John Colverd Richards   Photo: Knud Riis    Updated: 10 JUN 2022

Airman: a014248.htm Surname: Richards Init: J C Rank: S/Ldr Service: RAF Sqdn: 12

P_link: p161.htm Plane: LAN ED818 Operation: Bomb G Crash_site: Vresen Ø (Island)

Crash_d: d210443 Buried_d: b300443 C_link: c014.htm At_Next: Esbjerg, A. 11. 9

"På en mission til Stettin - Szczecin blev et Lancaster fly natten til den 21. april 1943 ramt over Storebælt.
Den nedstyrtede ved Vresen Ø, nord for Langeland. Hele besætningen omkom." (FAF) Vresen Ø er her.

S/Ldr J. C. Richards blev fundet i havet ved Samsø (som er her) og bragt til Fredericia (her) den 24. april 1943.
Den 30. april 1943 blev han begravet i Esbjerg som ukendt flyver. (Kilde: AOD) (se foto).

Gravstenen med inskriptionen: "A Squadron Leader of the Royal Air Force, Known unto God, 21st April 1943"
fik oberst Helge Gram til at indsamle et grundlag for at bevise at den ukendte var J. C. Richards.
Dokumenter blev sendt til CWGC i 1993 og i 1995 blev den nye headstone med
"Antages at være Squadron Leader J. C. Richards - " rejst. (Kilde: Helge Gram:Skudt ned over Danmark, s.103)
Squadron Leader John Colverd Richards var fra United Kingdom. (Kilde: CWGC)

2 flyvere fra LAN ED818 har ingen kendt grav. 2 er begravet i Nyborg, 1 på Bispebjerg, 1 i Esbjerg og 1 i Odense.
7 flyvere. Se Lancaster fotos og  Stettin + Rostock 20 - 21 April 1943.

On the night before 21 April 1943 on a mission to  Stettin - Szczecin  LAN ED818 crashed into the sea at
Vresen Island north of Langeland. All of the crew perished. (Source: FAF) Vresen Island is here.

S/Ldr J. C. Richards was found in the sea at Samsø (which is here) and taken to Fredericia (here)
on 24 April 1943. On 30 April 1943 he was buried in Esbjerg as an unknown airman. (Source: AOD) (see photo).
He is remembered on The Walls of Names at the International Bomber Command Centre, Phase 1, Panel  89.  

The headstone with the inscription: "A Squadron Leader of the Royal Air Force, Known unto God, 21st April
1943" triggered Colonel Helge Gram to collect evidence to prove that the unknown man was J. C. Richards.
Documents were sent to the CWGC in 1993, and the new headstone with "Believed to be Squadron Leader
J. C. Richards - " was erected in 1995. (Source: Helge Gram: Shot down over Denmark 1940-1945, p. 106)
Squadron Leader John Colverd Richards was from the United Kingdom. (Source: CWGC)

2 airmen from LAN ED818 have no known grave. 2 are buried in Nyborg, 1 in Copenhagen (Bispebjerg), 1 in Esbjerg and 1 in Odense.
See Lancaster * Lancaster Photos * No. 12 Squadron RAF - Wikipedia * 12 Squadron RAF at RAF-Lincolnshire.info * 12 Squadron - RAFA.
Lancaster III ED818 PH-Y took off from RAF Wickenby on 20 APR 1943. (Source: Aircrew Remembered has this ) Stettin + Rostock 20 - 21 April 1943. 7 airmen.