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William George Marett c. 1918 - 1941

William George Marett was born circa 1918, and died at age 22 years old on March 14, 1941. William Marett was buried at Jonkerbos War Cemetery Coll. Grave 12. B. 9. in Netherlands. Family, friend, or fan, this family history biography is for you to remember William George Marett.

William George Marett

circa 1918

March 14, 1941

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William George Marett William Marett (1918 - 1941)

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William George Marett's History: circa 1918 - 1941

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1918

circa

Birthday

circa 1918

Birthdate

Unknown

Birthplace

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Military Service

Service number: 639154 Rank: Sergeant Regiment: Royal Air Force Unit/ship/squadron: 149 Sqdn.
03/14

1941

Death

March 14, 1941

Death date

Unknown
Cause of death

Unknown
Death location

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Gravesite & Burial

mm/dd/yyyy
Funeral date
Jonkerbos War Cemetery Coll. Grave 12. B. 9. in Netherlands
Burial location
Obituary

A lot of activity was going on at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolkwas that evening of March 14, 1941. From 7.50pm on the Wellingtons of 149 Squadron took off for a bombing flight to Gelsenkirchen in the German Ruhr area. The weather was excellent for navigation. But the light clouds and the bright moonlight were also in favor of the German night fighters. They could find the bombers very easy that way. The target was the oil refineries of Gelsenkirchen. In total, a hundred and one bombers flew to the target that night. Falling German defense grenades caused minor damage in the city. The English bombs, on the other hand, hardly found their tagets. Only sixteen aircraft managed to hit the Hydrierwerk Scholven refinery which caused a lot of damage however. The total number of victims was nine and the production of the refineries stopped completely. In Venlo the air raid siren went off at 9.40pm when the fleet of British aircraft approached. Meanwhile, the German night fighters were already in the air. At about 10.30pm the German combat command officer Oberleutnant Knickmeier of the Nachtjagdlocation 5C at Meyel conducted the black Bf110 from Haupmann Streib of Stab l /NJG/1to the Wellington L7858 of Sgt Hawley of 149 Squadron. The German searchlights flashed on and after a short air fight Hauptmann Streib won the victory. The British aircraft went down like a fireball. At 10.32pm a deafening explosion put an end to the lives of the crew. The bodies were unrecognizably maimed in a huge crater in Mariaveen, a swamp area in Sevenum near the border with the village of Helenaveen. German soldiers set off the area and extinguished some small fires that arose in the area. The Wellington L7858 was the tenth victim of the onboard guns of the Bf 110 Messerschmidt from Hauptmann Streib. In the firefight, however, Streib's Bf 110 was also severely damaged by machine gun fire from the Wellington tail gunner, Sgt Ward. The 'funker' of Streib, Oberleutnant Josef Schnauster got seriously injured on his leg. German soldiers picked up the mortal remains of the six crew members. They were buried in a mass grave at Ehrenfriedhof Venlo at the Dr. Blumenkampstraat. In 1947 by order of the British authorities, all mortal remains were reburied at the central British Jonkerbos War Cemetery in Nijmegen. But as so often the identification of this crew proved to be impossible. They therefore received a collective grave on their last resting place. Source: Book Mayday Mayday Mayday from Hub Groeneveld The crew (less Hawley and Rogers) had flown as crew for Sgt Marr in late 1940 and later flew eight operations with Sgt Hawley as the pilot of the aircraft they had flown in with Sgt Marr - OJ-A L7858. On one occasion, with Hawley at pilot, they had bombed from 9,000ft and then descended to 200ft to machine gun the searchlights. They were also known to 'dive bomb' targets on occasion. Hawley had been on the squadron since mid-November 1940 as a 2nd pilot. That was also the time when the crew were flying with Sgt Marr who later left the squadron as Tour-ex. Crew of Vickers 416 Wellington 1c, L7858, code OJ-A Sergeant/Pilot Leslie Richard Hawley RAF Volunteer Reserve Age: Unknown Reg.nr. 742914 Jonkerbos War Cemetery Nijmegen NL 12b 8a Sergeant/Pilot Charles Barrie Rogers RAF Volunteer Reserve, Age: 21 Reg.nr. 900955 Jonkerbos War Cemetery Nijmegen NL 12b 9 Sergeant Air Observer Edward Guy Prettyman RAF Volunteer Reserve, Age 34 Reg.nr. 749386 Jonkerbos War Cemetery Nijmegen NL 12b 8a Son of Edward Guy and Grace Prettyman co. Durham, husband of mabel L. Prettyman of West Hartlepool. Born in Hartlepool in 1907. Sergeant. Wireless Operator Ernest White RAF, Age: 19 Reg.nr. 618714 Jonkerbos War Cemetery Nijmegen NL 12b 9 Son of Ernest and Ada White of Leeds-Yorkshire. Born in 1921 Sergeant Air Gunner William George Marett RAF Age: 23 Reg.nr. 639154 Jonkerbos War Cemetery Nijmegen NL 12b 8a Born in 1917 Son of Mr and Mrs W.G. Marett of St. Heliers, Jersy, Channel Islands Sergeant Air Gunner Clifford Godfrey Harry Ward RAF Volunteer Reserve, Age 23 Reg.nr. 751296 Jonkerbos War Cemetery Nijmegen NL 12b 9 Age 23 Born in 1917, Son of Henry Payne Ward and Lily Ward of Shelton, Stoke on Trent. For the Fallen They shall not grow old, as we, that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, Nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun And in the morning We will remember them Sources: Book: Mayday Mayday Mayday by Hub Groeneveld 3 Group Bomber Command, Chris Ward. 149 ORBs Boiten's Nachtjagd War Diaries Vol 1 Alan Fraser

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