23 BACK ROW FINISHER - Ronald Mark Carrell - ANOTHER BRAVE YOUNGSTER LOST IN THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN

Ronald Mark Carrell was born in Sunderland in March 1920 and died in the conflict in October 1940. He was 20 years old and had  played as prop for Durham Public Schools XV and Sunderland RFC in the late 1930s. Ronald was the son of a dentist and was educated at Worksop College. In December  1939 (at the age of 19) he was sent for training as a gunnery leader in the RAF.  By  March 1940 he had become a pilot officer and air gunner in  44 squadron . Just at the beginning of the Battle of Britain his Hampden and its crew of four were tasked with bombing enemy bases, aerodromes and the Kiel Canal.  On 14 October 1940 ( toward the very end of the Battle of Britain) his plane was shot down while on a raid over Berlin. It was caught in searchlights and attacked by a German night fighter. Three of the crew of four were killed including Ronald. His death was not certified until March of the following year.  His grave is in Berlin. He had been married for just over a month and left a posthumous son.

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