Flight Lieutenant - Pilot 84014 Ralph Eric Tallis

Census details:
1939 Register. Not identified.

Notes:
D.F.C. [quote]Nice to see my Uncle commemorated on your website. You note that you do not know his link with St Helens. Prior to the war he, my father and Grandparents lived in Sandiway (and other places nearby). Both my Father and Uncle (Ralph) attended Cowley School. I suspect this is the link. Regards Ralph Tallis[/quote]

[b]Twin engine bomber that bombed itself?[/b] The strange title of this story is related to a bombing-mission to Sola in Norway 29/04/1941. On the small island Rott. Just northwest of the airfield the Germans had placed a listening devise and a searchlight. This was the target of this mission, or at least one of the targets.After the first plane dropped its bombs the second one came in and dropped its bombs but one bomb bounced off the ground and exploded in the air. Shrapnel hit the aircraft and brought it down. All that were found was a few papers and a boot, containing human remains. At Sola war memorial graveyard there is "only" one allied pilot registered diceased that day; Flight Lieutenant RALPH ERIC TALLIS. He flew a Blenheim Mk IV - V6451 - with the 82 squadron for Coastal Command. RAF Coastal Command Losses, Vol 1 , Ross McNeill, shows 2 82 Sqn losses for this day but the details available suggest that both were lost over the sea. He does record F/Lt R E Tallis DFC as being buried in Sola Churchyard.The full crew were :-F/Lt R E Tallis DFC, pilotSgt D G Shayler Sgt F E Davis The aircraft was a Blenheim IV, V6451 and was on an anti-shipping search and strike from Lossiemouth. The other aircraft was a Blenheim IV, V6256, UX-W, which is reported as lost without trace also on an anti-shipping operation.The crew were:-P/O D White pilotSgt R C HansonSgt W G Busby Cpl H E HollisThey have no known grave.42 Sqn also had an aircraft airborne on an operation simply described as a "Strike" which might have aimed at ground targets. There are no losses reported other than a Beaufort that suffered Engine failure and ditched close to land with all the crew surviving. This unusual incident is also mentioned in German sources dated back to 29th April 1941, but without any names or numbers...The text from "Seekommandant Stavanger": "17:20 - Bombentiefangriff durch 2 Bristol Blenheim aus geringster Hohe auf die Insel Rott. Bei kettenbombenwurf geriet eine feindl.Maschine durch Fruhzundung der 5. bombe und sturtze ab. Besatzung mit maschine untergegangen. Kartenmateriell durch MAA-Boot "Bjorg" geborgen."Also worth mentioning is that only 5 minutes later, 6 Blenheims attacked a German convoy nearby, Minesweeper "M-110" and Vorpostenboot "Seefalke" claimed one downed Blenheim by Flak. This story is an extract taken from an Internet forum discussing various WW2 bombing missions in which our Ralph E Tallis is the main subject. (Courtesy of Kevin Whitaker) [pic]imgs/WW2_headstones/Tallis-WW2-RAF.jpg[/pic][caption]Picture by Jeff Keenan[/caption]