The young crew of Halifax JN903 NP-C, would have held their Flight Engineer George Stokes in high regard; they'd have looked up to him in many ways – not least the number of operational missions he’d completed.

He was ten years older than the rest of them, so they would most probably have regarded him as something of a father figure; ten years may not sound much nowadays, but back in 1943, especially in Bomber Command, ten years was a lifetime.

There would doubtless have been some light-hearted banter thrown around amongst the chaps as they taxied onto the runway of RAF Lisset in Yorkshire, but however much they joshed each other, they would all have been apprehensive, scared even. 

And for good reason - the target that night was Berlin…

Berlin’s size, geography and extensive defences made it the most dangerous target in Germany. The total flight was over 1,000 nautical miles there and back, and the lads aboard Halifax JN903 NP-C knew exactly what to expect.

Berlin was ringed with a flak belt 40 miles wide and a searchlight band over 60 miles across. The defences included twenty-four 128-mm anti-aircraft guns grouped in eight-gun batteries mounted on massive flak towers. Not only was the city of Berlin well defended, but almost all of the route to get there and back was over German occupied territory, which was also infested with anti-aircraft guns.

Furthermore, the city's position made it relatively easy for the Germans to determine if Berlin was the target once a bomber stream's course had been picked-up; so the night fighters could be pre-warned, ensuring that they were ready and waiting when the bombers began their run-in.

Although the bomber crews attacking Berlin may have drawn some comfort during the winter raids when the long hours of darkness gave at least some cover – on this operation, Halifax JN903 NP-C was attacking Berlin in the heighth of summer.

Little wonder the crew of Halifax JN903 NP-C were apprehensive, scared even...

William had been born in Kidderminster in 1910 to parents Harry and Beatrice. At the time of his birth, the family were living at house number 4 in Court Number 2, on Clensmore Street in the town’s Horsefair district.

William’s dad worked as a “blacksmith’s striker.” William had two elder sisters, Annie and Nellie. Little is known about William’s childhood and school years, but times were hard and Clensmore Street was the site of some awful housing in the 1930s (most of which was demolished in the slum clearance programme of the late 1940s/early 1950s) so William certainly didn’t have a privileged upbringing by any means – his childhood would have been tough, that's for sure. 

What is known, is that on leaving school he found work as a shop assistant in a butchers shop, a job he clearly enjoyed.

William married Edna B. Williams, in 1935 and they had their first child, Doreen-Elaine, in 1936. Two years later they welcomed a baby boy into the world - Grayham Stokes was born in 1938. By this time William and Edna had settled into their family home at number 306 Hurcott Road.

As war approached, the 1939 Register confirmed that William’s dad Harry was now working as a night watchman at one of the town’s many carpet factories whilst his mum Beatrice looked after the new family home at number 11, Turton Street in the Greenhill district of Kidderminster.

In 1940, William and Edna had their third child and second daughter; she was named Pauline (it's unconfirmed, but it appears that things may not have been perfect between William and Edna at this time, because Edna seems to disappear from records until her re-marriage in 1946. No reference was made to her in William's death notice in the local newspaper and she is not included in the family's memorial epitaph). 

In 1940, William volunteered to join the Royal Air Force. He’d resigned his position at Marsh & Baxters, the butcher’s shop in Coventry Street, Kidderminster, and was subsequently posted to No. 158 Squadron, Bomber Command.

William and his young crewmates aboard Halifax JN903 NP-C were far from alone on this raid; once they’d successfully taken-off from RAF Lisset, they joined aircraft from other squadrons to form a bomber stream consisting of 622 aircraft (331 Lancasters, 176 Halifaxes, 106 Stirlings and 9 Mosquitos).

The '158 Squadron Record of Events Log’ gives a summary of the operation and an overview of what happened on William’s eighteenth mission over Germany – the Berlin raid of 31st of August 1943:

“Summary of Operations Carried Out on night of 31st August/ 1st September 1943”

“Weather: Considerable cloud was encountered on route but track indicators could be seen. Over the target area 4-9/10 cloud prevented visual identification but did not obscure the markers and occasionally built-up areas were seen through gaps.”

“Target: Berlin ---- Duty: Bombing ---- Operations Order: No. 55 ---- Number of Aircraft detailed – 19 ---- No. of Aircraft attacked Primary – 12 ---- No. of Aircraft failed to take off – Nil ---- No. of Aircraft returned early – 3 ---- No. of Aircraft landed away - 2 ---- No. of Aircraft missing – 4"

Tragically, one of the four missing aircraft mentioned in the summary, was Halifax JN903 NP-C.

William's Halifax had been hit by flak and every crew member killed, either by the impact of the flak shells, or in the subsequent crash as the aircraft plummeted into the ground at Criquiers, around 27 miles South East of Dieppe.

Along with William, the six other crewmembers who perished that night when Halifax JN903 NP-C went down, were: 

~ Pilot and Captain: Pilot Officer Ernest James RAFVR, aged 22 - a Nottinghamshire man

~ Navigator: Flight Sergeant William John Poulin RCAF, aged 21 – from Dodsland, Saskatchewan in Canada

~ Air Bomber: Flying Officer Robert Gemmell McInnes RAFVR, aged 20, a Glaswegian

~ Wireless Operator: Pilot Officer Arthur William Davies RAFVR, aged 20, a ‘Taf’ from Ogmore Vale in Glamorgan, Wales

~ Mid-Gunner: Sergeant Peter William Cramb RAFVR, aged 22, from Crieth in Perthshire

~ Rear Gunner: Sergeant Stanley William Evans RAFVR, aged 22, a proud Brummie

The payload being carried by William’s Halifax that night, consisted of 1 x 1,000lb M.C. T.D. (.25) plus 420 x 4lb and 30 x 4lb ‘X’ type bombs – as well as 40 x 30lb incendiaries.

The '158 Squadron Record of Events Log’ provides a stark and impassive overview of the raid in which 237 aircrew were killed and 102 forced to bail-out and subsequently become Prisoners of War:

“Results of attack: Early markers were erratic, possibly owing to a veer in the wind, but they improved later. Consequently most of the bombing appears to have been spread over a wide area. Some concentrations were achieved chiefly to the west and south-west. Less interference from the ground defences was experienced going to and returning from the target, and relatively moderate flak was experienced in the target area. Searchlights however were plentiful and opened up before the attack commenced. A new system of defence appeared to be operating consisting of continual illumination of the skies above the target by intensely bright white flares. Crews were generally of the opinion that they were dropped from aircraft in clusters of a dozen or more at corners of the target area with a double strip apparently dropped by rapidly moving aircraft around the perimeter of the area and igniting at about 17,000 feet and lasting several minutes.“ 

An even colder and impersonal report on the fate of William’s Halifax followed. It simply read: 

“Aircraft took off at time stated and failed to return.” 

In total, 47 aircraft (20 Halifaxes, 17 Stirlings and 10 Lancasters) failed to return - approximately two-thirds of which were shot down by German night fighters operating over or around Berlin.

The “wide area” referred to in the Record of Events Log actually extended some 30 miles back along the bomber’s approach route. After this raid (possibly due to the unintentional destruction of residential areas caused by the haphazard fall of ordinance) Gauleiter Goebbels ordered the evacuation from Berlin of all children and of all adults not involved in war work, to country areas or to towns in eastern Germany where air raids were not expected.

Today, William is still with his pals – they rest in the Poix-de-Picardie Churchyard in France.

Poix is a small town around eighteen miles south-west of Amiens. The 16th century church of St. Denis with its surrounding churchyard is on the Amiens-Rouen Road, about 220 yards north of the centre of the town. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) plot is opposite the west door of the church.

Because no positive identification of individual remains was possible post-crash, William and his crewmates rest together, at Row D, in a Collective Grave (numbers 21-29).

Under William's name is the personal inscription chosen by his family:

"ALWAYS IN THE THOUGHTS OF MAM AND SISTERS"

All the burials in the British plot in this churchyard are of airmen who crashed, or were shot down, in the country around Poix during the war years. There are now nearly 150 war casualties commemorated in this site.

Twenty-one of these are men from 158 Sqn (in addition to William and his crewmates, there are also the crews from two other 158 Sqn. Halifaxes which were both lost on a raid eight months after William's Halifax was shot-down). 

Back in Blighty, William George Stokes is commemorated on the Kidderminster War Memorial, which is situated to the front of St. Mary and All Saints Church. Below the names of the fallen on this memorial, the following epitaph is inscribed:

“THESE DIED THE NOBLEST DEATH A MAN MAY DIE ~ FIGHTING FOR GOOD AND RIGHT AND LIBERTY ~ AND SUCH A DEATH IS IMMORTALITY”

Rest In Peace, a father of three, William George Stokes ~ your bravery will never be forgotten                                                   ~ your sacrifice will be remembered For Evermore

(Please note that Flight Sergeant William George Stokes is mistakenly recorded as George William Stokes in on-line CWGC records.)

Acknowledgements: This story could not have been told were it not for the wonderful team at the Kidderminster Museum of Carpet; most especially Geoff, Jill and Jean. Very many thanks to you all. www.museumofcarpet.org.uk

Also: RAF Memorial Flight Club @ www.memorialflightclub.com and Aircrew Remembered @ www.aircrewremembered.com

Any mistakes in this narrative are mine and mine alone; Gary Broad.