Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. Keith Files, World War Two Keith Barnet Files Baptism: 5 Oct 1913, St Marks, Worsley, Lancs. Keith Barnet Files - [Child] of James Files & Ethel Born: 5 Sep 1913 Abode: Astley House Boothstown Occupation: Colliery Manager KEITH BARNET FILES Sgt. RAF d. 11 January 1941 aged 27 523740 In the course of World War 2, over 200 airmen lost their lives as a result of air accidents over the North Yorks. Moors. Their names are included on a Roll of Honour posted on the yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk website which carries a great deal of information about these incidents. KEITH BARNET FILES is one of those named. He was born on 5 September 1913 to James and Ethel Files (née Fogg) of Astley House, Boothstown, and baptised at St.Mark's one month later, on 5 October, by John H. Mason, the curate. In the baptism register, his father, James, was a colliery manager in the area. On 11 January 1941, a Lockheed Hudson, serial number N7298, took off from RAF Leuchars, but sadly did not return. The crew on board this flight was P/O Basil Lincoln Fox (aged 26 - pilot); Sgt. Keith Barnet Files (aged 27 - pilot/navigator); W/O/Air Gunner Sgt. William Robert Martin (aged 25); and P/O John McDonald Scott Wylie (aged 21 - Air Gunner). Keith Barnet Files is buried in the churchyard together with both his parents. Although his name and grave appear on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission 's website, he is therefore not to be found with the traditional war memorial stone above the grave. His mother died on 25 April 1933, aged 51, and his father in 1965, ages 86. On the 72nd anniversary of the fatal crash, in 2013, a memorial stone and plaque was dedicated to the lost airmen, close to the scene of the crash. It reads: In Remembrance When returning from a North Sea night time patrol, Hudson aircraft N7298 of 224 Sqn., Command, RAF Leuchars, crashed half a mile north of this point in the early hours of 11 January 1941. There was no fire and the crew of four, although injured, survived the crash. Tragically, they had died of exposure before discovery two days later. Pilot: P/O B. L. Fox - New South Wales, Australia aged 26 Navigator/Pilot: Sgt. K. B. Files - UK aged 27 WirelessOp/AG: W. R. Martin - UK aged 25 Airgunner: P/O J. Macdonald Scott Wylie - UK aged 21 They died in the cause of freedom The story surrounding this flight has been recorded in great detail by the yorkshire-aircraft.co.uk website and its manager, and the details below are taken from that website. The photo of Keith Barnet Files above was supplied to the website by his cousin Mr. Keith Files. The winter of 1940-41 was a very severe winter in the North of England with deep snow in the hills for many weeks. On this flight Hudson N7298 took off from Leuchars, Scotland at 01.17hrs on 11th January 1941 and flew in a south-easterly direction out into the North Sea to undertake a night time operational flight. The precise details of the flight are not fully known, as the RAF's crash card for the incident refers to the operation as being a "special task" and what this task was has not yet been learnt. One suggestion is that the crew had flown some fifty miles out into the North Sea from Leuchars looking for vessels trying to cut through minefields. What exactly happened then is not recorded, but the aircraft probably flew too far south. The crash investigation initially thought that during the flight the wireless equipment and direction finding equipment might have failed. The crew probably were unsure of their position and possibly flew a rough westerly course to make landfall in odrer to try and work out where they were, but then they should have headed along the coast. Instead of this, the aircraft drifted over land and struck high ground. The aircraft struck the top of the area of high ground on Warren Moor, above Kildale, in the early hours of the morning, but did not catch fire. The exact time for the crash is not known. This webpage and other accounts of the incident suggested that Warren Moor was covered in snow at the time of the accident but in 2013 a witness to the incident stated at the memorial service that there was in fact no snow present at the time but that the night was a stormy one and that the crew were flying in poor visibility. All four of the crew survived the crash and, although injured, they managed to scramble clear of the plane but probably later returned to it after the danger of fire had passed, to shelter from the weather. Sadly, all four men had died before they could be rescued. They had all died probably through a combination of their injuries and of exposure before being found at 16.30hrs on 12th January 1941. Their bodies were found under a wing of the Hudson huddled together. Local recollection recounts that the owners of nearby "Park Farm" thought that they heard voices on that night but as the weather was so bad they did not venture out to investigate. The crew must surely have all been seriously injured. Had they been able to explore their surroundings, they would have found the Kildale to Baysdale track (a few yards away) or farms just down from the moor top. I have been contacted by a local man, Mr Bell, whose father was farm manager at Baysdale Abbey during the War and he recalls his father telling him of seeing something odd on the moor the next morning which was noticed whilst he was tending to sheep in the valley bottom. Upon exploring, it became clear that it was an aircraft on the moor. He recalls his father being one of the first to the crash site and that a good clean up job was done by the RAF in the weeks after the accident. This story probably relates to the Hudson accident. The operations logbook lists all the flights made by other 224 Squadron aircraft and crews in the search for the missing Hudson, with six Hudsons undertaking flights - four in the late morning and two in the afternoon, with only one of these later aircraft carrying out a search as far south as was needed. This aircraft searched the coast around Scarborough and Flamborough Head and upon landing the crew reported that the weather was too bad to go inland on their search so returned to base. The death of Sgt. Keith Barnet Files is also recorded in the Roll of Honour in the scouts records, in which it is stated that he belonged to the 1st Manchester Grammar School Group and that he died whilst on active service. On 3 June 1927, he was one of a small number of boys from Manchester Grammar School who boarded the 'Mooltan' (P&O) in London for Gibraltar, with two school masters. Then, on 17 June, he arrived back in London with the school party on the 'Maloja' (P&O) which had originated from Sydney. His name also appears as a member of the Royal Aero Club. This record shows that Keith was living at "The Hurst" on Leigh Road and that he was an engineer. He received his certificate on 24 August 1937 at the Northern School of Aviation at Barton, flying a Hillson Praga (manufactured by F. Hills and Sons). Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. Leonard Hardman, World War Two Leonard Hardman LEONARD HARDMAN Sapper RE d.13/5/1945 aged 28 1649041 LEONARD HARDMAN was the son of Richard and Ethel (née Tennant) Hardman and was born in the third quarter of 1916 in Barton district. He was also the husband of Bertha (née Merritt) Hardman, of Boothstown, Manchester. They were married in the first quarter of 1940, in Barton registration district. His home address was in Farnworth, but he died at Southmead Hospital, Westbury. The role of the Royal Engineers was to maintain railways, roads, water supply and bridges. From 1940, they also disposed of bombs. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Worsley August 1945 Below is an aerial photograph of Worsley taken by the RAF in August 1945. Courtesy of Historic England Red Dot - St Mark's Church Orange Dot - The Bridgewater Canal Green Dots - Roe Green CC /Worsley CC Cyan Dot - The Ellesmere Memorial, Leigh Road Magenta Dot - Worsley New Hall Blue Dot - Grounds of Worsley New Hall (Now RHS) Purple Dot - Site of the McCrea's House (Destroyed 1940 blitz) - Link Yellow Dot - V1 Crash Site Xmas Eve 1944 - Link Home

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. John Patrick, World War Two John B Patrick JOHN BUSBY PATRICK LAC RAF.VR d.28/1/1943 aged 29 1081463 Curiously, the gravestone in the churchyard gives his name as John Busby Patrick, although the burial records give his name as John Bushby Patrick It has so far proven very difficult to track down any meaningful information about this serviceman, either in his personal life or during the Second World War. Most servicemen's records are still held by the Ministry of Defence, before their release to the National Archives. Sadly, the CWGC records give no information about his parents, so the following details can only be conjecture. In the church's burial records, his home address was given as Atherton House, Appley Bridge, near Wigan. Interestingly, on 18 August 1943, a Lillian Patrick, aged 80, was buried in the churchyard. Her abode was also given as Atherton House. According to her will, she died a spinster. In the 1881 census, she was living at Grange Farm, Boothstown, with her family, which included William Johnston Patrick, her brother. He too was buried in the churchyard, on 6 March 1945, aged 69. William married Annie Tait Coulter in 1905 and she too is buried at St.Mark's (2 August 1942). Her abode at that time was Atherton House!! The supposition has to be that Lillian was a great-aunt to John Buckley, and that she was living with her brother and his family at Atherton House. The presumption has to be that William J. and Annie Tait could well have been the parents of John Buckley. And yet, curiously, there is no birth record for him! There is a death record for a John B. Patrick, who was 29, for the first quarter (Jan - Mar) of 1943. Both the age and date are consistent. Furthermore, the death was registered at Aylesbury, not far from RAF Halton, where the Princess Mary's Hospital was based. The hospital housed a Plastic Surgery and Burns Centre during the war and great demands upon the unit meant a huge increase in the number of beds. By the end of the war, more than 20,000 casualties had been treated there. John Buckley Patrick's name can be found on the website internationalbombercommandcentre.com as a member of 26 OTU Squadron. His date of death, age, service number and the graveyard at St.Mark's are all given. No. 26 OTU was formed in January 1942 at RAF Wing as part of No. 7 Group RAF Bomber Command to train night bomber crews using the Vickers Wellington . It was disbanded in March 1946. RAF Wing was situated to the west of the village of Wing, near Aylesbury, Bucks. The marriage certificate confirms that he married Florence Hughes at Leigh register office on 15 April 1933. It also shows that his middle name was Bushby, and that he was a general dealer, aged 19. Florence was 21. John's home address was Rixton Old Hall, Rixton with Glazebrook, and his father was William Johnson Patrick. He was buried here on 1 February 1943, and in the bu rial register his abode was given as Aylesbury, and then Atherton House, Appley Bridge, near Wigan. The reference to Aylesbury is consistent with the details above. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. Albert Frost, World War Two Albert Edward Frost ALBERT EDWARD FROST Off.Cdt. RASC d.14/5/1943 aged 26 S/151416 The son of Elijah and Isabella (née Phillips) Frost, ALBERT EDWARD FROST was the husband of Irene (née Maddison) Frost of Worsley. They were married in the Barton district in the last quarter of 1939. His parents, Elijah and Isabella, had been married on 15 September 1915 at the Irwell Street Wesleyan Chapel, Salford. The role of the RASC in the field fell into two main parts, supply and transport. Supply embraced the provision of food, petrol and lubricants, fuel and light, hospital supplies and disinfectants. Transport was concerned with the conveyance of the above supplies, together with ammunition, engineer stores, ordnance stores and post, from railhead, or from base if no railhead exists, to all units of a field force. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. Norman Gorick, World War Two Norman Gorick NORMAN GORICK Fg.Off. RAF.VR d. 31 January 1943 aged 21 124505 RAF Dishforth opened in September 1936 and at the start of World War 2 it became part of 4 Group, Bomber Command. The base was primarily used for recruit training. At 0212 hrs. on 31 January 1943, a Vickers Wellington Mark X, serial number HE173, took off from Dishforth on a night training exercise. At that period, Dishforth was home to Royal Canadian Air Force squadrons, a part of RAF Bomber Command. There was a crew of four on the Wellington - pilot F/O Norman Gorick, aged 21; navigator F/O George Wood (26), RCAF, of Canada, Fl/Sgt. William Mossop, aged 24, air gunner who was also the wireless operator; and Sgt. J. Welsh, an air gunner. Within one minute of take-off, the aircraft caught fire and crashed just one mile to the NW of the airfield, near Lingham Lane Farm. The only survivor was Sgt. J. Welsh, who was the rear gunner. This accident was the first loss of an aircraft from 428 squadron since its formation, 428 squadron had been formed on 7 November 1942 and later acquired the nickname the "Ghost" squadron, since none of the original squadron members survived. NORMAN GORICK was the son of William and Edith Rachel Gorick, of 449 Worsley Road, Winton. He had attended Eccles Grammar School as a pupil, and was a keen sportsman, playing football for the school team and cricket at Winton Cricket Club. After leaving school he started work with the Prudential Assurance Co. Ltd. At the outbreak of the war, he joined the Home Guard and was in No.5 Platoon of "A" Company of the 42nd Lancaster Battalion. Soon after, in June 1941, he enlisted in the RAF.VR. He went to California, USA, to train as a pilot. Whilst at the flying school, he was awarded the Gold Star Merit Award and was awarded his wings in April 1942. He received his commission as a Pilot Officer in the RAF.VR on 1 May 1942. He returned to the UK in June 1942 and it is reported that he began operational duties immediately. On 1 November 1942, he was promoted to Flying Officer. Norman Gorick is commemorated on the Worsley Methodist Church War Memorial, a church he had attended. When that church closed in 2011, the memorial board was transferred to the parish Church of St.Mark, Worsley, where it is now affixed to the inside of the south wall. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Information and books on St Mark's Church, Worsley, Manchester, UK, Church of England, Author Paul Speakman Books on St Mark's Church and the surrounding area Timeline of St Mark's Church 1846 -1946 Read More Ellesmere in America Read More The Queen Cometh Read More World War 1 Graves Read More Worsley Worthies Vol 1 Read More Why St Mark's ? Read More The Lives of the First Seven Incumbents Read More Lord Egerton's Dream Read More English Country Churches Read More World War 2 Graves Read More Worsley Worthies Vol 2 Read More Salviati by R.S. Kovach Read More Home

Burials A-D St Marks Church, Worsley, Manchester. Civilian, Private Graves, Author Paul Speakman Private Graves A-D AGNEW Family ARMITAGE Mary ATHERTON William BALDWIN John BASSON Ronald ALDRED Edward ASHURST Thomas BECKTON Sarah BARNES Mary Ann BATLEY William ALLCOCK Thomas ATHERTON James BAIRSTOW Greenwood BARTON Henry de BATHE Cicely BAXTER George BENSON Henry BEECHEY Rev. St. Vincent BERRY Ellen BELL Robert BERRY John BERRY William (Swinton) BIRCH George BLACKLOCK Henry BOSCHETTI John BERRY William (Worsley) BIRKBY John BLACKLOCK William BOWERS James BINDLOSS William BIRLEY Hugh Rev. BLAIR Gordon BRADSHAW Thomas BRIGGS Thomas CHADWICK Thomas CHEETHAM Thomas CLARIDGE Thomas COOK Thomas COUPLAND Peter DARBYSHIRE Ellen DORNING Daniel BROCKBANK Thomas CHAPLIN George CHERRY William CLARKE Asenath CORBETT Charles CROOK John Lee DERBYSHIRE Heber DORNING Elias BROCKBANK Thomas Holland CHATWOOD Samuel CLARIDGE John CLARKE William COULES Reginald DAWSON Geoffrey DERBYSHIRE Family DOWNES John Home

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Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. Reginald West, World War Two Reginald West REGINALD WEST Fg.Off. RAF.VR d. 23 June 1944 aged 23 151264 REGINALD WEST was the son of William West and Blanche (née Holdsworth), of Worsley. His parents were married in the Bucklow area in the third quarter of 1919, possibly at St.Mary's, Ashton upon Mersey. Reginald was born on 28 December 1920. On 19 February 1943, he was commissioned into the RAFVR (General Duties Branch) on an emergency commission. On 23 June 1944, he was posted as a navigator/wireless operator to 236 Squadron, RAF. According to his will, proven on 1 November, his estate was granted to William West, commercial traveller, presumably his father. He lived at 147 Old Clough Lane and the burial records show that he died at Minster, near Manston, Kent. Reginald joined the Metro-Vickers Company as a Clerk in March 1939 and was employed in the Cost Department. He joined the RAF in October 1940 and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer and later promoted to the rank of Flying Officer (19 August 1943). He was killed whilst on air operations in June 1944. This may have been near Thanet, Kent. 236 Squadron had originally been formed in the First World War as an anti-submarine force, but was disbanded in May 1919. It reformed in October 1939 as a fighter squadron and moved to various bases until it relocated to RAF North Coates (Lincolnshire), six miles south-east of Cleethorpes, in September 1942. From there, it carried out anti-shipping patrols over the North Sea in the Bristol Beaufighter Mk.X. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back

Outside St Marks Church, Worsley, Salford, Greater Manchester. Church of England Outside St Mark's Church Worsley Click on image to expand Home

Information on the graves located at St. Marks Church Worsley Manchester. Thoams Faulkner, World War Two THOMAS FAULKNER THOMAS FAULKNER Capt. East Lancs. Rgt. d.8/10/1943 aged 50 92661 THOMAS FAULKNER was the son of John and Priscilla (née Gorton) Faulkner. He was baptised at Stowell Memorial, Salford, on 16 November 1892 and his parents at that time were living at 18 Lord Byron Street, Weaste. They had been married at St. Mary's, Eccles, on 29 September 1886. Thomas was the husband of Marjorie Faulkner, of Worsley, and was living at 12 Pine Grove, Worsley. His father was living at 3 Grange Avenue, Monton, when he died on 27 June 1934. His effects were left to his widow, Priscilla. Marjorie was Marjorie Fisher, and they married in the 1/4 qtr. 1917 at West Derby. Thomas had 2 sons - John, born in 1923 at Barton; and Robert D. born 1925 at Barton. (Robert) Derek became a highly respected member of the parish church. Thomas died at the Moston Hall Military Hospital, Chester. In his will, he left his estate to his widow, Marjorie. He had enlisted into the Manchester Regiment RA and on his death he was in the infantry branch of the East Lancs. Regt. His name appears in the UK Army Roll of Honour, which is a listing of British Army casualties from World War II. Researched and written by Paul R Speakman Back