to the People's War by the 大象传媒 Learning Centre on behalf of Margaret Pamela Smith from Hatherley, Cheltenham, with her permission.

My mother and father Thomas and Ethel Bishop ran a grocery shop in Charlton Kings. I was three when my older brother Cecil died. He was 19 and he was a flight engineer in the RAF and was hoping to become a pilot. He was with 218 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.

I remember two young men, Cecil and a friend, coming home with their uniforms on and their kitbags which I would never let out of my sight in case their might be something in there for me. They also teased me a lot. I remember my mother had a fur wrap with a fox鈥檚 head on and they used to put it across the path in the garden then call me out and I thought it was a horrible monster and they would kill themselves laughing.

Cecil was taking planes over France and by 1944 he was very shocked with all the killing. My mother was very concerned about him, not just his physical safety but his mental state because he was so young and such a fun-loving boy. He had quite a few girlfriends, I still hear from some of them.

He used to come home on leave late at night and I remember, really vividly remember, my mother one night calling out 鈥淚s that you, Cec鈥� she had heard footsteps on the stairs and thought he had gone up to his room which was the usual occurrence, we weren鈥檛 told when he would be coming home.. But he wasn鈥檛 there in the morning and a few days later the telegram came saying he was missing. We always say his spirit came home. My parents never spoke much about losing him, they bottled it all up, which of course now we know was wrong, so we never talked about him much but I鈥檒l never forget my big handsome brother.

In 1999 my surviving brother wrote to the Ministry of Defence for more information about Cecil鈥檚 death and received this reply from the Air Historical Branch.

Thank you for your letter seeking information concerning your brother 1608815 Sergeant Cecil Thomas Bishop, who sadly lost his life while serving with 218 Squadron RAF during World War 2. Our records show that Sgt C T Bishop was the flight engineer on Stirling Bomber no LJ448 which took off from Woolfox Lodge, Leicestershire at 21.30 hrs on 20 April 1944 for a raid on a target in Chambly, France. This aircraft was part of a force of 14 bombers detailed to attack the railway depot at Chambly.

The circumstances of how this aircraft met its fate are not known. I can only presume that Stirling LJ448 was damaged by enemy fire and crashed at Asniers-Sur-Oise, 38 kms north east of Versailles, with the loss of two of the seven-man crew. Sgt Bishop and F/O G M Doolan are buried at the Asniers-Sur-Oise Communal Cemetery, France in Graves 1 and 2. The full crew was as follows:

F/O George McGowan Doolan RAAF 鈥� pilot 鈥� killed
F/O Anthony Edward Widler RAAF 鈥� navigator 鈥� evaded
Sgt Cecil Thomas Bishop 鈥� flight engineer 鈥� killed
F/O Arthur John Levy 鈥� bomb aimer 鈥� evaded
P/O Francis Herbert O鈥橬eil 鈥� wireless operator/air gunner 鈥� evaded
Sgt Dennis Rupert Robert John Pepall 鈥� air gunner 鈥� evaded
Sgt Clive Robinson 鈥� air gunner 鈥� PoW

A memorial letter from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission includes a photograph of two wreaths on the Asniers-Sur-Oise Communal Cemetery, Val d鈥橭ise, France, in the care of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which reads Their Name Liveth For Evermore

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