23rd May 1940

[Andy Saunders]

Originally Posted by B.F.M. Droog

Hello Paul,

It's a very small detail, but wouldn't 'Alexandra' be a typo of the London Gazette? CWGC has as his second name 'Alexander'

I wonder, is it usual in the UK to give boys a female name as second or third name? In the Netherlands it is; many roman catholic males have as third name the name of their godmother, as is the case with me.

Regards,

Bart

Exactly so, Bart! In fact, I have come across quite a few instances where the RAF List and subsequent CWGC entries have substituted masculine names incorrectly. An example is Hilary Patrick Mary EDRIDGE of 222 Squadron, kia 30.10.40. All records show his third name as Michael, which is certainly not correct. The substitution is perhaps understandable, though.