Godfrey Ernest Mortimer – Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 44 Squadron

Flight Lieutenant Godfrey Ernest Mortimer – Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 44 Squadron

Birth and Family Background

Charles Ernest Mortimer and Sarah Mary Elms
marriage certificate
Parish Church of St Woolos, Monmouthshire

Godfrey Ernest Mortimer was born in 1919 at Newport, Glamorganshire. He was the son of Charles Ernest Mortimer and Sarah Mary Elms, who were married in 1917 at the Parish Church of St Woolos, Monmouthshire.

1939 Register

The 1939 Register provides the only surviving official domestic record for Godfrey. The family were residing at 16 Norton Road, West Cross.
Charles Ernest Mortimer was employed as a factory and transport manager at a bottled beer factory, Sarah Mary undertook domestic duties, Godfrey Ernest was recorded as an articled pupil (fourth year) architect and surveyor, and his brother Kenneth C. Mortimer was a student.

Military Service and Decoration

Godfrey enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and served with No. 44 Squadron RAF, a Bomber Command unit operating heavy bombers on night operations over occupied Europe.

London Gazette 

In recognition of his skill, courage, and devotion to duty on active operations, Godfrey Ernest Mortimer was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal, the award being gazetted on 1^st May 1942. His subsequent promotion to Flight Lieutenant reflected his operational experience and leadership.

Death

Avro Lancaster III

By May 1944, No. 44 Squadron was based at RAF Dunholme Lodge, Lincolnshire, and equipped with Avro Lancaster III heavy bombers. During this period the squadron was heavily engaged in night operations forming part of the Combined Bomber Offensive and the Allied Transportation and Oil Campaigns, intended to weaken German industrial capacity and air power ahead of the forthcoming invasion of Normandy.

On the night of 10^th May 1944, No. 44 Squadron took part in a Bomber Command raid on the Gnome et Rhône aero-engine factory at Gennevilliers, near Paris, a key target supplying engines for German military aircraft. Such missions required long night flights into heavily defended airspace, where crews faced intense anti-aircraft fire, German night fighters, and radar-guided defences, particularly over occupied France.

During this operation, Flight Lieutenant Godfrey Ernest Mortimer, serving as an air gunner aboard a Lancaster III, was lost when his aircraft was probably shot down by a German night fighter and crashed near Évreux, France. Aircraft lost on these raids were often initially recorded as “missing”, with confirmation delayed due to the circumstances of combat and occupation.

Burial and Later Confirmation

South Wales Daily Post

Godfrey Ernest Mortimer 
Évreux Communal Cemetery
credit - findagrave

Godfrey is buried at Évreux Communal Cemetery, France.

In 1947, the South Wales Daily Post reported that Godfrey had previously been listed as missing, and that his grave had since been located, bringing long-delayed confirmation to his family.