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Sergeant William James Pickering RICE (945054)
10 Squadron Royal Air Force Date of birth: 25th January 1910 Date of death: 1st July 1941 Killed in action aged 31 Buried at Reichswald Forest War Cemetery Plot 17 Row F Grave 6
William James Pickering Rice was born at Church Brampton in Nottinghamshire the 25th of January 1910 the son of Arthur Henry Rice, Managing Director of Rice and Co, Eagle Foundry in Northampton and Beatrice Hettie (nee Chew) Rice of Church Brampton. He was educated at Lancing College where he was in Fields House from September 1923 to April 1925. On leaving school he joined HMS “Worcester” and was indentured to the Pacific and Oriental Steam and Navigation Co in 1927. He achieved a Second Mate’s Steamship Certificate in 1930 and became a director of the Eagle Foundry in 1936. He worked as a commercial traveller and lodged at Cross Roads Farm, St Ives Road, Huntingtonshire. He was married in Warwickshire in 1940 to Matilda Dorothy (nee Atherstone), of Brixworth in Northamptonshire. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve where he trained as a Navigator and rose to the rank of Sergeant. On the night of the 30th of June/1st of July 1941 Bomber Command despatched 64 bombers being, 32 Wellingtons, 18 Whitleys and 14 Hampdens to bomb Cologne, Duisburg and Dusseldorf. William Rice and his crew took off from RAF Leeming in Whitley P5018 ZA-Q at 11.47pm on the night of the 30th of June bound for Duisburg. They were carrying a bomb load of one 1,000lb and three 500lb general purpose bombs as well as two hundred and forty 4lb incendiaries. The aircraft crashed at Altendorf two kilometres to the west of Marl with the loss of two of the crew. The crew was: - Pilot Officer John Barrett (Pilot) Sergeant William James Pickering Rice (Navigator) Sergeant John William Davidson (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) (POW Stalag Luft 1 Barth Vogelsang) Sergeant Herbert Henry Joslin (Rear Gunner) (POW Stalag 357 Kopernikus) Pilot Officer William Menzies Weekes Fowler (2nd Pilot) (POW Stalag Luft 3 Sagan and Belaria) Theirs was one of four aircraft which were lost on the operation. The crew were buried at Marl Cemetery but their bodies were exhumed on the 2nd of July 1947 and moved to their present location. His brother, Major Arthur Michael Norman Rice MC OL 5th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment, was killed in action on the 9th of August 1944.

Fields House