Platt | Robert Charles
Biography
Robert Charles Platt was born on 17th August 1913 in Tottenham and was the son of James Francis and Amelia Louisa Minnie Platt of Teddington, Middlesex.
In June 1921 he was living with his parents and twin sisters Frances Amelia and Lily Ida at 59, Atbara Road, Teddington, Surrey. His sisters were born in May 1911 in Islington. His father, James Francis Platt, was a repairer of Cash Registers, working on his own account. He was born in April 1885 in Islington. His mother, Amelia Minnie Platt, was born in January 1989 in St Pancras.
In September 1939 Robert was still living with his parents at 7 Cambridge Crescent, Teddington. He was working as an Aeronautical Process Engineer. He was still single. His twin sisters were not living in the household, but there was a closed record suggesting the presence of a child, possibly one of his sisters’ children.
Lily Platt had married Charles M T Bertola in 1933 in Kingston, Surrey. They seem to have had one child in Brentford in 1938. Frances Platt married Lewis H J Richards in Staines in 1936. They seem to have had three children between 1938 and 1954, all in the Brentford/London area.
Robert Charles Platt, Flight Lieutenant, pilot, was a member of the crew of the Stirling III BK718 which was shot down on 4th July 1943, either by Flak88 or Hayo Hermann (luftwaffepilot). They took off at 23.26 on 3th July 1943 from West Wickham and crashed at Mehlem on the westbank of the Rhine, 10 km SSE of Bonn.
The crew is buried at Overloon War Cemetery, except Sgt I.H. Norris, who managed to leave the plane and was a Prisoner of War (POW).
The other crew members are:
Official information via findagrave.com:
Plane data: Short Stirling III
Serialnr. BK718
Call Sign: WP-M
Unit: 90 Sqdn.
Take off: 11:26 PM West Wickham airfield.
Target: Köln.
Operation: Bombing.
Shot down by FLAK.
Crashed at Bonn-Mehlem, Germany.
Buried Plot VII-D-13 Venray War Cemetery, Netherlands.
Reburied 01/05/1947 Overloon War Cemetery, Netherlands
Details of how Robert came to be with this crew can be found in the extended side-story about the fate of the crew of the Stirling BK718.
