Christopher Daft was another Oxford serviceman who gave his life to protect the country during the Second World War.
The 21-year-old sergeant, of Western Road, off Abingdon Road, was a wireless operator and air gunner with 78 Squadron, RAF Volunteer Reserve.
He was killed when his Halifax bomber was shot down by a German night-fighter, just short of the Allies’ target, Essen in Germany, in July 1943.
Other aircraft were successful in the mission, causing extensive damage to the city, including a steelworks.
Christopher and three fellow crew members were killed and buried in a war cemetery near the Dutch border.
Three others who survived were captured and taken prisoner. The inscription on Christopher’s grave reads: ‘Loved by all’.
He is one of 24 dead servicemen from South Oxford honoured on a memorial at St Matthew’s Church in Marlborough Road.
As we have reported, volunteers are marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day this year by compiling biographies of all the men on the church plaque and other local men who survived.
The group is also collecting memories of this area of the city, Grandpont, in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and of the roles women and evacuees played in the war.
Others on the church memorial include Ernest Finch, 40, of Weirs Lane, a gunner in the Royal Artillery who was taken prisoner by the Japanese in 1941 after sailing to Singapore.
He was killed in 1943 in the Ballalae massacre on the Solomon Islands.
He is remembered on the Singapore memorial in the Kranji war cemetery which bears the names of 2,400 casualties with no known graves.
George Morrison, 20, of Abingdon Road, was a private with the 4th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and was killed when the Germans attacked a convoy of troops at Ath in Belgium in 1940.
He is commemorated on memorials at Dunkirk and at St Michael at the Northgate Church in Cornmarket Street, Oxford.
Another private with the Ox and Bucks, Horace Bannister, 28, of Canning Crescent, died of wounds on the Dutch border in February 1945, three months before the war ended, as his battalion pushed into Germany.
He is buried in a war cemetery near Nijmegen with the headstone inscribed: ‘Sleep on beloved/And take your rest/We loved you/But Jesus loved you best’.
John English, of Marlborough Road, joined the 1st Battalion, Hampshire Regiment and lost his life in July 1943 taking part in the ultimately successful invasion of Sicily. He was 27 and is buried in a war cemetery on the island.
The inscription on his grave reads: ‘A beautiful memory/Left behind/His duty bravely/And boldly done’.
He is also remembered on the city roll of honour at St Michael at the Northgate Church.
Anyone who can add to the lives of those on the St Matthew’s Church memorial should contact project coordinator Liz Woolley at liz@lizwoolley.co.uk or call 01865 242760.
Google ‘24 Men of Grandpont’ to find the project website.
An exhibition of the research will be held at St Matthew’s Church from November 9 to December 7, from 10am to noon Mondays to Saturdays and 2pm to 4pm on Sundays.
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