• Operation Chastise (Dambusters Raid)

Date of birth:

June 22nd, 1924 (Weston-super-Mare/Somerset, United Kingdom)

Date of death:

May 16th, 1943 (Haldern, Germany)

Buried on:

Commonwealth War Cemetery Reichswald Forest
Plot: 5. Row: C. Grave: 5.

Service number:

1338282

Nationality:

British

Jack Robert George Liddell, the youngest participant in the Dams Raid, was born on 22 June 1924 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. After losing his father as a young boy, his mother remarried, giving him one sister and two half-sisters. He attended Walliscote Road School and later worked in butchery. Tragically, his stepfather was killed at Dunkirk.

In May 1941, at just 16, Liddell volunteered for the RAF, hiding his age due to his passion for flying. He trained as an air gunner, completing his course in May 1942. By September, he joined 61 Squadron as rear gunner under Flt Sgt John Cockshott. Together, the crew flew 30 missions, gifting their pilot a silver tankard in gratitude, with instructions to engrave it after the war.

After his tour with Cockshott, Jack Liddell briefly served as a training instructor before being reassigned to Norman Barlow's crew, destined for 617 Squadron.

At just 18 years old, Liddell manned the rear turret of AJ-E during the Dams Raid on 16 May 1943, tragically becoming the youngest aircrew member to die that night. Initially buried by the Germans in Düsseldorf Cemetery, he now rests in the Commonwealth War Graves cemetery at Reichswald Forest.

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• Photo 1: Findagrave
• - CWGC
  - Dambusters

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