Flying Officer Jeffrey Martin CREMER (127940)
610 (County of Cheshire) Squadron Royal Air Force

Date of birth: 24th June 1923
Date of death: 13th March 1943

Killed in action aged 19
Commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial Panel 124
He was born at Freshfield in Lancashire on the 24th of June 1923 the elder son of Arthur Stanley Cremer, Colonial Civil Service, and Gwyneth Mabel (nee Ashurst), who were on leave at the time from Tanganyika. After he was born his father was posted to Mauritius where Jeffrey grew up. In 1932 the family settled at “Ingoldesthorpe”, Armstrong Road, Brockenhurst in Hampshire.

He was educated at Furzey Close Preparatory School, at the Junior King’s School from May 1934 and at the King’s School Canterbury from April 1937 to March 1941 where he was in School House and was a Senior Scholar. He was appointed as a house monitor in January 1941, a school monitor, and was Secretary of the Somner Society. He represented the school at Hockey, Cricket and Rugby, leaving with a Higher School Certificate in Classics (Latin and Greek) and English Literature. He was promoted to Corporal in the JTC in January 1941.

On leaving school he went on to Gonville and Caius College Cambridge on the 16th of April 1941 as a Cadet on the first Royal Air Force University course for a period of two terms, where he converted from classics to science. In October 1941 he began his basic training and in December he sailed for Canada and went on to California where he trained as a pilot at the Polaris Flight Academy.

On the 12th of August 1942 he was awarded his “wings” and was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on the 10th of August 1942 and was promoted to Flying Officer on the 10th of February 1943. Later that month, he joined 610 Squadron flying Spitfires based at Westhampnett, near Chichester in Sussex. The squadron was led by Wing Commander “Johnny” Johnson, the country’s leading fighter ace.

On the 13th of March 1943 he took off at 12.05pm with six aircraft from the squadron as part of Green Section in Spitfire AD575 T for a patrol in the Brighton/Shoreham area. No enemy aircraft were sighted. At 12.30 hours, while over the sea and about two miles to the south of Bognor Regis, Jeffrey Cremer was making a climbing turn when his aircraft stalled and fell towards the sea. A wing was seen to break off as the aircraft hit the surface of the sea with the main part of the aircraft plunging straight under the water. Despite a search by other Spitfires from the squadron no trace was found of him or his aircraft.

The Headmaster of King’s wrote:-

“I thought the world of Jeffrey-so good and kind, such a loving disposition. I did hope he would be ordained and, at times, he thought he would be.”

His obituary in the Cantuarian:-

“So passes yet another King’s scholar, young, able, of strong and willing personality; one who would have done much for the cause of humanity had he lived-and who has done everything for it in giving his young and promising life”.
Although the Commonwealth War Graves Commission record the date of his death as the 14th of March, 610 Squadron operational diary records the incident as having occurred on the 13th of March.

He is commemorated on the war memorial at Brockenhurst.
School House

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