In my last post I spoke about some of my relatives whose names are on the Inverurie & District War Memorial. I wanted to link my family to Inverurie and remembering those who died in the two wars felt appropriate. It was interesting that all of the names were from my paternal side of the family. There is one one more name I have found that perished in the second world war and this time it is from my maternal side. That is my 2nd cousin twice removed; Ronald Walter Tindal.
Ronald’s mother Isabella “Belle” Thomson Pirie is my 2X great aunt, the sister of my great granny Watt. Belle was born at Homeside, Leslie, Aberdeenshire in 1890 and she was the eldest daughter of Christina Pirie (1866-1958) and as previously mentioned the father is unknown.
Belle was nowhere to be found in ScotlandPeople’s 1911 census records. I don’t know why but it surprised me to find that Belle was to be found in the West End of London in the leafy Manchester Square in Marylebone. In-keeping with my ancestors status though instead of finding riches in that there London she was working as a General Servant (domestic). I guess there is nothing surprising for a young woman to seek her fortune, and I’m sure just like now, the bright lights of the capital city were an attractive proposition for a 21 year old. I would love to know the route that Belle took to London; how did she find the job in London to be the Housekeeper to Major Arthur Julius Craven (1867-1933) and his wife Edith Maude Smallwood (1873-1935). (I have no idea who Arthur and Edith are, but there was lots of easily accessed information about them; IWM website and The Peerage website.
Belle married Adam Walter Tindal (born 1891 in Brechin, Forfarshire died Blairgowrie, Perthshire in 1976) in 1911 in Marylebone. In 1911 according to the census Adam was a 21 year old Police Constable living as a boarder on Tottenham Court Road. Their son Ronald Walter Tindal was born the following year in Marylebone. In 1936 Adam was retired due to ill-health and with Belle he moved to Abernethy in Perthshire. Puzzlingly in 1939 it looks like Adam is back in London as he can be found on an electoral register for Islington and he seems to be back in the Police sharing a house with, what looks like, his brother. I assume this was due to the outbreak of the second world war and the police force losing young men as they went off to fight in the war.
Adam must have returned to Perthshire as both he and Belle died in Blairgowrie within a year of eachother in 1976 and 1975 respectively.
In 1934 Ronald married Alice Irene Betteridge in Edmonton, Essex and just like his parents in the year following his marriage a son was born; Alan Walter Tinadal again in Edmonton, Essex. This is were the story gets a bit sad as ten years later Ronald was killed in the second world war. Ronald was in the RAF VR 10 Sqdn. According to the CWGC he died on 31st March 1944 in Germany. Details of his death were made clearer thanks to an excellent article by Ann Bihan on the RAF 10 Squadron Association website.
“KALTENRAIN, STEINHEIM, GERMANY – 15 SEPTEMBER 2015
At 2216 hrs on 30 March 1944 Halifax Mk 3, LV881 ZA-V of 10 Squadron based at RAF Melbourne, Yorkshire became airborne. It flew south east to rendezvous with the bomber stream of 781 other heavy Bombers over the North Sea. Their target was Nuremburg deep in the heartland of Germany. They were to fly a long and dangerous outbound leg over the heavily defended areas of Belgium and Germany to reach their target.
LV881 was one of 13 Halifax aircraft from 10 Squadron detailed to fly on the raid that night.
Its crew, as with the majority of war time bomber command crews, were all young men. Their average age was 20 years with the exception of the Rear Gunner Sgt Ronald Tindal who, at the age of 31 must have been amongst one of the oldest rear gunners on the Squadron. The crew were flying on their 5th operation together since joining the Squadron in December 1943. Donald Smith the Radio Operator had also flown 4 other operations with another crew.
At around 0030 on the morning of the 31 March on the long outbound leg of the raid, LV881 was attacked twice by a night fighter. Although not known by the crew at the time, who believed the aircraft had been hit by flak, the attack came from below by the undetected night fighter firing upward facing “Schrage Musik” guns into the starboard wing, making a hole about 2ft square and spattering the Mid Upper Turret with holes. It is now thought the mid upper gunner Hugh Birch was hit and sustained serious injuries during the initial attack. A second attack by the fighter five minutes later again under the starboard wing caused number 3 fuel tank to catch fire. The Captain immediately put the aircraft into a dive to try and extinguish the flames but the fire rapidly began to engulf the aircraft. After a short conversation with the Flight Engineer Alan Lawes, he gave the order to bale out. The first to leave the aircraft was the rear gunner Ronald Tindal. Whether he exited through the rear hatch or direct from his turret is not known but tragically he fell to his death as his parachute harness had been improperly fastened. The Navigator Bill Norris, Bomb Aimer Norman Wilmot and Flight Engineer Alan Lawes baled out safely. The captain Walter Regan stayed at the controls until the end to give the crew the best possible chance of survival but was killed as the aircraft exploded over a wooded hilltop outside the village of Steinheim, about 24 kms north east of Frankfurt. Wreckage was scattered over a wide area of the hill and the bodies of three airmen, Walter Regan, Wireless Operator Donald Smith and Mid Upper Gunner Hugh Birch were recovered from the crash site. All four of the crew who were lost were buried in local cemeteries, before being moved after the war to Hanover War Cemetery where they now lie together.
For the surviving crew their ordeal was just beginning. Bill Norris and Alan Lawes were arrested and sent to Stalag 6 in Eastern Prussia. Norman Wilmot was badly injured and remained in hospital in Frankfurt for two months before being sent to Stalag 7 in Poland. All three were to take part in the forced marches during the final stages of the war. At the end of the war they were all safely repatriated to England where they were able to re-join their families.“
The article has a lot of additional information, including photos of the crew of LV881. Unfortunately, all of the crew apart from Ronald, which is a big shame. The article also talks about researchers excavating the crash site in 2014-2015 and providing a moving and fitting Commemoration Ceremony in 2015. It really is worth a read.
I have found some records for Ronald’s son Alan and it looks like he followed in his grandfather’s footsteps and was a police officer.
I would love to know more about Belle and Adam and their life in London. It would also be great to get in touch with any descendants of Alan if only to try and find a picture of Ronald we can add to the 10 Squadron Association article. If you have any information about the Tindal’s I would love to here from you.
For an update to this story click here.
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