Remembering Jack Kelway, Royal Observer Corps
(L-R)
Mike Quincy, 7 Group - Tim Kitchen, National Standar - William Warwick, 15 Group
This ceremony took place in October 2017 at Newport Cemetery, Newport
On 4th March 1945 Jack Kelway was making his way at 0130 by car to the Royal Observer Corps Post* (ROC) at Hackthorn for his night duty when the occupants of a German Nightfighter spotted him, it is conjecture that they may have thought he was an aircraft in the RAF Scampton Circuit. They came down to shoot his car, hit overhead power lines and crashed, killing all four occupants and catapulting Jack’s car across the field, he was killed instantly leaving a very young family.
On that night the German Operation Gisela was taking place, 142 aircraft were detailed to tail British bombers returning from their raids over foreign soil and shoot them down, particularly at their landing point.
The four German aircrew were given full military honours and have Commonwealth War Graves neatly tended in the Churchyard of St John the Baptist, Scampton. The ROC paid for Jack’s funeral at Newport, a stone was erected in his memory consisting of a kerb around the grave. Over the years, as the family have moved away from the area the grave has been unattended and due to the kerb unable to be mown by Cemetery staff, thus it had become very overgrown.
Efforts had been made over the years by several people to encourage the Commonwealth Graves Commission to take Jack’s grave into their jurisdiction but despite the fact he was wearing his ROC uniform and on his way to duty their contract and conditions did not allow this.
William Warwick, BEM, MCGI, MInstRE, of Gainsborough, a past member of the Royal Observer Corps, worked tirelessly to secure donations from various bodies, including the National Committee of the ROC, to enable the grave to be cleared and a new stone erected showing Jack’s involvement with the ROC and the Special Constabulary, of which he was also a member. The Cemetery staff agreed that in future the grave would be mown with other regular maintenance within the graveyard.
The Reverend Sue Deacon of Springline Parish dedicated the new stone on Wednesday, 11th October, 2017 at 11.30am at a short ceremony attended by members of the Kelway family, representatives of the Royal Observer Corps Association and the Special Constabulary.
You can read the Order of Service here
On 4th March 1945 Jack Kelway was making his way at 0130 by car to the Royal Observer Corps Post* (ROC) at Hackthorn for his night duty when the occupants of a German Nightfighter spotted him, it is conjecture that they may have thought he was an aircraft in the RAF Scampton Circuit. They came down to shoot his car, hit overhead power lines and crashed, killing all four occupants and catapulting Jack’s car across the field, he was killed instantly leaving a very young family.
On that night the German Operation Gisela was taking place, 142 aircraft were detailed to tail British bombers returning from their raids over foreign soil and shoot them down, particularly at their landing point.
The four German aircrew were given full military honours and have Commonwealth War Graves neatly tended in the Churchyard of St John the Baptist, Scampton. The ROC paid for Jack’s funeral at Newport, a stone was erected in his memory consisting of a kerb around the grave. Over the years, as the family have moved away from the area the grave has been unattended and due to the kerb unable to be mown by Cemetery staff, thus it had become very overgrown.
Efforts had been made over the years by several people to encourage the Commonwealth Graves Commission to take Jack’s grave into their jurisdiction but despite the fact he was wearing his ROC uniform and on his way to duty their contract and conditions did not allow this.
William Warwick, BEM, MCGI, MInstRE, of Gainsborough, a past member of the Royal Observer Corps, worked tirelessly to secure donations from various bodies, including the National Committee of the ROC, to enable the grave to be cleared and a new stone erected showing Jack’s involvement with the ROC and the Special Constabulary, of which he was also a member. The Cemetery staff agreed that in future the grave would be mown with other regular maintenance within the graveyard.
The Reverend Sue Deacon of Springline Parish dedicated the new stone on Wednesday, 11th October, 2017 at 11.30am at a short ceremony attended by members of the Kelway family, representatives of the Royal Observer Corps Association and the Special Constabulary.
You can read the Order of Service here