Flying Officer Harold Raymond Wheeler
Date of Birth 11/01/1910
Place of Birth Chippenham, Wiltshire
Air Force Branch Royal Air Force
Rank Flying Officer
Service Number 70727
Awards
Date of Death 27/07/1940
Location Bristol Channel off Porthcawl, Glamorgan
Squadron No 7 B & GS
Aircraft type Fairey Battle L5293
Location of Memorial Bristol (Arnos Vale) Crematorium
Next of Kin
The death of Flying Officer Harold was reported in the Wiltshire Gazette on the 1st August 1940;
Killed In Action
Flying Officer (acting Flt Lt) Harold Raymond Wheeler, RAF, only son of Mr and Mrs F G Wheeler, Greenway Park, Chippenham, has lost his life on service. A native of Chippenham, he was 30 years of age and educated at Exeter Cathedral Chorister School and Bristol Grammar School. In civil life he was on the works staff of St Anne’s Board Mills Ltd at Bristol and lived at South Lodge, Frenchay near Bristol. He was a married man but had no family. Flt Lt Wheeler was called up at the outbreak of war, having then been on the reserve of the RAF for six or seven years. Since that time he had been engaged on active service, training pilots in this country. The fatal accident in which he was involved occurred on Saturday but his body was not recovered from the sea until yesterday. Tomorrow (Friday) the remains will be cremated at Arnos Vale Crematorium, Bristol.
Flying Officer Wheeler had qualified to fly on a DH 60 Gipsy I aircraft on the 4th August 1933.
Place of Birth Chippenham, Wiltshire
Air Force Branch Royal Air Force
Rank Flying Officer
Service Number 70727
Awards
Date of Death 27/07/1940
Location Bristol Channel off Porthcawl, Glamorgan
Squadron No 7 B & GS
Aircraft type Fairey Battle L5293
Location of Memorial Bristol (Arnos Vale) Crematorium
Next of Kin
The death of Flying Officer Harold was reported in the Wiltshire Gazette on the 1st August 1940;
Killed In Action
Flying Officer (acting Flt Lt) Harold Raymond Wheeler, RAF, only son of Mr and Mrs F G Wheeler, Greenway Park, Chippenham, has lost his life on service. A native of Chippenham, he was 30 years of age and educated at Exeter Cathedral Chorister School and Bristol Grammar School. In civil life he was on the works staff of St Anne’s Board Mills Ltd at Bristol and lived at South Lodge, Frenchay near Bristol. He was a married man but had no family. Flt Lt Wheeler was called up at the outbreak of war, having then been on the reserve of the RAF for six or seven years. Since that time he had been engaged on active service, training pilots in this country. The fatal accident in which he was involved occurred on Saturday but his body was not recovered from the sea until yesterday. Tomorrow (Friday) the remains will be cremated at Arnos Vale Crematorium, Bristol.
Flying Officer Wheeler had qualified to fly on a DH 60 Gipsy I aircraft on the 4th August 1933.
Sources: CWGC, Ancestry.co.uk, Wiltshire Gazette, Photo- Les Turner.