George Benjamin Whalley

Flight Sergeant George Benjamin Whalley — Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Early Life

By the final years of the Second World War, records for those who died in service often grew scarce. Many of the young men lost had been born after the 1921 Census, leaving fewer surviving details of their early years. This was true of George Benjamin Whalley, born in 1924, the son of Benjamin Whalley and Gertrude Victoria Bradfield, who had married in Birkenhead in 1921.

1939 Register

By the time of the 1939 Register, the Whalley family was living at 110 Reedley Road, Bristol. George’s father, Benjamin, was employed as an Assistant Aero Manager with a fruit importing and banana distribution company, a reminder of Bristol’s strong links to trade and shipping before and during the war.

Military Service

Avro Lancaster

George enlisted with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and was posted to No. 186 Squadron, an operational bomber squadron flying the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber. By 1945, as the war in Europe neared its end, 186 Squadron was conducting raids deep into Germany, targeting strategic sites such as oil plants, shipyards, and U-boat bases.

The Kiel Raid and Collision

On the evening of 13^th April 1945, Lancaster PB816/“AP-U” took off from RAF Stradishall at 20:17, tasked with bombing the U-boat yards at Kiel, Germany—a critical target in the Battle of the Atlantic. The mission was part of the RAF’s relentless effort to cripple Germany’s submarine fleet in the final weeks of the war.

The crew completed their sortie, but tragedy struck on their return to base. At 02:26 on 14 April 1945, as the Lancaster was coming into land at Stradishall, it collided in the circuit with another Lancaster, PB483/“AP-X”, from the same squadron. Both aircraft crashed, and all seven crew members of George’s bomber were killed.

The fallen were:

• Pilot: Flying Officer Donald Michael Roberts — buried at Clewer (Vale Road) Churchyard Extension, United Kingdom.
• Second Pilot: Flight Sergeant George Benjamin Whalley — buried at Killay (St. Hilary’s) Churchyard, United Kingdom.
• Navigator: Flight Sergeant John Charles James — buried at Manchester Southern Cemetery, United Kingdom.
• Bomb Aimer: Flight Sergeant Charles Crookes — buried at Hither Green Cemetery, United Kingdom.
• Wireless Operator: Flying Officer William Edward Roberts — buried at Haverhill Cemetery, United Kingdom.
• Mid-Upper Gunner: Sergeant Harold Brickell — buried at Stockport Borough Cemetery, Cheshire, United Kingdom.
• Rear Gunner: Sergeant Frederick James Pape — buried at Halliwell (St. Peter) Churchyard, United Kingdom.

Death and Burial

South Wales Daily Post

The news of George’s death was carried in the South Wales Daily Post, a stark reminder to the local community of the dangers that aircrews faced not only in combat but even when returning safely to English soil.

George Benjamin Whalley
St. Hilary church, Killay
credit - findagrave

George, just 21 years old, was laid to rest at St. Hilary’s Churchyard, Killay. His headstone bears the tender inscription chosen by his grieving parents:

“IN MEMORY OF OUR DARLING SON GEORGE, SADLY MISSED. LOVELY MEMORIES REMAIN.”

Legacy

George’s story highlights the cruel ironies of war. Having survived a hazardous raid over Germany, he and his crewmates lost their lives in an accident within sight of safety. His burial at St. Hilary’s marked one of the last wartime RAF interments there, joining the graves of other young airmen from across Britain, the Commonwealth, and the United States.

For his family, his loss was deeply personal: the son of Benjamin and Gertrude, whose life had only just begun. For the community at Killay, his grave is a reminder that even in the closing weeks of the war, the price of service remained unbearably high.