Dates:
War Service:
Flight Lieutenant BASIL OLIVER PETRIDES, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, died on 21 February 1944, aged 22. He enlisted in the RAF and was trained as a Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. After completing a tour of operations with 50 Squadron he joined 156 Squadron.
His award of the Distinguished Flying Medal “for outstanding ability on operational missions over Europe in 1941“ was announced in the London Gazette of 10 February 1942.
At 00:24 on 21 February 1944 Avro Lancaster serial ND345, ‘GT-C’ took off from RAF Warboys, Cambridgeshire to bomb Stuttgart. It was shot down over Mannheim on the return flight. The pilot survived and was taken prisoner; the rest of the crew, including Basil Petrides, perished.
He is buried in Rheinberg War Cemetery, Germany.
Location of Memorial:
He is remembered on the war memorial at Ewhust Green and on the memorial at Holy Trinity church, Sydenham.
Details:
He was born on 3 March 1921 in Nicosia, Cyprus, the only son of Basil Cecil & Olive Petrides. On 19 November 1943 he married Anne Merriel Stallybrass; they lived in Staplecross.
Source:
Contributed By: Andy Pepper
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