Sgt A J Vaughan,916680,RAFVR,

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There is a thread in Pprune-Mil, in respect of Sgt Vaughan who died after forced landing Hurricane Mk1 Z2666(possibly a Mk2) near Southease in Sussex on 26 April 1941; he was aged 41 and on 242 Sqdn.Other evidence from `Flightglobal` archives may suggest that he had been a Probationary PltOffr between 1926-27. He was also married; The good people of Southease are proud of the fact he has been buried in their graveyard ,but are at a loss as to why,as there appears to be no relatives,or connection with the area,and further background info,ie birth/marriage/ etc is not forthcoming.
Anybody able to suggest other lines of investigation,etc,etc...

Original post

A quick search of my master-list for Sussex crashes throws up nothing that ties in with this, and I cannot find a Police report either. I would expect there to be one. My work with Chris Goss and Norman Franks on 1941 losses seems to indicate the aircraft crashed in Kent, but I will delve further.

I see that he was 41. Pretty old!

There must have been a reason for his burial at Southease, and I suspect that it was either where he or his wife hailed from. Even although there is no local knowledge that ties into the Vaughan family I have often found that burials like this end up being in the spouses home town/village, in which case the maiden name of Christine Vaughan might start to lead to some clues.

Either way, I am pretty sure he did not loose his life in an aircraft related incident at or anywhere near Southease.

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24 years 2 months

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I can't find a marriage for an Arthur James Vaughan to a Christine of any description. I have found two births for Arthur James Vaughan's but they are 1907 and 1908 and registered in Southwark and Mile End respectively. But those dates don't tie in with him being 41 at the time of his death.

Puzzling.

Regards,

kev35

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14 years 10 months

Posts: 174

Just a slight correction; according to the Southease War Grave web page, his aircraft appeared to have run out of fuel and force landed between Chartham and Chicham. Chartham is in Kent, which fits with 242 base, but Chilham, no Chicham in Kent. There is a Chidham, near Chichester but nothing like Chartham there.
Otherwise it seems strange that he is buried where no one now seems to know anything about him or his wife, nor can anyone remember why.
If he was an "outsider" surely they'd want to know why he was being buried there?
There has to be some connection, now forgotten, such as a sister marrying locally or perhaps they were married there?
It's just intriguing that literally from out of the blue a pilot from a well known squadron ends up being buried far from where he crashed and with no apparent connection.
You don't just turn up with a coffin and say "this'll do"!!!

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 6,968

Icare9.

I've followed the same route as you which I could have avoided had I read the PPRUNE thread first.

I wonder why his 5 year short service commission only lasted 13 months? If, of course, both P/O and Sgt. are the same man.

Regards,

kev35

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 6,968

Just another couple of thoughts. Perhaps we can't find a birth because he was born either in Scotland or overseas? Is it possible we can't find a marriage because he married overseas?

Not very helpful I know.

Regards,

kev35

The crash was between Chartham and Chilham, Kent. Not Chicham or Chidham.

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Those two villages lie on the railway between Ashford and Canterbury. The line ran first to Wye, so that, during the war when all station names etc were obliterated, the porters on the platform at Ashford would call out the trains. For that line it was always "Why, kill'em, and cart'em to Canterbury"
Sorry, it was a serious thread.