George Peter Alexandra

[jcowie]

Hi All

In memory of George Peter Alexandra who died on 03 February 1945.

Originally posted in wrong section.

George (Known as Peter) enlisted in the RAF and travelled to Falcon Field, Mesa, Arizona to train as a pilot. Subsequently he joined 170 Squadron based at Hemswell. It was from here that Flight Lieutenant Alexandra and his crew took off, at 16:33 on the afternoon of 03 February 1945 in a mark 1 Lancaster NN739 TC – Q, as part of Operation Bottrop, to bomb the Prosper Benzol plant, in the North-West of the Ruhr area in Germany. This was one of 192 Lancasters and 18 Mosquitos of No.’s 1 and 8 Groups, which successfully attacked the plant at Bottrop. 8 Lancasters were lost.
Peter’s aircraft crashed near the railway station at Gelsenkirchen-Buer in Germany, with the loss of the entire crew. It is known that the bodies were all taken to the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, but their graves could not be identified when the permanent grave markers were placed. Thus, all are commemorated by special memorials, - type A, numbered 1 to 7 inclusive.

If anyone can add any further information I would be very grateful - as he is part of my on-going Tickhill Memorial Project.

Thanks and Regards

John