| Husband: | Horace George OLIVER (1894- ) | |
| Wife: | Florence TOZER (1893- ) | |
| Children: | Vera Alice OLIVER (1916- ) | |
| Ralston George OLIVER (1918-1940) | ||
| Douglas Edward OLIVER (1920- ) | ||
| Marriage | 1915 | Exeter, Devon, England |
| Name: | Horace George OLIVER | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Father: | - | |
| Mother: | - | |
| Birth | 1894 | Torquay, Devon, England |
| Occupation | 19 Jun 1940 (age 45-46) | Salesman1 |
| Name: | Florence TOZER | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Father: | - | |
| Mother: | - | |
| Birth | 1893 | Exeter, Devon, England |
| Name: | Vera Alice OLIVER | |
| Sex: | Female | |
| Birth | 1916 | Exeter, Devon, England |
| Name: | Ralston George OLIVER | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Spouse: | Joyce Kippeen MADGE (1920-2012) | |
| Birth | Q1 1918 | Exeter, Devon, England |
| Education | to 1929 (age 10-11) | Newtown Boy's School |
| He won a scholarship to Hele's School. | ||
| Military Regiment | RAF, 82 Sqdn | |
| Military Rank | Sgt | |
| Military Service No. | 581525 | |
| Trade/Skill (Military) | Observer | |
| Residence | 19 Jun 1940 (age 22) | Exeter, Devon, England1 |
| St Leonard's | ||
| Occupation | 19 Jun 1940 (age 22) | Sergt Observer RAF; Exeter, Devon, England1 |
| Death | 13 Aug 1940 (age 22) | Aalborg, Denmark |
| 82 Squadron, Bomber Command, RAF Watton, Norfolk In a raid on a Nazi airfield at Aalborg, Denmark, in its Bristol Blenheim Mark IVs, 82 Squadron, again suffered catastrophic losses to German fighters, losing eleven out of twelve aircraft. Ralston was killed on this raid, shot down by flak over the target just before bomb release. On the morning of 13th August 1940, 05:30hrs at RAF Watton, Norfolk, twelve Blenheim crews of 82 Squadron were woken, attended breakfast and briefing ready for an 08:00 take-off. Minor delays and hitches pushed the time back until at the last minute the crew of R3821, P/O Donald Wellings (Pilot), Sgt. Don Macfarlane (Observer), and Sgt. Peter Eames (Wop/AG) were taken off the aircraft and a new crew, P/O Earl Robert Hale, Sgt. Ralston George Oliver and Sgt. Alfred Edward Boland took their place, Hale had joined 82 Squadron just two weeks earlier. Final take-off was around 08:45hrs. On arrival at the Danish coast one of the twelve turned back with a suspected fuel shortage while the remaining eleven pressed on. A report from the Aalborg Stiftstidende newspaper of the 14th August 1940 describes 82’s approach as follows: “Immediately after the air raid warning one of the staff from Aalborg Stiftstidende, with his ordered helmet, went to the police headquarters. The air warning siren had not stopped yet when he heard the noise from the English bombers and the noise from the AA gunfire. He reports: The weather was fairly good with only a few white clouds in the sky. The English bombers came from south and passed the city in finger formation tracking Northern direction. The AA guns fired and the shells exploded round the bombers like small clouds of wool against the blue sky.” In R3821, Hale and his crew bravely had fought their way through to the airfield but their aircraft was shot from the sky, diving almost vertically into the target. There was no chance whatsoever that Hale, Oliver and Boland could survive. The Stiftstidende account continued: “The English bombers flew in a height of 1000 metre when the AA guns fired against them. Smoke from the exploding shells around the bombers gave, in a moment, the impression that there were about half a hundred aircraft in the air. Shortly after one of the bombers was seen to be hit. A yellow flame went out of the bomber which fell out of the formation started to descend but levelled out again and continued on course. Only two seconds later the bomber turned half round and descended while yellow flames surrounded it. The speed increased more and more and a moment later it crashed just like a yellow/red torch. Meanwhile the flames made a line of fire against the sky. It lasted only a few seconds, then it disappeared behind roofs.” In his book “Clipped Wings”, Sgt Donald Blair, who was the pilot of R2772 (UX-T) With Sgts Magrath and Greenwood on board, described the moments when an aircraft in the formation what was almost certainly R3821 was hit by Flak: “Damn! He [Blair] sees his comrade (the new crew) on the starboard side of the flight commander catch fire. For a fraction of a second he is spellbound. The awesome spectacle so close at hand, and yet one so powerless to help or prevent. Just like a movie, though much more ghastly, as he knows that those three gallant airmen are about to be burned alive. The flames are spreading rapidly, just as fast and deadly efficient as if the whole plane had been a paper torch thrust from out of a window and ignited, the whole process of the burning aircraft seeming to finish as quickly. Archie’s last view was the pilot’s cabin, one mass of flame, and the rear gunner struggling, white faced, to crash out of his turret. In vain - he is falling back into that holocaust, as the machine slow rolls to starboard and falls away, now just a funeral pyre of flame-enveloped wreckage, with not one vestige of human or mechanical form.” The Germans recovered what they could of human remains for burial, and quickly filled the smoking crater left by the exploding aircraft so the airfield could be got into action again. And there R3821 lay undisturbed until in 1995 when after its discovery, it was excavated and removed as recorded in this video." Sergt Oliver was killed less than 8 weeks after his wedding to Joyce Madge. |
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| Burial | 1940 | Aalborg, Denmark |
| Vadum Churchyard | ||
| Name: | Douglas Edward OLIVER | |
| Sex: | Male | |
| Birth | 1920 | Exeter, Devon, England |
| 1 | Text From Source: Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage 1940, Marriage solemnized at the Parish Church in the Ecclesiastical Parish of Emmanuel Exeter in the County of the City of Exeter Marriage certificate, certified copy given at the GRO App No16031376-1 When Married: 19 Jun 1940 Name and Surname: Ralston George Oliver and Joyce Kippeen Madge Age: 22 and 19 Condition: Bachelor and Spinster Rank or Profession: Sergt Observer RAF and - Residence at the time of Marriage: St Leonard's, Exeter and 45 Buller Road, Exeter Fathers' Names and Surnames: Horace George Oliver and Ernest Madge Rank or Profession of Fathers: Salesman and Monument mason Married in the Parish Church according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England After Banns by me, Ernest F. Tozer. This Marriage was solemnized between us, Ralston George Oliver and Joyce Kippeen Madge in the Presence of us, Ernest Madge, Douglas Edward Oliver |