Welcome
The history behind this website
Welcome to our Rosie Galapagos website which is intended as a Tribute to the Crew of a Halifax bomber, serial number LV 771 from 158 Squadron, based at RAF Lissett in Yorkshire, which was shot down over Germany whilst part of the very large raid on Bochum during the night of 4th November 1944.
The Crew were:
Pilot F/O Nigel Bruce Carrall 432117 RAAF
Navigator: F/O Donald James Taylor Marr 163554 RAFVR
Air Bomber: F/O Robert MacPherson 154743 RAFVR
Wireless Operator: F/O Terence James McGrath 432441 RAAF
Flight Engineer: Flt/Sgt Ronald Arthur Gorton 1877467 RAFVR POW
Mid-Upper Gunner: Sgt Ronald Charles Wood 1812663 RAFVR POW
Rear Gunner: Sgt Horace Lindsay 1869698 RAFVR
I am the half cousin of the navigator, Donald James Taylor Marr, and back in 1994, I started researching what had happened on 4th November 1944 as my dad frequently spoke with great affection about Donald, his half nephew over Sunday lunches when we were children. Although half uncle, half nephew, my dad was 7 years younger than Donald and my dad was clearly deeply affected by his loss.
I started my research by contacting the MOD who provided me with the names of the 7 crew. They also told us that two of the crew were taken Prisoners of War which was news to my dad.
Whilst my sister lived in Germany in the 1970s, she visited the graves of the five Crew who died and later took my parents.
I set about trying to contact the families of the two POWs, Sergeant Ronald Gorton and Sergeant Ronald Wood. This was all pre internet. I wrote numerous letters to Gortons around the country. I tried to follow up through Births, Marriages and Deaths always unsuccessfully.
I had my first big breakthrough in May 2013. During a moment of boredom, I googled “Donald James Taylor Marr” and came across a website “WW2 Talk” Remembering Today Pilot Officer Donald Marr
http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/43179-remembering-today-pilot-officer-donald-marr/
The posting gave me new information on what happened on that fateful night and inspired me to take up my research again.
With a lot of help from my husband, Nick, a very gifted internet trawler, we were able to find a website that led us eventually to be able to make contact with one of Ron Gorton’s daughters, who has provided lots of very interesting documents and photos.
The next useful website was the 158 Squadron forum where another useful posting gave me more pointers
http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?13222-158-Squadron-Halifax-loss-4-11-44
As a result of my posting on the 158 Squadron forum, I was contacted by Nigel Carrall, nephew of Nigel Bruce Carrall, the pilot. Nigel and I met up, with our respective spouses, in Paris in July 2013, where we were all on holiday. We both felt how frightening it must have been for these 7 young men as they took off from RAF Lissett on their first ever flying mission as a Crew. For my cousin, Donald, it was his first ever mission. We decided that we would set up a website as a Tribute to the Crew. My aim was to be in touch with the other six families in time for the 70th anniversary of that night.
Through contact with the families of Sergeant Gorton and F/O Carrall, it became apparent that the families of the 7 Crew were all in contact with each other after the event. My father had no knowledge of this whatsoever, nor did Donald’s nephew, Ian Heasman. Sergeant Wood wrote to each of the families of the Crew who lost their lives and explained what had happened that night.
In October 2013, I was hunting for the family of Sergeant Horace Lindsay by using conventional family history records and as a result of that came across a possible relative. A letter to this person was quickly sent and before I had got home from work the next day, I had been contacted by Sergeant Lindsay’s nephew, who has provided me with documents and photos.
In January 2014, a Sydney newspaper kindly placed a request for information to trace the family of F/O Terence James McGrath who contacted me shortly afterwards.
I am still actively trying to make contact with the families of Sergeant Ron Wood and F/O Robert MacPherson. Please do contact me if you can help.
To date, we still don’t know why the aircraft was called Rosie Galapagos.
Sally Corps
November 2014
The Crew were:
Pilot F/O Nigel Bruce Carrall 432117 RAAF
Navigator: F/O Donald James Taylor Marr 163554 RAFVR
Air Bomber: F/O Robert MacPherson 154743 RAFVR
Wireless Operator: F/O Terence James McGrath 432441 RAAF
Flight Engineer: Flt/Sgt Ronald Arthur Gorton 1877467 RAFVR POW
Mid-Upper Gunner: Sgt Ronald Charles Wood 1812663 RAFVR POW
Rear Gunner: Sgt Horace Lindsay 1869698 RAFVR
I am the half cousin of the navigator, Donald James Taylor Marr, and back in 1994, I started researching what had happened on 4th November 1944 as my dad frequently spoke with great affection about Donald, his half nephew over Sunday lunches when we were children. Although half uncle, half nephew, my dad was 7 years younger than Donald and my dad was clearly deeply affected by his loss.
I started my research by contacting the MOD who provided me with the names of the 7 crew. They also told us that two of the crew were taken Prisoners of War which was news to my dad.
Whilst my sister lived in Germany in the 1970s, she visited the graves of the five Crew who died and later took my parents.
I set about trying to contact the families of the two POWs, Sergeant Ronald Gorton and Sergeant Ronald Wood. This was all pre internet. I wrote numerous letters to Gortons around the country. I tried to follow up through Births, Marriages and Deaths always unsuccessfully.
I had my first big breakthrough in May 2013. During a moment of boredom, I googled “Donald James Taylor Marr” and came across a website “WW2 Talk” Remembering Today Pilot Officer Donald Marr
http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/43179-remembering-today-pilot-officer-donald-marr/
The posting gave me new information on what happened on that fateful night and inspired me to take up my research again.
With a lot of help from my husband, Nick, a very gifted internet trawler, we were able to find a website that led us eventually to be able to make contact with one of Ron Gorton’s daughters, who has provided lots of very interesting documents and photos.
The next useful website was the 158 Squadron forum where another useful posting gave me more pointers
http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?13222-158-Squadron-Halifax-loss-4-11-44
As a result of my posting on the 158 Squadron forum, I was contacted by Nigel Carrall, nephew of Nigel Bruce Carrall, the pilot. Nigel and I met up, with our respective spouses, in Paris in July 2013, where we were all on holiday. We both felt how frightening it must have been for these 7 young men as they took off from RAF Lissett on their first ever flying mission as a Crew. For my cousin, Donald, it was his first ever mission. We decided that we would set up a website as a Tribute to the Crew. My aim was to be in touch with the other six families in time for the 70th anniversary of that night.
Through contact with the families of Sergeant Gorton and F/O Carrall, it became apparent that the families of the 7 Crew were all in contact with each other after the event. My father had no knowledge of this whatsoever, nor did Donald’s nephew, Ian Heasman. Sergeant Wood wrote to each of the families of the Crew who lost their lives and explained what had happened that night.
In October 2013, I was hunting for the family of Sergeant Horace Lindsay by using conventional family history records and as a result of that came across a possible relative. A letter to this person was quickly sent and before I had got home from work the next day, I had been contacted by Sergeant Lindsay’s nephew, who has provided me with documents and photos.
In January 2014, a Sydney newspaper kindly placed a request for information to trace the family of F/O Terence James McGrath who contacted me shortly afterwards.
I am still actively trying to make contact with the families of Sergeant Ron Wood and F/O Robert MacPherson. Please do contact me if you can help.
To date, we still don’t know why the aircraft was called Rosie Galapagos.
Sally Corps
November 2014