Mystery airman buried in Pembrokeshire churchyard could have royal connections
The airman, identified as an officer and wearing pilot's wings, was washed ashore at Skrinkle Bay, Manorbier, on 12th October 1941 and was buried four days later in Manorbier churchyard.
Now a Pembrokeshire aviation historian has been diligently researching aircraft losses in the Bristol Channel sea area to try and put a name to the mystery airman.
The Rev Martine Johnson, Priest-in-Charge of Manorbier Church, with Malcolm Cullen at the grave of the 'Unknown Airman'. (Image: Martin Cavaney Photography)
Malcolm Cullen of Marloes, a founder member of the Pembrokeshire Aviation Group, began his research following contact made to Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre by an Australian, Douglas Ritchie.
His uncle – also called Douglas – was lost when piloting a twin-engined Blenheim over the Irish Sea on 28th August 1941.
Although there was strong censorship during wartime, local newspapers did report a coroner's court hearing. Reports referred to the airman wearing RAF design battledress 'of dark blue colour similar to that of the Royal Australian Air Force'. This prompted Mr Ritchie to wonder if this might be his uncle.
Malcolm has traced losses of several aircraft in the same sea areas, including that of an Anson trainer based in North Devon, which came down off Hartland Point, Devon, on 27th August 1941. All four crew were lost. Two were washed ashore on Pembrokeshire beaches – on 30th September at Newgale and 12th October at Marloes Sands – while a third was recovered on the Cornish coast. All were identified.
The pilot, Sous Lieutenant Karol Sapieha-Kodenski of the Free French Air Force, remains missing.
Said Malcolm: 'The references to a dark blue uniform pointed to an Australian connection but Free French airmen also wore dark blue. Taking into account tidal currents, the gulf stream and prevailing wind direction I believe that Douglas Ritchie's body, if it came ashore, was likely to wash up on a beach north of the Llyn Peninsula.
'I have been looking into these aircraft losses for several years and I strongly believe that the Manorbier airman is Lieutenant Sapieha-Kodenski.
"In an attempt to prove my belief, an extensive report has been submitted to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission who will decide.'
The inscription on the headstone reads 'Known Unto God'. (Image: Martin Cavaney Photography)
Malcolm has also been researching Lieutenant Sapieha-Kodenski's family history which has proved very enlightening. He was a Prince in his own right with French and Polish connections.
Of all the war graves in Pembrokeshire cemeteries, just two are listed as 'unknown airmen' – the one at Manorbier and a second at Llanion town cemetery, Pembroke Dock.
The Llanion airman was buried on 21st October 1941. Malcolm believes he was found at Bullslaughter Bay on the Castlemartin range.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Four people dead in medical transport plane crash near New Mexico, Arizona border
ARIZONA (KRQE) — The remains of four people, who were killed when a medical transport plane crashed near the Arizona and New Mexico border on Tuesday afternoon, were escorted to the Green Meadows Funeral Home by Navajo Police Department officers and Apache County sheriffs on Wednesday morning. The aircraft was on the way to pick up a patient from a nearby hospital when the crash happened near the Chinle Airport at about 12:40 p.m. Next of kin has been notified by the Albuquerque aircraft company, CSI Aviation. There were no survivors. CSI Aviation released the following statement on Wednesday morning: 'It is with deep sadness that we confirm the loss of an aircraft resulting in the deaths of four CSI Aviation crew members, including two pilots and two healthcare providers. On the fifth of August 2025 at approximately 2:20pm, near Chinle, AZ, a CSI Aviation King Air that was dispatched to provide air ambulance services to patients in Eastern Arizona, was lost. Emergency responders arrived promptly at the scene, and recovery operations are ongoing. There were no patients or passengers on the aircraft. We extend our deepest condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of those affected by this devastating event. Support services will be made available to families and our team. An investigation is underway in coordination with relevant authorities, including the National Transportation Safety Board , the Federal Aviation Administration, and local law enforcement. CSI Aviation is cooperating fully with the investigation. Safety is our highest priority, and we are committed to transparency as the investigation progresses. We ask for patience and privacy for the families during this difficult time.' — CSI Aviation The cause of the crash is not known at this time. The National Traffic Safety Bureau and Federal Aviation Administration is investigating. Witnesses to the accident or those who have surveillance video or other information that could be relevant to the investigation are asked to contact the NTSB at witness@ Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Restored Nagasaki bell rings in 80 years since A-bomb
Twin cathedral bells rang in unison Saturday in Japan's Nagasaki for the first time since the atomic bombing of the city 80 years ago, commemorating the moment of horror. On August 9, 1945, at 11:02 am, three days after a nuclear attack on Hiroshima, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. After heavy downpours Saturday morning, the rain stopped shortly before a moment of silence and ceremony in which Nagasaki mayor Shiro Suzuki urged the world to "stop armed conflicts immediately". "Eighty years have passed, and who could have imagined that the world would become like this? "A crisis that could threaten the survival of humanity, such as a nuclear war, is looming over each and every one of us living on this planet." About 74,000 people were killed in the southwestern port city, on top of the 140,000 killed in Hiroshima. Days later, on August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered, marking the end of World War II. Historians have debated whether the bombings ultimately saved lives by bringing an end to the conflict and averting a ground invasion. - 'Invisible terror' - But those calculations meant little to survivors, many of whom battled decades of physical and psychological trauma, as well as the stigma that often came with being a hibakusha. Ninety-three-year-old survivor Hiroshi Nishioka, who was just three kilometres (1.8 miles) from the spot where the bomb exploded, told ceremony attendees of the horror he witnessed as a young teenager. "Even the lucky ones (who were not severely injured) gradually began to bleed from their gums and lose their hair, and one after another they died," he recalled. "Even though the war was over, the atomic bomb brought invisible terror." Nagasaki resident Atsuko Higuchi told AFP it "made her happy" that everyone would remember the city's victims. "Instead of thinking that these events belong to the past, we must remember that these are real events that took place," the 50-year-old said. On Saturday, 200-300 people attending mass at Nagasaki's Immaculate Conception Cathedral heard the two bells ring together for the first time since 1945. One of them, 61-year-old Akio Watanabe, said he had been waiting since he was a young man to hear the bells chime together. The restoration is a "symbol of reconciliation", he said, tears streaming down his face. The imposing red-brick cathedral, with its twin bell towers atop a hill, was rebuilt in 1959 after it was almost completely destroyed in the monstrous explosion just a few hundred meters away. Only one of its two bells was recovered from the rubble, leaving the northern tower silent. With funds from US churchgoers, a new bell was constructed and restored to the tower, and chimed Saturday at the exact moment the bomb was dropped. - 'Working together for peace' - The cathedral's chief priest, Kenichi Yamamura, told AFP "it's not about forgetting the wounds of the past but recognising them and taking action to repair and rebuild, and in doing so, working together for peace". He also sees the chimes as a message to the world, shaken by multiple conflicts and caught in a frantic new arms race. Nearly 100 countries were set to participate in this year's commemorations, including Russia, which has not been invited since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Israel, whose ambassador was not invited last year over the war in Gaza, was in attendance. An American university professor, whose grandfather participated in the Manhattan Project, which developed the first nuclear weapons, spearheaded the bell project. During his research in Nagasaki, a Japanese Christian told him he would like to hear the two bells of the cathedral ring together in his lifetime. Inspired by the idea, James Nolan, a sociology professor at Williams College in Massachusetts, embarked on a year-long series of lectures about the atomic bomb across the United States, primarily in churches. - 'In tears' - He managed to raise $125,000 from American Catholics to fund the new bell. When it was unveiled in Nagasaki in the spring, "the reactions were magnificent. There were people literally in tears", said Nolan. Many American Catholics he met were also unaware of the painful history of Nagasaki's Christians, who, converted in the 16th century by the first European missionaries and then persecuted by Japanese shoguns, kept their faith alive clandestinely for over 250 years. This story was told in the novel "Silence" by Shusaku Endo, and adapted into a film by Martin Scorsese in 2016. He explains that American Catholics also showed "compassion and sadness" upon hearing about the perseverance of Nagasaki's Christians after the atomic bomb, which killed 8,500 of the parish's 12,000 faithful. They were inspired by the "willingness to forgive and rebuild". mac-bur-aph/djw
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Deaf Palestinian uses social media to highlight Gaza's struggles through sign language
Deaf Palestinian uses social media to highlight Gaza's struggles through sign language (Refiles to correct byline) GAZA (Reuters) -Basem Alhabel stood amongst the ruins of Gaza, with people flat on the floor all around him as bullets flew, and filmed himself using sign language to explain the dangers of the war to fellow deaf Palestinians and his followers on social media. Alhabel, 30, who describes himself as a "deaf journalist in Gaza" on his Instagram account, says he wants to raise more awareness of the conflict -- from devastating Israeli air strikes to the starvation now affecting most of the population -- by informing Palestinians and people abroad with special needs. Bombarded by Israel for nearly two years, many Gazans complain the world does not hear their voices despite mass suffering with a death toll that exceeds 60,000 people, according to Gaza health authorities in the demolished enclave. "I wished to get my voice out to the world and the voices of the deaf people who cannot speak or hear, to get their voice out there, so that someone can help us," he said through his friend and interpreter Mohammed Moshtaha, who he met during the war. "I tried to help, to film and do a video from here and there, and publish them so that we can make our voices heard in the world." Alhabel has an Instagram following of 141,000. His page, which shows him in a flak jacket and helmet, features images of starving, emaciated children and other suffering. He films a video then returns to a tent to edit -- one of the many where Palestinians have sought shelter and safety during the war, which erupted when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel in October 2023, drawing massive retaliation. Alhabel produced images of people collecting flour from the ground while he used sign language to explain the plight of Gazans, reinforcing the view of a global hunger monitor that has warned a famine scenario is unfolding. "As you can see, people are collecting flour mixed with sand," he communicated. Alhabel and his family were displaced when the war started. They stayed in a school with tents. "There was no space for a person to even rest a little. I stayed in that school for a year and a half," he explained. Alhabel is likely to be busy for some time. There are no signs of a ceasefire on the horizon despite mediation efforts. Israel's political security cabinet approved a plan early on Friday to take control of Gaza City, as the country expands its military operations despite intensifying criticism at home and abroad over the war. "We want this situation to be resolved so that we can all be happy, so I can feed my children, and life can be beautiful," said Alhabel. (Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Sharon Singleton) Solve the daily Crossword
