Died: Lancaster III JB638 lost over Germany, shot down by a night fighter (https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/219491)
Address / Local links: 108 Northumberland Avenue, Welling
Family / Relatives: Son of Albert Edward and Maria Assunta
Other Information: Son of a Wharf Constable
Frederick William Kite
Fred (“Freddy”) Kite was born in 1922 in Valetta, Malta. His mother was Maria Assunta (nee Borg) (c1899 – 1926) – a local girl who married Albert Edward Kite (1891-1967) in 1916. Albert appeared in the census in 1911 in Malta as a Gunner with the 96th Company Royal Garrison Artillery, so this is how and where Freddy’s parents must have met.
Apart from Freddy the couple had 5 other children;
- Albert Edward KITE (1916-1917). Albert was born on 31 Aug 1916 in Valetta. He died in 1917 in Valetta.
- Joseph Ernest KITE (1919-2001). Joseph was born on 1 Jul 1919 in Valetta. He was a Regimental Sergeant-Major in the Corps of Royal Engineers. He died in 2001 in Halifax, Yorkshire.
- John Ernest KITE (1921-2011). John was born on 21 Apr 1921 in Valetta. He died in 2011 in Sidcup.
- Mary Elizabeth KITE (1924-1974). Mary was born on 21 Jul 1924 in Sheppey Kent. She died in1974 in London.
- Anthony Peter Kenneth KITE (1925-2022). Anthony was born in 1925 in Sheppey Kent. He died in 2022.
(We have a photo of most of these siblings all in service uniform)
Freddy’s parents
Tragically for the young family, we know that their mother Maria Assunta died in 1926 in Woolwich – she was just 27.
Three years later Albert remarried – to Frances Amelia May Gilbert (1903 – 1992) at St Olave Southwark, and they had a daughter, Joyce, in 1932…
We know that Albert had been stationed in Malta with the Royal Artillery until November 1923, lived in and around Southwark, and in 1939 was registered as living at 108 Northumberland Avenue Welling. After leaving the army he had worked as a Wharf Constable on the London docks – we have a photo of him on duty at Hays Wharf in around 1935.
From what we can gather, it appears that Albert lived in Welling from the mid 1930s to the mid 1960s.
The only local record from the 1930s we can find for our Freddy is the 1939 register at 108 Northumberland Avenue – Freddy is listed as being a Junior clerk, and also a Metropolitan Polce Reservist…
We seem to know more about Albert’s young life than Freddy’s – Albert was born in November 1891 in Finstock, Oxfordshire to Alice Louisa (a single mother)…She married a Frederick Claridge in 1892, and went on to have 10 more children with him, so clearly Albert grew up in a large and complicated family – a reason, perhaps, for him to leave to join the army at a young age?
Albert Kite died in 1967 in Hemel Hempstead.
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16 DEC 1943 BLACK FRIDAY
“December 16th 1943 became known in RAF circles as ‘Black Friday’ – “I am not pressing you to fight the weather as well as the Germans, never forget that.” So wrote Winston Churchill to Arthur Harris, the Commander-in-Chief of RAF Bomber Command, after the terrible events of 16 December 1943.
In the murky dusk almost five hundred heavy bombers, almost entirely Lancasters, set out for Berlin from their bases in eastern England, from north Yorkshire to southern Cambridgeshire. They lifted off at around 4 pm to bomb the target four hours later and were expected to return at midnight. 328 aircrew lost their lives that night they were the victims of the weather, not the Germans…”
Awful dense foggy weather and problems with communications were to blame for many casualties, although or Freddy Kite and his crew were actually lost by being shot down by a Luftwaffe Bf 110 night-fighter flown by Oberleutnant Hans-Heinz Augenstein (pictured).
Lancaster III JB638 – “Takeoff at 16:45 for an operation to Berlin”.
An RAF log from 106 statement reads “Nothing was heard from this aircraft after takeoff – MISSING” (pictured)
Other historical records state;
106 Squadron’s Avro Lancaster III (#JB638) aircraft, with an aircrew of seven, took off from RAF Metheringham for an air operation over Berlin, Germany. JB638 was shot down, crashing near Achmer, 4 km WSW of Bramsche, and taking the lives of the entire crew.
The airmen who perished in the attack and resulting crash were-
RAF Flight Sergeant James COULTON,
RAFVR Sergeant Charles FRANKISH,
RAFVR Flight Sergeant Eric Granville GRUNDY,
RAFVR Flight Sergeant Roy Edward HACKETT,
RAFVR Sergeant Frederick William KITE,
RAFVR Sergeant Maurice Jack MARTIN and
RAFVR Pilot Officer Colin Harrison STORER.
Most are buried alongside each other at the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery;
The town of Kleve lies in the west of Germany close to the Dutch border.
HISTORY INFORMATION
Reichswald Forest War Cemetery was created after the Second World War when burials were brought in from all over western Germany and is the largest Commonwealth cemetery in the country.
Some of those members of the land forces buried there died in the advance through Reichswald Forest in February 1945. Others died crossing the Rhine, among them members of the airborne forces whose bodies were brought from Hamminkeln, where landings were made by the 6th Airborne Division from bases in England.
Some of the airmen buried in the cemetery lost their lives in supporting the advance into Germany, but most died earlier in the war in the intensive air attacks over Germany. Their graves were brought in from cemeteries and isolated sites in the surrounding area.
There are now 7,594 Commonwealth servicemen of the Second World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery. 176 of the burials are unidentified. There are also 78 war graves of other nationalities, most of them Polish.
Special Memorials to 9 airmen are located at the East boundary wall, near Plot 10. Further Special Memorials to 7 airmen are located within Plot 31, near the Cross of Sacrifice. The cemetery was designed by Philip Hepworth.
106 RAF Squadron; RAF Metherigham, Lincolnshire
“In the seventeen months they were based at RAF Metheringham on operations, 106 Squadron lost 59 Lancasters with 288 air crew killed and 50 posted missing”. Read more here: https://www.metheringhamairfield.co.uk/106.html
Among those airmen killed and missing was our own Freddy Kite – he was just 21. (Just over a year after Frdeddy’s death, Hans-Heinz Augenstein – the pilot who had shot him down – was also killed in combat)
Pictured are various images of Freddy and his family – 3 of Freddy in the RAF, his parents in 1923 in Malta (with brothers Joseph and John), Albert Kite on duty in 1935, Freddy and his siblings all in uniform, the squadron report on his death, the pilot who had shot him down, and Freddy’s headstone in the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery.
……………………………………………………. 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
- Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Germany
This story has been researched by volunteers. We have taken every effort to ensure its accuracy. If you are related to Frederick William (Freddy) Kite, or if you have any further information, please do get in touch.