Died: Killed in ‘bumps and hops’ exercises when his Stirling I BF386, crashed into the 40’ drain at Salter’s Lode, Downham Market, Norfolk
Address / Local links: 30 Upper Wickham Lane
Family / Relatives: Son of Thomas William Gilbert and Ellen Mary Head, of Welling
Other Information: Son of a ‘Head Fruiterer’
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/dedication-wall/4577/peter-david-head
Like so many RAF personnel in the war, our Peter Head died not in action but in a training flight – ‘bumps and hops’ exercises as they were known. Today you can see his name on the Welling War Memorial, but he is buried in Marham Cemetery in Norfolk, a village 7 miles from Swaffham …
Marham Cemetery
History information
The cemetery, which covers 2 acres, was first used in 1941 and the land on which it lies was given by a local landowner to Marham Parish Council. Until June of that year the Royal Air Force Station at Marham had used the village churchyard for burials, but a new burial ground became necessary and this land, within sight of the fifteenth century church, was given with the proviso that a special section near the south-eastern boundary should be reserved for RA.F. burials. This is now the War Graves Plot, and all save two of the 1939-1945 War graves are in it.
The total number of burials in the cemetery is 56, and this figure is made up by 1 soldier and 26 airmen belonging to the forces of the United Kingdom, 13 airmen of the Royal Canadian Air Force; 3 airmen of the Royal Australian Air Force; 7 belonging to the Royal New Zealand Air Force; 1 German soldier and 5 German airmen.
The plot is on rising ground. In front of the entrance is semi-circular bed and the Cross of Sacrifice, which honours the servicemen buried here and the 17 who lie in Marham (Holy Trinity) Churchyard, stands beyond it.
Six of Peter’s colleagues from this fatal flight are also buried there.
Their Stirling I BF386 bomber crashed on 29th October 1942 – like many air disasters it has been well documented, although this particular plane has also had been studied by the Fenland Aircraft Preservation Society, and some of its debris exhibited for a while in the Fenland and West Norfolk Aviation Museum.
Here are some of their reports;
Stirling I BF386
Ouse Washes north of River Delph crossover.
Excavation of Short Stirling which crashed 29 October 1942 by the Fenland Aircraft Preservation Society.
Crash killed the seven crew members and four passengers. This is the crash site of a Stirling bomber, which crashed in October 1942, killing the eleven people on board.
Although most of the wreckage was removed by the RAF in 1942, parts of the aircraft were found during an excavation by the Fenland Aircraft Preservation Society in 1980 and 1981. The bodies and most of the wreckage was recovered by the RAF in 1942.
Displayed Wisbech Museum in 1982 (called Salters Lode).
Much of the Fenland Aviation Museum’s collection has been transferred to City of Norwich Aviation Museum, but the original curator has kindly sent us some press cuttings of their display…
Sergeant Peter Head was a radio operator/air gunner with 15 Squadron who became one of the first Short Stirling bomber squadrons in Britain…It was a very different role for Peter, obviously, as just a few years before he had been a shop assistant in his father’s fruit business in Welling, as our research shows…
“Peter David HEAD, son of Thomas William Gilbert HEAD (1891-1976) and Ellen Mary COPPINS (1889-1949), was born on 2 November 1920. He was a Sergeant Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in Bourn Cambs. In 1939 he was a Shop assistant in family grocery business. In 1939 he lived in 30 Upper Wickham Lane, Welling. He died on 29 October 1942. Killed while flying. Crashed at Salter’s Lode near Downham Market, Norfolk after control was lost in cloud during an air test”
Our researcher has also discovered more about the interesting life and times of Peter’s father, Thomas William Gilbert Head;
“Thomas William Gilbert HEAD, son of Matthew Charles HEAD and Esther GILBERT, was born on 9 August 1891 in 79 Plumstead Road, Plumstead. He was baptised on 16 September 1891 in Holy Trinity, Woolwich. He was a Greengrocer.
From 1912 to 1935 he lived in 39 Lakedale Road, Plumstead. He married Ellen Mary COPPINS on 1 June 1914 in St Mark’s Church, Plumstead. In October 1916 he was a Conscripted into army. From 1935 to 1955 he lived in 30 Upper Wickham Lane, Welling.
He married Winifred Mary HAROLD in 1953 in Dartford. He married Bertha Maria Elen GABRIELLI in 1965 in Bromley. He died on 7 December 1976 in Torquay”…
(“Winifred Mary HAROLD was born on 28 November 1907 in Woolwich. She married Donald Stewart CAMPBELL in 1934 in Woolwich. She appeared in the census in 1939 in 17 Blenheim Drive, Bexley. She was a Teashop manageress. She died in 1968 in Devon.
Bertha Maria Elen GABRIELLI (also known as Berta Elena M GABRIELLI) was born on 20 January 1896 in London. She married William Ridd WINTER in 1916 in Hammersmith. She died in 1991 in Newton Abbott”)
Online, we have also discovered a family member’s research story about Thomas William Gilbert Head;
“My Grandfather was born on 9th August 1891 at 79, Plumstead Road, Plumstead, Kent. His parents were Matthew Charles Head and Esther Gilbert. Thomas William Gilbert Head married Ellen Mary Coppins on 1st June 1914 at St Mark’s Church, Plumstead Common. He helped to run the Greengrocer’s shop at 39 Lakedale Road, Plumstead. His father died in August 1915 and he took the burden of running the shop with his mother. From what I have discovered, my Grandfather was the only sibling to have gone to the trenches in Flanders during the Great War, and he was drafted in late October of 1916 when conscription began, and was posted initially to the No.4 Royal Field Artillery Depot at Woolwich but due to a lack of infantrymen on the Western Front he was transferred to the 49th Training Reserve Battalion at Prees Heath, Shropshire in November 1916 for infantry training. He was sent overseas in January 1917 joining No.25 Infantry Base Depot where he was allocated to the Border Regiment and posted to the 6th Battalion, South Wales Borderers. He had come home on leave for 2 weeks in February 1918 (in that space of time my father was conceived!) but on his return and transfer to the 7th Battalion, Westmorland and Cumberland Yeomanry, was badly wounded in 100 Days Offensive of 1918, with shrapnel smashing his pelvis. He was told that he would never walk properly again. He was determined that that should not be the case and, after some months, was on his feet. He was sent home on convalescent leave and returned to his shop, which badly needed his attention. He was only to be arrested by the Military Police after the Armistice for ‘deserting’ because he had not reported back to his regiment! He spent three months in Mold Military Prison in North Wales sewing mailbags!
He was determined to fight back, and this he did through commerce. He used to delight in showing children the large hole in his side, and yet could still outrun them at football! He never collected his war metals as his memory of that time was somewhat embittered”…
https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/story/97020
A sad story, made even sadder by the knowledge of what was to become of his son, Peter….
HIS DEAR MEMORY
ALWAYS IN OUR HEARTS
TIL WE MEET AGAIN
This is the inscription on his headstone…
Peter’s grave in Marham Cemetery lies close to that of his Squadron Leader Charles Gerald Fisher who was also the station Padre at RAF Bourne and was travelling as a passenger/trainer on this final flight…
Pictured are Peter’s father in military uniform, Upper Wickham Lane/Welling Corner as the Head family would have known it just before the war, Marham Cemetery and Peter’s headstone, and some cutting from the Fenland Aviation Museum.
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If anyone is able to add any extra information, provide more family details, or suggest any corrections, please let us know – also, if anyone has any more photos of this individual listed on our memorials, please get in touch. Thank you.
Commemorated
- Welling War Memorial
- Marham Cemetery, Norfolk
This story has been researched by volunteers. We have taken every effort to ensure its accuracy. If you are related to Peter David Head, or if you have any further information, please do get in touch.