War Graves - Castletown, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England

Hylton is a parish 3 miles west of the town of Sunderland, which is at the mouth of the river Wear. Castletown is a village within the parish of Hylton, and the cemetery lies on the Hylton Castletown Road. It covers two acres of ground and since 1st April 1967 is under the control of the County Borough of Sunderland.
Soon after the outbreak of the 1939-1945 War the Parish Council set aside a piece of ground for service war burials in Section D on the south-western boundary of the cemetery. This is now the War Graves Plot. During the war the cemetery was used by the Royal Air Force for casualties from the Operational Training Unit at the nearby R.A.F. station at Usworth, and the majority of the war graves are those of men of the British Commonwealth and Polish Air Forces stationed there.
Of the 48 war burials in the cemetery, 3 soldiers and 13 members of the Air Force belong to the United Kingdom Forces; 9 airmen to the Royal Canadian Air Force; 4 airmen to the Royal Australian Air Force; 1 sailor to the Royal New Zealand Navy and 1 airman to the Royal New Zealand Air Force; 6 airmen to the Polish Air Force; 1 German to the German Navy and 10 Germans to the German Air Force. One of the German airmen could not be identified. All save five of the 48 casualties are buried in the War Graves Plot. The German graves are together in a group at the south-western end.


Pilot Officer William Francis Avery Pilot Royal Air Force 12th December 1941 Son of William Richard and Josephine Mary Avery of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA.	R/73266 Sergeant John Donald Lenehan Pilot Royal Canadian Air Force 5th December 1941 Age 26 Son of John R. Lenehan and Anne Lenehan of Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada.


Sub-Lieutenant (A) Gordon Black Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve H.M.S. "Daedalus" 11th November 1941 Age 21 Son of William Richard and Josephine Mary Avery of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA.	R/80920 Sergeant William Maughan McCausland Pilot Royal Canadian Air Force 11th November 1941 Age 26 Son of Walter Thomas Black and Rose Maude Black, of Petone, Wellington, New Zealand.

14227 Sergeant
William Gilbert Bothe
Royal Australian Air Force
30th December 1941 Age 23

Son of William and Emeline Bothe, husband of Winifred Veronica Bothe, of Lakemba, New South Wales, Australia.

Pilot Officer
Anthony Bryan-Smith
Air Gunner
Royal Air Force
15th April 1940 Age 28

Son of Mr. and Mrs. F. H. Bryan-Smith of Beoley, Worcestershire.


Pilot Officer Phillip Knox Vartan of New Zealand Pilot Royal Air Force 14th July 1940 Age 22 Son of Robert Bruce and Louisa Hettie Vartan, Dannevirke, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.	Pilot Officer Garth Wells Fuller Carey, D. F. C. of New Zealand Pilot Royal Air Force 14th July 1940 Age 24 Son of William Reynolds Carey and Alma Lucy Blanche Carey, of Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand.

655269 Sergeant
Ronald Graham White Carter
Pilot
Royal Air Force
1st January 1942 Age 24

Son of Albert Edward and Nora Carter, of New Malden, Surrey.
On the gravestone is inscribed the name "Garter".


R/77220 Sergeant Allister George Dumville Pilot Royal Canadian Air Force 3rd November 1941 Age 25 Son of Hazen and Janet Dumville, husband of Leona I. Dumville, of Newcastle, Northumberland Co., New Brunswick, Canada.	R/75835 Sergeant Stanley Jerome Connell Pilot Royal Canadian Air Force 26th October 1941 Age 22 Son of Patrick and Catherine Connell, of Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

13040014 Private
John Curry
Pioneer Corps
12th April 1941 Age 37

Son of Bridget Curry and stepson of George Neeby, of Castletown.

411607 Sergeant
Alistair Cameron Dunlop
Pilot
Royal New Zealand Air Force
19th February 1943 Age 23

Son of Oswald Dunlop and of Mildred Dunlop (nee Muggeridge),
of Hawera, Taranaki, New Zealand.


547087 Sergeant Albert Garlick Pilot Royal Air Force 11th March 1942 Age 21 Son of Albert and Betty Garlick, of Blackpool, Lancashire.	R/88662 Sergeant Clifford James Scott Pilot Royal Canadian Air Force 14th February 1942 Age 26 Son of Robert D. Scott and Elsie M. Scott, of Toronto. Ontario, Canada, husband of Eva L. Scott, of Weston Ontario.

R/77959 Sergeant
James D'Arcy Lees Graham
Pilot
Royal Canadian Air Force
10th February 1942 Age 24

Son of James C. Graham and Florence E. Graham, of Carstairs, Alberta, Canada.

953382 Sergeant
Herbert Anthony Hay
Pilot
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
2nd October 1943 Age 21

Son of Herbert Anthony and Mabel Dorothy Hay, of Castletown.

Lance Corporal
Leopold Kedzior
Polish Resettlement Corps
11th June 1947 Age 42


407758 Sergeant Leonard Douglas Wright Royal Australian Air Force 30th December 1941 Age 22 Son of the Revd. John William Wright and Ruth Elizabeth Wright, of South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.	Pilot Officer Arthur Raymond Kirby Pilot Royal Canadian Air Force 30th December 1941

1309515 Leading Aircraftman
Harry Laycock
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
5th January 1946 Age 31

Son of Harry and Sarah Jane Laycock,
husband of Myrtle May Laycock,
of Castletown.


Pilot Officer Lewis Benjamin Louden Pilot Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 15th September 1941 Age 31 Son of George Benjamin and Elizabeth Constance Louden, of Tacoma, Washington, USA.	R/61075 Sergeant Frank Percy Stamp Pilot Royal Canadian Air Force 15th August 1941 Age 22 Son of Henry P. Stamp and Emily Stamp, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

R/71617 Sergeant
Joseph Miles MacDonell
Pilot
Royal Canadian Air Force
6th June 1941 Age 23

Son of Miles and Rose MacDonell, of Toronto, Ontario. Canada.

438396 Aircraftwoman 1st Class
Evelyn Matthews
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
2nd November 1944 Age 30

Grand daughter of Margaret Matthews, of Shiney Row.

1339719 Sergeant
Ian Duncan McDonald
Navigator/Wireless Operator
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
19th February 1943 Age 21

Son of James Stenson McDonald and Jessie McDonald, of Kampala, Uganda.

407454 Sergeant
Peter Morphett Piggott
Royal Australian Air Force
30th December 1941 Age 21

Son of Steven Leslie and Muriel Beatrice Piggott,
husband of Vera Doreen Piggott, of Clarendon. South Australia.

5435288 Private
John William Richardson
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry
30th November 1946 Age 33

Son of Pte. Norman Richardson, Northumberland Fusiliers (killed in action in Belgium, 16th August 1917) and Meggie Richardson, husband of Elsie Richardson, of Castletown.

402175 Sergeant
Richard Selkirk Waddy
Royal Australian Air Force
21st April 1941 Age 30

Son of Edgar Lloyd Waddy and Lottchen Sara Waddy,
husband of Marjorie Rose Waddy,
of Mosman, New South Wales, Australia.

1127753 Sergeant
Edward Watson
Flight Engineer
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
6th August 1943 Age 23

Son of Benjamin and Emma Elizabeth Watson, of Castletown.

1321316 Sergeant
Frank Wickenden
Pupil Obs./W. Op.
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
19th February 1943 Age 27

Son of George and Mabel Ellen Wickenden, husband of Laura Rose Wickenden, of Somerton, Somerset.

The German graves:

Lieutenant at Sea
Dieter
Andresen
∗ 7th March 1919
at Kiel
† 15th January 1942
English East-Coast

Oberfähnrich
Wilhelm
Beetz
∗ 23th September 1918
at Berlin-Karlshorst
† 16th February 1941
at Hospital, South Shields

Karl
Brützen
∗ 10th March 1920
† 16th February 1941

Gefreiter (Corporal)
Franz-Friedrich
Janeschitz
∗ 2nd July 1917
at Leimersdorf
† 16th February 1941

Unteroffizier (Sergt.)
Helmut Herbert
Jeckstadt
∗ 23th July 1922
at Essen
† 16th February 1941

Hauptmann (Capt.)
Heinz
Styra
∗ 10th February 1914
Blumenau
† 16th February 1941

Obergefreiter (L/Corp.)
Rudolf
Marten
∗ 11th May 1915
at Hamburg-Altona
† 5th September 1940
at Sunderland

Unteroffizier (Sergt.)
Franz
Reitz
∗ 12th December 1916
at Eschenbach
† 5th September 1940

Oberleut. (1st Lieut.)
Hans Werner
Schröder
∗ 17th August 1913
at Posen
† 5th September 1940

Obergefreiter (L/Corp.)
Josef
Wich
∗ 3rd July 1920
at Nuremberg
† 5th September 1940

Ein Deutscher Soldat

A German Soldier

This page is dedicated to the 10 million victims of World War I and 60 million victims of World War II.
We should always remember the immense grief and loss each war brought to the world.