Lance Corporal CYRILL GORDON CRUMPLIN

Cyril Gordon Crumplin was born in North Warnborough in 1921.  He was the second son of Sydney George (known as George) and the late Edith Crumplin.  Cyril had married Josephine Woodward in 1933 and they had two children, Rodney, born in 1938 and Jacqueline, born in 1945.  The family lived in 3 Castle Bridge Cottages, North Warnborough.[i]

At the time of his death, Cyril was based at RAF Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire, an airfield strengthened in 1942 for use by No. 29 Operational Training Unit and the Wellington heavy bombers   of No 92 Group.  At this time it was a satellite of RAF North Luffenham.  In 1945 the base was used for testing Meteors.

On 23 July 1945, two months after the end of the war in Europe, Cyril had been home on leave in Odiham.  He was returning to Bruntingthorpe on his motor cycle when he was involved in a collision with a lorry in Banbury Road, Southam, Warwickshire and suffered a “fractured base of skull’[ii].  He died instantly.  The subsequent inquest returned a verdict of accidental death.  His Squadron Leader and two NCOs represented his unit at his funeral, with floral tributes also sent from RAF Bruntingthorpe by the Airmen and Airwomen;  the Armourment Staff; and the CRC Senior NCO.

Cyril is buried in the general section of Odiham Cemetery.

I would like to acknowledge and thank a number of people and organisations for the help, advice, information and photographs I have received for this article.  Air Marshal Sir Joe French has assisted my research, particularly in communicating with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the Royal Air Force Museums London and Hendon, and Air Historical Branch.  William Hauxwell of RAF Yatesbury Archives, whom I met at this year’s RAF Families Day, put me in touch with Walter Lindekens in Belgium whose excellent article, “I call him Tich” A Blenheim Boy from Odiham appeared in the Odiham Society Journal of Spring 2008.  Walter has provided updated information and photos for Gordon Cox’s story.  John Moody, a great nephew of Reginald Moody, contacted me having found our War Memorial project on the Odiham Society website.  He has provided further information regarding not only Reginald, but also another great uncle, Albert Moody, who is also on the War Memorial.