Sergeant Geoffrey Beckett - mid-upper gunner in W4126
Title
Sergeant Geoffrey Beckett - mid-upper gunner in W4126
Description
Includes some personal details of Sergeant Geoffrey Beckett (622136 RAF) qualified as WOP/Tech was mid-upper gunner. Includes photographs of his grave headstone in Den Burg (Texel) cemetery, himself, view of inside fuselage of Lancaster, wreckage of aircraft, poppy wreath on grave, original grave (crosses) and 4 decorations.
Also includes artwork of centre fuselage of airborne Lancaster showing mid-upper turret and 44 Squadron badge.
Followed by newspaper cuttings concerning him reported missing and losses on operations.
There are transcripts of content of cuttings and transcript of a letter to Geoff's mother from E A Shipley. Comments by author (nephew) about the uncle he lost and the fate of crew of W4126.
Also includes artwork of centre fuselage of airborne Lancaster showing mid-upper turret and 44 Squadron badge.
Followed by newspaper cuttings concerning him reported missing and losses on operations.
There are transcripts of content of cuttings and transcript of a letter to Geoff's mother from E A Shipley. Comments by author (nephew) about the uncle he lost and the fate of crew of W4126.
Temporal Coverage
Spatial Coverage
Language
Format
Eleven page document with text, colour artwork, colour and b/w photographs
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This content is available under a CC BY-NC 4.0 International license (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). It has been published ‘as is’ and may contain inaccuracies or culturally inappropriate references that do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the University of Lincoln or the International Bomber Command Centre. For more information, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ and https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/legal.
Contributor
Identifier
SBeckettG622136v10069
Transcription
622136 Sergeant Geoffrey Beckett
Aged 21 and qualified as a WOP/Tech.
He was the mid-upper gunner on W 4126.
His family came from Heanor, Notts where he was the youngest of Edward and May Beckett’s seven children.
He lies in Grave 10 on Row 1, in Den Burg Military Cemetery.
[colour photograph of the headstone at the grave of Sergeant G. Beckett with a poppy wreath laid on the ground]
Fear Thou not
For I am with thee
I am thy God –
I will uphold thee.
(Authors photograph)
[page break]
[black and white head and shoulders photograph of Sergeant Beckett]
The face from the past… “a smiling, quiet and good natured young man in R.A.F. blue uniform” … “who was an Air Gunner on Lancaster Bomber’s and had died in the war” …
Authors photograph.
[page break]
[colour photograph of the fuselage in a Lancaster]
View in the fuselage in NX 611, looking forward, over the main wing spar. The mid-upper gunner’s parachute is in it’s stowage on the starboard side.
Author’s photograph.
[page break]
[inserted] MID-UPPER GUNNER Sgt Geoff Beckett. Exited burning Lancaster over Texel on parachute shot dead on the [missing words] [/inserted]
[crest of 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron of the Royal Air Force]
[colour drawing of the rear of an airborne Lancaster]
[page break]
[black and white photograph of the wreckage of an aircraft]
[page break]
[two colour photographs of a poppy wreath at the grave of Sergeant Beckett]
[page break]
[one black and white photograph of a row of graves and two of Sergeant Beckett’s grave]
The original wooden crosses which were placed on the graves, photographed in March 1946, by ‘Len’.
Geoff’s has his name painted on it as, ‘SERG. G. BECKETT.
Later, these were replaced by the more permanent stone crosses and then later again by the standard military headstone.
[page break]
Sergeant G. Beckett’s medals.
[colour photograph of Sergeant Beckett’s medals]
L to R.
1939 – 45 Star … For carrying out operations against the enemy.
The Aircrew Europe Star … For at least two months operational flying from U.K. bases’ over Europe, between Sept 3rd 1939 and 5th June 1944 (Replica)
Defence Medal … For service in non-operational areas subject to air attack, or closely threatened.
War Medal … awarded to all personnel wherever they served during the war. Operational and non operational service counted.
(Authors photograph)
[page break]
SERGT. GEOFFREY BECKETT REPORTED MISSING.
Official information has been received that Sergt. Geoffrey Beckett, of the R.A.F., youngest son of the late Mr. E.F. Beckett and Mrs. Beckett formerly of Midland Bank House, Market Place, Heanor, is missing from a recent operational flight.
Sergt. Beckett has many friends in Heanor district, and hopes are entertained that he may have survived and that better news may soon be heard of him.
GERMANY RAIDED: 18 LOST
Targets in North-West Germany were attacked by Bomber Command planes – [underlined] 18 of which are missing – on Thursday night. [/underlined] Mines were also laid in enemy waters.
Results could not be seen because of low cloud.
It was the third night attack on the Reich this month. The first on December 2nd on Frankfurt, and the second four nights later on South-West Germany, were both made in bad weather.
There have been two daylight raids on Germany so far this month.
[inserted] Sat: Dec: 19. 1942 [/inserted]
Sheffield Airman Missing. – Sergt. Geoffrey Beckett, aged 21, son of Mrs. and the late Mr. E.F. Beckett, of 48, Ashbury Drive, Norton, Sheffield, is missing as a result of air operations. He had been in the Air Force for four years.
[page break]
The article reference to the 18 missing planes was underlined by Geoff’s mother and dated, which she then kept. Other heart-rending articles were also kept.
SERGT. GEOFFREY BECKETT REPORTED MISSING.
Official information has been received that Sergt. Geoffrey Beckett, of the R.A.F., youngest son of the late Mr. E.F. Beckett and Mrs. Beckett, formerly of Midland Bank House, Market Place, Heanor, is missing from a recent operational flight.
Sergt. Beckett has many friends in Heanor district, and hopes are entertained that he may have survived and that better news may soon be heard of him.
SHEFFIELD AIRMAN MIISSING [sic] – Sergt. Geoffrey Beckett, aged 21, son of Mrs. and the late Mr. E.F. Beckett, of 48, Ashbury Drive, Norton, Sheffield, is missing as a result of air operations. He had been in the Air Force for four years.
Lottie May Beckett also cut out a poem, written as part of a newspaper National Savings campaign, which is poignantly entitled, ‘I wonder where he is now? The accompanying picture, shows a young mother looking up out of her child’s bedroom window at the out bound bombers, which reminds me that Geoff thought that he should be the one to go to war, being the only unmarried son and also that Flying Officer McNamara and Sgt. Read were both married members of the missing crew.
On December the 6th “Ma Shippo” wrote a letter to Geoffs mother, as did many other people.
6 Mundy Street
Heanor
Dec. 6th 1942.
My Dear Mrs Beckett.
Thanks for P.C. So sorry to hear that Geoff is missing, I feel grieved for you. But don’t give up hope, he may have bailed out same as Dick Daft – he has been missing since May last and nothing heard for months. Now he is at home in Heanor and I know if Geoff got in a tight corner he would do the same. We all hope and pray for his return …….
Yours sincerely E.A. Shipley.
[page break]
The empty ‘A’ flight pans in the wet, cold grey dawn, reflected the lonely melancholy felt by the ground crews and then by all the R.A.F. Waddington personnel, was to be shared again by the author in the twenty-first century.
I have researched Geoff’s life over several years and discovered so much about him and his world. It was a military world that I followed him into, in the peacetime that he had helped preserve,
I felt a growing sense of unhappiness as I wrote up the last missions; I was losing the uncle I had found. Fate had decreed that December 17th 1942 was his date with eternity. Fortunately, young cheerful Geoff Beckett did not know that when he climbed aboard ‘B – Beer’ that night. He might have had misgivings about the weather, or the nature of such a low level mission, but he would have kept them to himself as he completed his pre-flight checks.
The crew of KM-B W4126 were now listed, ‘Missing’, or FTR, that dreadful term “failed to return”. Within a short time the crew’s lockers and beds would have had all their personal effects removed before anyone had time to dwell on their occupants untimely fate. Those nearest would shrug and quietly pass on to others that, “McNamara’s ‘B – Beer’s got the chop.”
Their epitaph spoken, they were gone.
The telegrams were sent and received with dread. Letters followed from the Squadron Commander and the uncertainty for the families began. Some relatives were informed quite quickly as to whether their loved one was a prisoner of war, or dead, but for others the worry of not knowing went on for months or years.
The ‘Sheffield Daly Telegraph’ on Saturday 19th of December 1942, carried a small article entitled,
‘GERMANY RAIDED: 18 LOST’. Targets in North West Germany were attacked by Bomber Command planes – 18 of which are missing – on Thursday night. Mines were also laid in enemy waters.
Results could not be seen because of low cloud.
It was the third night attack on the Reich this month. The first on December 2nd on Frankfurt and the second four nights later on South-West Germany, were both made in bad weather.
There have been two daylight raids on Germany so far this month.
Aged 21 and qualified as a WOP/Tech.
He was the mid-upper gunner on W 4126.
His family came from Heanor, Notts where he was the youngest of Edward and May Beckett’s seven children.
He lies in Grave 10 on Row 1, in Den Burg Military Cemetery.
[colour photograph of the headstone at the grave of Sergeant G. Beckett with a poppy wreath laid on the ground]
Fear Thou not
For I am with thee
I am thy God –
I will uphold thee.
(Authors photograph)
[page break]
[black and white head and shoulders photograph of Sergeant Beckett]
The face from the past… “a smiling, quiet and good natured young man in R.A.F. blue uniform” … “who was an Air Gunner on Lancaster Bomber’s and had died in the war” …
Authors photograph.
[page break]
[colour photograph of the fuselage in a Lancaster]
View in the fuselage in NX 611, looking forward, over the main wing spar. The mid-upper gunner’s parachute is in it’s stowage on the starboard side.
Author’s photograph.
[page break]
[inserted] MID-UPPER GUNNER Sgt Geoff Beckett. Exited burning Lancaster over Texel on parachute shot dead on the [missing words] [/inserted]
[crest of 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron of the Royal Air Force]
[colour drawing of the rear of an airborne Lancaster]
[page break]
[black and white photograph of the wreckage of an aircraft]
[page break]
[two colour photographs of a poppy wreath at the grave of Sergeant Beckett]
[page break]
[one black and white photograph of a row of graves and two of Sergeant Beckett’s grave]
The original wooden crosses which were placed on the graves, photographed in March 1946, by ‘Len’.
Geoff’s has his name painted on it as, ‘SERG. G. BECKETT.
Later, these were replaced by the more permanent stone crosses and then later again by the standard military headstone.
[page break]
Sergeant G. Beckett’s medals.
[colour photograph of Sergeant Beckett’s medals]
L to R.
1939 – 45 Star … For carrying out operations against the enemy.
The Aircrew Europe Star … For at least two months operational flying from U.K. bases’ over Europe, between Sept 3rd 1939 and 5th June 1944 (Replica)
Defence Medal … For service in non-operational areas subject to air attack, or closely threatened.
War Medal … awarded to all personnel wherever they served during the war. Operational and non operational service counted.
(Authors photograph)
[page break]
SERGT. GEOFFREY BECKETT REPORTED MISSING.
Official information has been received that Sergt. Geoffrey Beckett, of the R.A.F., youngest son of the late Mr. E.F. Beckett and Mrs. Beckett formerly of Midland Bank House, Market Place, Heanor, is missing from a recent operational flight.
Sergt. Beckett has many friends in Heanor district, and hopes are entertained that he may have survived and that better news may soon be heard of him.
GERMANY RAIDED: 18 LOST
Targets in North-West Germany were attacked by Bomber Command planes – [underlined] 18 of which are missing – on Thursday night. [/underlined] Mines were also laid in enemy waters.
Results could not be seen because of low cloud.
It was the third night attack on the Reich this month. The first on December 2nd on Frankfurt, and the second four nights later on South-West Germany, were both made in bad weather.
There have been two daylight raids on Germany so far this month.
[inserted] Sat: Dec: 19. 1942 [/inserted]
Sheffield Airman Missing. – Sergt. Geoffrey Beckett, aged 21, son of Mrs. and the late Mr. E.F. Beckett, of 48, Ashbury Drive, Norton, Sheffield, is missing as a result of air operations. He had been in the Air Force for four years.
[page break]
The article reference to the 18 missing planes was underlined by Geoff’s mother and dated, which she then kept. Other heart-rending articles were also kept.
SERGT. GEOFFREY BECKETT REPORTED MISSING.
Official information has been received that Sergt. Geoffrey Beckett, of the R.A.F., youngest son of the late Mr. E.F. Beckett and Mrs. Beckett, formerly of Midland Bank House, Market Place, Heanor, is missing from a recent operational flight.
Sergt. Beckett has many friends in Heanor district, and hopes are entertained that he may have survived and that better news may soon be heard of him.
SHEFFIELD AIRMAN MIISSING [sic] – Sergt. Geoffrey Beckett, aged 21, son of Mrs. and the late Mr. E.F. Beckett, of 48, Ashbury Drive, Norton, Sheffield, is missing as a result of air operations. He had been in the Air Force for four years.
Lottie May Beckett also cut out a poem, written as part of a newspaper National Savings campaign, which is poignantly entitled, ‘I wonder where he is now? The accompanying picture, shows a young mother looking up out of her child’s bedroom window at the out bound bombers, which reminds me that Geoff thought that he should be the one to go to war, being the only unmarried son and also that Flying Officer McNamara and Sgt. Read were both married members of the missing crew.
On December the 6th “Ma Shippo” wrote a letter to Geoffs mother, as did many other people.
6 Mundy Street
Heanor
Dec. 6th 1942.
My Dear Mrs Beckett.
Thanks for P.C. So sorry to hear that Geoff is missing, I feel grieved for you. But don’t give up hope, he may have bailed out same as Dick Daft – he has been missing since May last and nothing heard for months. Now he is at home in Heanor and I know if Geoff got in a tight corner he would do the same. We all hope and pray for his return …….
Yours sincerely E.A. Shipley.
[page break]
The empty ‘A’ flight pans in the wet, cold grey dawn, reflected the lonely melancholy felt by the ground crews and then by all the R.A.F. Waddington personnel, was to be shared again by the author in the twenty-first century.
I have researched Geoff’s life over several years and discovered so much about him and his world. It was a military world that I followed him into, in the peacetime that he had helped preserve,
I felt a growing sense of unhappiness as I wrote up the last missions; I was losing the uncle I had found. Fate had decreed that December 17th 1942 was his date with eternity. Fortunately, young cheerful Geoff Beckett did not know that when he climbed aboard ‘B – Beer’ that night. He might have had misgivings about the weather, or the nature of such a low level mission, but he would have kept them to himself as he completed his pre-flight checks.
The crew of KM-B W4126 were now listed, ‘Missing’, or FTR, that dreadful term “failed to return”. Within a short time the crew’s lockers and beds would have had all their personal effects removed before anyone had time to dwell on their occupants untimely fate. Those nearest would shrug and quietly pass on to others that, “McNamara’s ‘B – Beer’s got the chop.”
Their epitaph spoken, they were gone.
The telegrams were sent and received with dread. Letters followed from the Squadron Commander and the uncertainty for the families began. Some relatives were informed quite quickly as to whether their loved one was a prisoner of war, or dead, but for others the worry of not knowing went on for months or years.
The ‘Sheffield Daly Telegraph’ on Saturday 19th of December 1942, carried a small article entitled,
‘GERMANY RAIDED: 18 LOST’. Targets in North West Germany were attacked by Bomber Command planes – 18 of which are missing – on Thursday night. Mines were also laid in enemy waters.
Results could not be seen because of low cloud.
It was the third night attack on the Reich this month. The first on December 2nd on Frankfurt and the second four nights later on South-West Germany, were both made in bad weather.
There have been two daylight raids on Germany so far this month.
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Citation
“Sergeant Geoffrey Beckett - mid-upper gunner in W4126,” IBCC Digital Archive, accessed April 21, 2025, https://ibccdigitalarchive.lincoln.ac.uk/omeka/collections/document/41454.
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