Date of Birth: 21 / 10 / 1920

Date of Passing: 21 / 08 / 1942

Location : Southall, United Kingdom

Relationship: Brother

Epitaph:

They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.

Tribute:

Stan was my big brother , unfortunately - on two counts - he was nearly 9 years older than me , which for one meant he was old enough to serve and die for his country (aged 21) as a pilot during World War II and secondly it meant that I perhaps wasn’t as close to him then as I would have been had he lived ; as when you are only 7 or 8 years old , that 9 year gap is much wider than it would have been had I been 20 or 30 . However he wasn’t “alone” growing up as he was close in age to my big sister Eve and they were an inseparable pair , as I was with my younger brother Alan.
Over 66 years is a long time and unfortunately my memories of that time are faded , but what I do recall is that Stan was probably the “brains” of the family , having attended Southall Technical College before getting a good job in the offices of the “Gramophone Company” based in Hayes , before being called up in the June of 1941 .
My one abiding memory was of Stan and one or more of his friends setting off to cycle on his racing bike all the way to Lands End , no mean feat in those pre-motorway days , I can’t remember how long he was gone , but I do remember my Mothers reaction on his return , looking like a tramp having run out of money and been sleeping rough for goodness knows how many nights - he was in the doghouse for some time !
As I have said , he was called up in the June of 1941 , joining the RAF where - because of his academic ability he was taught to fly , and I remember how proud both he , and the rest of my family were , when he was awarded his wings and became 1385092 Sergeant Pilot Stanley Edmund Downs . However that’s when the worrying really starts , knowing that he would have to serve a tour of duty , flying his bomber deep over enemy territory , predominately at night , having to complete 30 separate missions . Imagine what it was like for us and thousands of other families with loved ones serving in the forces , looking for the telegram boy walking down the road , praying he’s not going to come to your door , experiencing that sense of relief when it’s not you , but knowing that some other poor family are going to get the dreaded knock on the door . Stan , however to our great relief completed his tour safely and was posted to the No. 6 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit , based at Little Rissington in Oxfordshire .
He was due home on leave at the weekend of Saturday the 22nd of August , but at 0505 hours on the morning of Friday August the 21st he took off on a training exercise in an Oxford Mark II serial no. T1339 ! with his pupil Sergeant J McDonald Rankin of the RAAF , shortly afterwards they were in collision with a Wellington serial no. T2257 which was also on a cross country training exercise . The Wellington broke up and crashed on the outskirts of Chipping Norton and my brothers plane crashed onto the land of Cotts farm Over Norton about a mile away , tragically there were no survivors , my brother , his pupil and the six crew of the Wellington all perished . Later that day the knock came at the door and I believe my Mother half expected it to be Stan home on leave early , but this time the telegram boy was stood at our door .
Following recent research into our family tree in general and Stan in particular , we have taken great comfort on discovering that the good people of Chipping Norton saw fit to commemorate this tragic loss of life with a plaque , situated on Church Street , remembering the names of those who lost their lives in this incident .
I would also like to thank ;
Gerry , who posted our original question on the Chipping Norton forum and for his “Memories of War Time Chippy” .
Graham Birks , who took the time and trouble to send us a photograph of the plaque , and finally “Miskersation” , “Chippy born local” , Johnny Canuck and John Brigg for their contributions .