H1HU Posted October 26, 2010 Share Posted October 26, 2010 I thought you might be interested in some research my son has been doing about a Canadian airman of WW2. Bradley bought some WW2 Irvin flying trousers. When they arrived there was a note that they had been used by a caretaker at a girls school in Yorkshire after the war. He rode his motorbike in them. Written on one of the suspenders was the name MS Humphrey. Immediately Brad started to search to see if he could find anything out about Humphrey, but frustratingly his searches proved fruitless. He continued to persist over a two year period and in dribs and drabs he began to find little snippets of information but none of it could be definately tied together. There were lots of 'coincidences' which all seemed to good to be true. About four months ago all of a sudden information started to appear that proved the info he had got was correct. Sgt Morley Sydney Humphrey, a Canadian, was a rear gunner in a Whitley bomber of 102 Squadron. Unfortunately the Whitley he was in was shot down on the 1st of September 1941 on its return from a bombing raid over Essen. He and the rest of the crew are buried in a civilian cemetary in the town of Schaffen, north and east of Brussels. He was billeted at Skellfield House near by to Topcliffe airfield. Skellfield House was a girls school which was evacuated to make way for the airmen. One of those girls, the head girl, is my aunt, Bradley's great aunt. He also tracked down Ed Cooke of 102 squadron who flew on the same raids as Sgt Morley Sydney Humphrey. We met up with him in Seattle a few weeks ago and learnt alot more about the squadron and what it did. Ed Cooke went on to train as a pilot later in the war but unfortunately didn't know Humphrey personally. Just recently we had to go to Brussels on family matters and whilst there we headed for Schaffen where Humphrey is buried. Bradley had with him the flying trousers. We spent some time in Schaffen as we walk up to the field which is thought to be the crash site of the Whitley on that fatefull night in September 1941. We also met a local guy who Bradley had been in contact with via a Belgian website. He hopes to excavate the site next year which will be the 70th anniversary of the death of Humphrey and the rest of the crew of the Whitley. I mentioned before about the coincidences, the strangest occuring before we had any information about Humphrey. Very strangely shortly after Bradley bought the trousers he was asked by a local amateur film club if he would like to take part in making a short film about a WW2 bomber being shot down. They asked him as they knew he had all the right equipment and uniforms. The short film was called 'Night raid on Essen'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enigma Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Very impressive story. Also very good of you to have visited the grave and mention it on this forum. In a way it brings Sgt. Humphrey back to live. Well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcspool Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Indeed, impressive, thanks for sharing with us! What a story a pair of trousers can tell, eh? . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Burley Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 Impressive research.:thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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