The Airmen's Stories - AC1 J B W Warren

John Benjamin William Warren was born in 1912 in High Ongar, Essex, the son of Jeffery Warren (1880-1966) and Maud Ethel Warren (nee Warren 1882-1969).

He joined the RAF in December 1938 as an Aircrafthand. Warren later volunteered for aircrew duties, completed a short radar course and joined 600 Squadron at Manston in July 1940.

He was a member of the crew of Blenheim L8665, which was shot down by a Me109 of JG26 on 8th August. The pilot, F/O DN Grice, stayed at the controls to guide the burning aircraft away from Ramsgate, it crashed in flames into the sea off the town. All three aboard were killed, the other crewmember being Sgt. FJ Keast.

S/Ldr. DDeB Clark submitted the following report:

Their instructions were to fly between base and Ashford at 6000 feet or below cloud. At 11:27 the air raid warning sounded. The aircraft gained height over base. F/O Smith states that he heard an aircraft diving above the clouds so he ran to the Ops Room and ordered the VHF tender to instruct them to land immediately. This order was given at 11:34 and acknowledged by both aircraft. Almost immediately the first gunfire was heard above the clouds and L6885 was seen to dive out of the clouds with both engines on fire. The aircraft continued in a straight dive towards Ramsgate and avoided the harbour and neighbouring buildings apparently under the control of the pilot. Naval personnel at Ramsgate reported that the pilot lifted the aircraft over the harbour breakwater and it then crashed into the sea, one wing touching the first and then turned over. It sunk within a few seconds, still burning.

Warren was 19. His body was washed up on the French coast and he was initially buried near the Mole at Calais on 31st August 1940 before being moved to Calais North Cemetery. He was moved again, this time to the Southern cemetery at Calais.

Warren's mother sent many communications to the Air Ministry suspecting for some reason that the body washed ashore in France was not John Warren's. These communications continued for a number of years and postwar her other three sons went to France in an attempt to prove that the body buried in Calais as Warren was not their brother. They were unable to prove this theory and returned none the wiser.

In 1946 Warren's mother asked for the body to be repatriated for burial in the UK. This request was denied.

The Mayor and Corporation of Ramsgate sent Mrs. Warren a silver tea and coffee service as a mark of appreciation of his sacrifice.

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Above: Warren is also commemorated on the family grave.

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In 2006 John Rowe, a Regional Volunteer for the war memorial charity War Memorials Trust, felt that the town of Ramsgate owed this crew a debt of gratitude. He proposed that a new memorial be created in the town to commemorate this crew's sacrifice. With local support from the Ramsgate Society, the Ramsgate Charter Trustees and the local branch of the Royal Air Force Association fund raising was commenced and efforts initiated to trace members of the crew's families. Unfortunately, in the event, only relatives of the air gunner Sgt Francis John Keast were traced and on the day of the unveiling 16 members of his family were in attendance.

The site of the former Ramsgate Hospital, which was being redeveloped into luxury apartments, was identified as an appropriate site.

The memorial plaque was designed by a local artist, Mr Denys le Fevre FRSA, and made at a local stonemasons in black slate with gold lettering. On the 3rd March 2006 Sir Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, former leader of Kent County Council, unveiled the new Blenheim memorial as a part of an overall ceremony at which the refurbished Peace Memorial was handed back formally to the people of Ramsgate. Members of Sgt Keast’s family laid 3 wreaths, 1 for each of the crew members.