David Kenneth Vincent Edwards – Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Base Signal and Radar Unit

Leading Aircraftman David Kenneth Vincent Edwards – Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, Base Signal and Radar Unit

Early Life

David Kenneth Vincent Edwards was born in 1912 at Ystalyfera, the son of Aneurin Edwards and Margaret Ann Richards. Records of his early life are limited, and much of his childhood remains unrecorded, a circumstance not uncommon for families of the upper Swansea Valley during this period. What is known is that he later entered wartime service, joining the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during the Second World War.

Service with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

David served with a Base Signal and Radar Unit, one of the highly specialised technical formations responsible for establishing and maintaining the RAF’s communications and radar infrastructure across liberated Europe. These units were essential to the functioning of Allied air operations, enabling coordination, detection, and control at a time when the air war was rapidly shifting onto the continent.

Loss at Sea: 7 November 1944

David’s death formed part of one of the most tragic maritime losses suffered by RAF ground personnel during the war — the sinking of Landing Ship Tank LST 420 off the Belgian coast on 7 November 1944. LSTs were vital Allied vessels, designed to carry tanks, vehicles, equipment, and troops directly onto beaches. By late 1944, they were heavily employed in transporting men and supplies across the Channel to support the liberation of northwest Europe. LST 420, a British‑operated ship built in the United States under Lend‑Lease, was engaged in these duties, carrying RAF personnel, Army units, vehicles, and technical equipment to the newly liberated port of Ostend.

On the morning of 7 November 1944, LST 420 sailed from Tilbury with a large contingent of RAF personnel on board, including members of Base Signal and Radar Units whose work was crucial to the establishment of communications and radar networks on the continent. As the ship approached the Belgian coast, the weather deteriorated sharply. Gale‑force winds, heavy seas, and poor visibility battered the shoreline, and Ostend harbour authorities had already closed the port due to the dangerous conditions. Unaware of the closure until arrival, LST 420 attempted to manoeuvre off the coast near the Middelkerke Bank, a shallow and treacherous sandbank.

At approximately 3 p.m., the vessel struck a German mine. The explosion was catastrophic. The forward section of the ship — where many RAF personnel had taken shelter from the storm — was destroyed instantly, and the vessel began to break apart. The violent seas made rescue efforts almost impossible. Other LSTs in the convoy attempted to assist, but the conditions were so severe that several rescue craft were themselves endangered. Many men were trapped below decks; others were swept away by the freezing water. More than 180 personnel were killed, the majority of them from the Royal Air Force, making it one of the largest single‑day losses of RAF ground crew in the entire war.

David Kenneth Vincent Edwards
Oostende New Communal Cemetery, West‑Vlaanderen, Belgium credit - findagrave

Burial and Commemoration

Among those lost was Leading Aircraftman David Kenneth Vincent Edwards, whose body was recovered and laid to rest at Oostende New Communal Cemetery, West‑Vlaanderen, Belgium. His grave stands among those of many servicemen who lost their lives during the final push to liberate northwest Europe, a quiet testament to a tragedy that unfolded far from the front line but with no less sacrifice.