Edward Alan Vagg

 The First RAF Burial at St. Paul’s, Sketty

Edward Alan Vagg 
St. Paul's Church, Skertty

The first burial at St. Paul’s, Sketty, connected to the Royal Air Force, took place in May 1940. On the 15^th of that month, Pilot Officer Edward Alan Vagg, aged just 28, lost his life in a flying accident while serving with 83 Squadron, RAF. He was the son of George and Annie Vagg.

83 Squadron, RAF

No. 83 Squadron was first formed in January 1917 at Montrose, though its training was carried out at RAF Spitalgate, Lincolnshire, and RAF Wyton, Cambridgeshire. Its wartime role was as a night bomber squadron, moving to France in March 1918 to take part in the attacks during the German Spring Offensive. Following the Armistice, the squadron was disbanded in December 1919.

No. 83 Squadron

Reformed in August 1936 at RAF Turnhouse, Edinburgh, the squadron was initially equipped with Hawker Hinds. In 1938, it transferred to No. 5 Group at RAF Scampton, Lincolnshire, and by October was operating the Handley Page Hampden.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the squadron was active from the very first day, flying North Sea patrols in search of German warships. It went on to conduct precision daylight raids against naval and coastal targets, but losses soon forced a switch to night operations. By late summer and autumn 1940, the squadron was flying missions against the concentrations of German invasion shipping in the Channel ports.

It was during this period of intense operations that Edward lost his life.

Family Background

Edward Alan Vagg was born in 1912. His parents, Edwin George Vagg and Beatrice Anne Harris, married in 1910.

1911 Census

At the time of the 1911 Census, the couple were living at 91A Woodfield Street, Morriston, in the home of Edward and Annie Harris, Beatrice’s parents. Edwin, then 28, was employed as a teacher, while Beatrice, 21, assisted her father in his fishmongers and fruiterers. They already had one son, Leonard, born earlier that year.

1921 Census

By the 1921 Census, the family was living at 121 Walter Road, Swansea. Edwin, 39, was a teacher at Swansea Education Boys School. Beatrice, 31, was at home with their three children: Beryl (9), Edward Alan (7), and David M. (1). The eldest son, Leonard, is not listed. Also recorded at the address was a servant, Anne May Phillips, aged 16.

Edward later came to public attention in August 1938, when he gave evidence at an inquest in Cheshire following the deaths of two pilots in a flying accident.

The Fatal Flight

Handley Page Hampden I

On the evening of 14^th May 1940, Edward was flying in a Handley Page Hampden I, serial P1177, with Flying Officer Neville Johnson, Leading Aircraftman John George Pickard, and Sergeant Douglas Wolstenholme. The aircraft took off from RAF Scampton at 22:29 for a raid on the Ruhr.

In the early hours of the following morning, as the Hampden returned, it circled sharply near Louth, Lincolnshire. At 02:10, the aircraft suddenly dived into the ground and exploded on impact. All four men were killed.

Pilot Officer Edward Alan Vagg was brought home to Swansea and laid to rest at St. Paul’s, Sketty, where his grave still stands as a reminder of his service and sacrifice.

Reflection

Herald of Wales

The grave of Edward Alan Vagg marks a turning point in the story of St. Paul’s Churchyard. For more than two decades, it had borne witness to the losses of the First World War, and now, in 1940, a new generation of young men was being mourned. His story bridges two conflicts, reminding us that the shadow of the Great War lingered in the lives of those who followed. Edward’s resting place, alongside the earlier soldiers of Sketty, reflects both the continuity of service and the enduring cost of war.