Hi there my name is carol,and i'm in the process of finding things out about my mother in laws brother.He was killed in action over france on May 13 1944.We know that he was part of crew 109 466 sq.This information was kindly sent to us from John Blakeley.He also suggested trying your web site,so here I am.If you or anyone associated with the 466 squadron has any information big or small it will be much appreciated.
My mother in law is 79 years old and she had a photo of her brother but was stolen when her home got broken into.It would be fantastic if I could give her some more info about him,she is so proud of him and her other two brothers who also served in WWII.
Thankyou very much for your time.
Regards
Carol~
466 Sqdn (based at Leconfield) lost two Halifaxes on the 13 May 1944. Could you possibly give me the name of your mother-in-laws brother and I will be able to give you a few details about the aircraft he was onboard?
Hi there Linzee
I'm sorry I thought I had mentioned his name on the original message,I think I edited so much I ended up leaving it out.
His Name was F/S William Kevin Gertzel
Perth Western Australia.
Thankyou for responding to my message.Any information would be fantastic.
Carol, thanks for the name, it's made a difference to pulling up some info.
Extract from Bomber Command Losses by W R Chorley
466 Sqdn Halifax III LV919 HD-O on Op to Hasselt
P/O L V Barnett RAAF – killed
Sgt A M Berry - killed
F/O G P Pinn RAAF - killed
F/S H J Smith RAAf – killed
F/S W K Gertzel RAAF – killed
F/S W A Gillard RAAF – killed
F/O L E J F Chinnery RAAF – killed
Took off 2151 Leconfield to bomb railway yards at Hasselt. Shot down by Hptn Heinz Wolfgang-schnaufer Stab 1J/NJG1 crashing at 0044 at Zondereigen (Antwerpen) 10 km NNW of Turnhout and practically on the border with Holland. All were buried at Antwerpen-Duerne on May 19th; their graves are now at Schoonselhof. F/O Pinn RAAF was a Batchelor in Economics and held a Diploma in Education
Details about the Pilot who shot this a/c down can be found on this web page http://www.luftwaffe.cz/schnaufer.html
Details from Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search.aspx
GERTZEL, WILLIAM KEVIN
Nationality: Australian
Rank: Flight Sergeant
Regiment: Royal Australian Air Force
Age: 20
Date of Death: 13/05/1944
Service No: 427460
Son of Clarice Gertzel, of Perth, Western Australia.
Grave Reference: Coll. grave IVa. E. 33-34.
Cemetery: SCHOONSELHOF CEMETERY
The Australian War Memorial http://www.awm.gov.au/ would appear to have some papers which relate to F/Sgt Gertzel as follows: To find the relevant page do a ‘collection search’ in the ‘collection database’ and use surname and service number only as your search terms.
ID Number: PR01299
Title: Gertzel, William Kevin (Flight Sergeant), 1923-1944
Maker: Gertzel, William Kevin
Object type: Papers
Place made: Australia
Date made: 1939-1945
Measurements: 1 wallet: 1 cm
Summary: Two Royal Australian Air Force W/T Log books and one Royal Air Force "Navigator's, Air Bomber's and Air Gunner's Log Book", relating to 427460 Flight Sergeant William Kevin Gertzel, 466 Squadron RAAF. The papers document training in Australia and subsequent active service in Europe while attached to Royal Air Force, flying Halifax aircraft, and based at Leconfield, England.
Copyright: AWM copyright
Copying provisions: Copying permitted subject to physical condition
Access: Open
The Service Record for F/Sgt Gertzel will be held by the National Archives of Australia http://www.naa.gov.au/ and a copy of it can be obtained for a small charge or you can order it to be digitised and made available online (for you to download and print yourself) at no cost. Waiting time approx 4 – 6 weeks.
I tried to access the records search this afternoon (UK time) to see if his file has already been digitised but it didn’t appear to be working – or my pc was playing me up! It is also possible to search for photographs on this website.
Best of luck, some of the above should give you a few points to work from.
Follow my mate Linzee's instructions and you will find 58 pages of info. Just use the surname because the Kevin isn't included.The file is 'open'.
Linzee
This site is always down in the afternoon/evening for 'updates'. I've been 'giving it some grief' lately and I find that after 10.30/11pm or before lunch there are no problems
I finally managed to get the site to cooperate with me! Eddie is correct, thanks for the 'heads up' on when the site is available or not Eddie.
F/Sgt Gertzels file has been digitised. Copy and paste this link into your browser address bar and you should find it.
http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/imagine.asp?B=1068782&I=1
May I just offer a word of caution at this point? It may be advisable to have a careful look through the file and decide what information you feel your mother-in-law might be able to cope with. These files contain scans of the original documents held on file and some of them have the potential to be distressing to those who knew the airmen personally.
I have just looked through all 58 pages. Page 5 has a photograph of the original graves prior to the CWGC headstones being erected. There is also (on page 17) a complete list of his personal effects that were returned to the family. Reading through things like that move me to tears at times. It was not possible to return his bicycle to Australia and his mother was asked if there was someone in the UK she would like to nominate to receive it. She asked that it was sent to his brother who was in London at the time. All these small things build up such a powerful picture of how the death of an airman affected so many people.
Your mother-in-law is quite right to be proud of ALL her brothers. Without men like them we may not be living the lives that we enjoy today. We should remember them and we owe them all a huge debt. The very least we can do is to thank them when we have the opportunity to do so.
Dear Linzee
Thankyou so much for all the information you have given me.
I have visited several web sites relating to my husbands uncle and I must say it brings me to tears reading about all the men & women that served their country and a lot of them died doing it.Thankyou also for the warning regarding certain pages of the information,very thoughtful of you.
I know what you mean about the NAA it just drops out on you and takes a long time to get back where you were searching,but Thanks to you I get the info without the hassle.
All the best
Linzee and Eddie, to both of you, WELL DONE, especially to you Linzee! There's not much I can actually add here apart from maybe the aircraft's construction & service details.
Ian
57 RESCUE
This is an old thread, but in researching family members for a Remembrance Day post on my blog, I came across this mention of Flight Sergeant William Gertzel. He is a fourth cousin of mine, via his mother Clarice MacPherson.
I just thought I'd say that F/S Gertzel has not been forgotten by this side of his family either.
Hi
DJ, I was wondering if you would get hold of me please through my website (moderator:- hope that the this is ok) as I have him mentioned on there www.halifaxlv827.co.uk/lv919.htm
John, of course it's fine to post a link to your Halifax related website in the thread but if you want to contact DJ directly yourself in case he doesn't look back here you can e-mail him by clicking on his name 'DJ' in the left hand column of his post.