Flight Sergeant Richard Edgar Bertram
Royal Canadian Air Force - WWII
Service Number: R75831
Royal Canadian Air Force, 25 OTU
Born: 9 November 1912 in Grimsby, Ontario
Date of death: 11 September 1942, age 29
Status: KIA
Buried in Adegem Canadian War Cemetery - Plot I. E. 6.
Awards: 1939-45 Star, Air Crew Europe Star, Defence Medal, War Medal, C.V.S.M. + bar.
BIOGRAPHY
Richard Edgar Bertram was the son of John Hugh Bertram (1878 - 1962), a fruit grower, and Ruby Delphine Smith (1880 - 1941) from Grimsby, Ontario, Canada. Edgar was born in Grimsby, Ontario, Canada and worked for 4 years as an interior decorator in Hamilton, Ontario. He had two older brothers, Alexander J. (1904 – 1969 ) and George Donald (1911 - 1911)
Schools
1918-1925: Primary School
1925-1929: Grimsby High School – Basic Matriculation
1929-1932: worked as a clerk to resume education
1932-1933: Grimsby High School – Senior Matriculation
Certificate in English literature, English composition, French composition, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and Physics.
1934- 1936: Bookkeeper to enter own business – interior decoration
He loved playing golf, tennis, swimming, rugby, football and photography was his hobby. Richard was a non-smoker but liked the occasional whiskey.
He enlisted on November 18, 1940 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, age 28 and single
The medical was on April 14, 1941
Height: 5 ft 7 inch
Weight: 139 lbs
Complexion: Dark
Eyes: Hazel
Hair: Black
Wellington III BJ 987 left RAF Finningley, UK, at 2022 hours 10 September for a mission to Düsseldorf, Germany. On their return from the Düsseldorf raid, a German bomber knocked them out of the sky near Nieuwpoort, Belgium and they crashed into the sea.
According to Canadian Flyers; Thirty-One Planes Are Missing
London, Sept. 11. — (CP) – Hundreds of British bombers unloaded a terrific weight of high explosives over Düsseldorf last night, spreading the destruction wrought in that important German industrial city in 49 previous raids.
The striking force included two squadrons of the R.C.A.F., whose aircraft left many fires burning after their bombing runs, R.C.A.F. Headquarters reported.
SOURCE: Canadian Press, 11 Sep 1942
The Crew of Wellington III BJ987
Pilot Officer John Robert AGAR 124742 Air Gunner KIA
Flight Sergeant Richard Edgar BERTRAM R/75831 Pilot KIA
Flight Sergeant Cleveland John EGGLETON R/83220 Navigator KIA
Flight Sergeant Frank John GALLAGHER R/102761 MIA
Flight Sergeant Richard Melvin GEORGE R/100105 MIA
Flight Sergeant (Air Observer) Frank John Gallagher, R/102761, 1918-1942
from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, body never recovered,
memorialized at Runnymede Memorial Panel 104.
Flight Sergeant (Wireless Air Gunner) Richard Melvin George, R/100105, 1921-1942
from Sioux Lookout, Ontario, Canada, body never recovered,
memorialized at Runnymede Memorial Panel 104.
Flight Sergeant (Air Observer) Cleveland John Eggleton, R/83220, 1919-1942 - from Amherstburg, Ontario, Canada
buried at Oostduinkerke Communal Cemetery, Row G. 175.
Pilot Officer (Air Gunner) John Robert Agar, 124742, 1921-1942 - from Faringdon, Hampshire, England
buried at Oostduinkerke Communal Cemetery, Row G. 171.
Book of Remembrance of the Second World War, Bertram Richard Edgar is mentioned on page 58.
