Sergeant Desmond Roderick NEVE (955436)
76 Squadron, Royal Air Force

Date of birth: 2nd January 1922
Date of death: 9th May 1942

Killed in action aged 20
Buried at the Berlin War Cemetery Plot 8 Row A Grave 37
He was born at Derby on the 2nd of January 1922 the son of Walter Neve, engineer, and Gertrude C. (nee Owens) of 70 Park Road, Rugby in Warwickshire. He was brought up by his aunt following the death of his mother in 1936.

He was educated at the City School, Lincoln and at the King’s School Canterbury from September 1936 to July 1939 where he was in School House.

Soon after the outbreak of war he volunteered for the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve where he trained as a Flight Engineer and rose to the rank of Sergeant.

On the night of the 8th/9th of May 1942 Bomber Command dispatched 193 aircraft for an operation against the German town of Warnemunde. 98 Wellingtons, 27 Stirlings, 21 Lancasters, 19 Halifaxes, 19 Hampdens and 9 Manchesters were involved on the mission, which was to target both the town and the nearby Heinkel factory. There was cloud cover over the target which prevented the crews from seeing the results of their efforts and the operation was described by Bomber Command as "only moderately successful".

Desmond Neve and his crew took off from RAF Middleton St George at 10pm on the 8th of May 1942 in Halifax Mk II R9456 MP-F for the raid, on what would be his first operational mission. The aircraft crashed at Parkentin near Rostock at 1.20am where it burst into flames, spreading wreckage over a large area and killing the entire crew.

The crew was: -
Pilot Officer Harry Baker Moorehouse (Pilot)
Sergeant Desmond Roderick Neve (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer William Leslie Long (Navigator)
Sergeant John Joseph O'Reilly (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Thomas Patrick Smith (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Raymond Davison (Air Gunner)

Typically the crew of a Halifax is seven and there is no explanation as to why they were a man short on this mission. Theirs was one of nineteen aircraft which were lost on the raid.

The crew’s funeral was held at Rostock Cemetery on the 13th of May 1942 but their bodies were exhumed on the 11th of April 1947 and moved to their present location. The wreckage of the aircraft was cleared by members of the Flak Commando a few days later.

He is commemorated on the war memorial at Mildenhall in Suffolk.
School House

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