The relatives of a World War Two pilot from Westbury who died on board a Lancaster, have been found following an appeal from the Ministry of Defence.
An appeal was launched to find the family of the four crew members of Lancaster JB640, which was lost during a bombing raid on Berlin on 3rd January 1944.
One of those four men was Flight Sergeant Kenneth Sidney James Chapman who was born and raised in Westbury.
Kenneth’s second cousin, Alison Calderan saw the appeal on social media and immediately got in contact with her cousin Ken Davis, Kenneth’s nephew, who lives in Westbury.
Ken said, “It’s all quite amazing really, as you don’t expect to hear about what’s happened when someone has been lost at war.
“It was quite a shock but a nice shock because we as a family now have closure on the matter.
“I wasn’t born when he went to war but I’ve heard about him in the past from grandparents. It must have had quite an impact on the whole family because I know they were all very close.
“We’re now planning our trip to Berlin and we’re looking forward to it. We’d like to find out more as we don’t really know a lot about it. ”
Kenneth was born in 1923 to Edgar Sidney Chapman and Daisy Brewer. He also had a sister named Olive.
The crew had flown together for the first time in July 1943 and had six ‘ops’ under their belt when they were selected for the Pathfinder Force (PFF).
Nicola Nash from the Ministry of Defence said, “The PFF was an elite force that was comprised of the very best RAF crew members, so we know that Kenneth and the rest of his crew must have been exceptional.
“After some initial training, they were then posted to 156 Squadron which was based at RAF Warboys. The life expectancy of men joining 156 Squadron was only six weeks, although the crew of Lancaster JB640 managed to double that. January 1944 would turn out to be the worst month in history for both Bomber Command and 156 Squadron for losses.
“After a fantastic response from the general public, we have now managed to get in touch with the nephew and cousin of Kenneth, which is an amazing result. They are both planning on coming to the service in Berlin on 27th April.”
