Trafford

Born on the 31st January1918, the birth being registered during the March
quarter 1918 in the Peterborough R.D. - ref: 3b/262, the son of Ernest
Reader & Frances Kathleen Vale (nee Holland).

1921 Census - 60, Prince's Street, Peterborough,  Northamptonshire.   Son -
aged:: 3 - born: Peterborough.    Head of household - Ernest R. Vale -
Married - aged: 33 - occ: Mechanic (Skilled) Inspection Department at Peter
Brotherhood Works Ltd., Walton, Peterborough - born: Hatfield Heath,
Essex..  Also - Frances Kathleen Vale - Wife - aged: 34 - born: Lincoln.  
Plus 1 elder brother and a boarder.

He attended Lymm Grammar School and is commemorated on the school war
memorial.

1939 National Registration - No Trace. Already serving perhaps?   His
parents resided at 164 Marsland Road, Sale.  His father listed as a
Maintenance Engineer.

He married Fenella Dixon during the September quarter 1941 in the
Manchester R.D. - ref: 8d/25.

He was an Associate of the Chartered Institute.

Mentioned in Despatches.

Flying with 692 Sqn, he took off from RAF Graveley at 19.11 hrs on the 27th
March 1945 in a Mosquito fighter/bomber No. PF466 PC-3 for a bombing
mission over Berlin.  This was his 70th mission  and the a/c was lost
without trace.   He was flying with Flying Officer F.J. Manning RCAF

Son of Ernest Reader Vale and Frances Kathleen Vale; husband of Fenella
Vale, of Timperley, Cheshire. A.C.I.I.

See also the Sale database.

In 2021, his son - Michael Vale wrote an article about his father and with
Michael's permission, it is reproduced below.

My Father Fight Lieutenant Eric Stanley Vale 1918 -1945 

It's strange to think that I know almost more of one night in my Fathers
life than almost any other events in his life. The pieces of his final
mission in WW2 have now come together and it's been possible to track in
detail the timeline of the night March 27th / 28th . This was the 23rd
mission flown in the February/March period in 1945. 

At that stage of the war the allies dominated the skies and Mosquito
aircraft given their speed and manoeuvrability were particularly effective.
It's hard to believe that their speed of over 400 mph equals that of many
commercial aircraft of today. The only defence that German forces had were
anti-aircraft flak and Messerschmitt fighters that were not as quick as
Allied aircraft. 

The Germans had however been working on a development that was highly
significant and if Hitler had committed more resources to this development
it could have had much more impact on aircraft losses.  So the ME 262
became the first jet fighter and was deployed to defend the skies from
aircraft on their bombing missions over Berlin. A special squadron had been
formed specifically with the objective of attacking the Mosquitos. The
squadron was under the leadership of Kurt Welter and was known as 'The
Night Fighter Squadron'. 

On the night of 27th/ 28th a total of 82 Mosquito aircraft set off
including the 692 squadron of which my Father was part. His squadron
deployed 15 aircraft that night . His plane PF466 appears to have been the
last that night to depart at 19.11 hours . Their route was from the
airfield at Graveley, Huntingdonshire and took them over the North Sea .
The route took them over the Northern part of Netherlands then over Den
Helder and after avoiding flak over Hamburg they approached Berlin from a
NNE direction. After dropping the payload of a 4,000 lb bomb the route was
due West which is where the plane was shot down by the ME 262 piloted by 24
year old Jorg Cyzpionka . 

He had only limited fuel and minutes only to reach his base in Magdeburg.
We know the thoughts that went through Jorg's mind at that time. It was
almost the end of the war and he questioned the purpose of shooting down
and killing of airmen. Ironically it was almost accidental; the Mosquito
just appeared before him. The two planes could easily have collided! The
pilot didn't notice the Messerschmitt and constantly weaved from side to
side. The blue flames of the exhaust were clearly visible. Jorg described
the Mosquito as a beautiful aircraft and hoped that the pilot would turn
away. The Mosquito crew didn't see the danger. Jorg followed for a minute
or so, reflected on the mission and as the pilot turned again to the right
he fired a single burst and saw the aircraft going down. The wooden wonder
burst into flames and instantly lost height. He said afterwards, 'No joy in
this victory'.   PF 466 crashed near Jerchel on the Western banks of the
Elbe.  My Fathers identity disc was discovered at an airfield in Stendal,
reportedly the crash scene was attended by a Red Cross nurse. . The pilot
dead in the cockpit, the navigator thrown clear. The Luftwaffe
traditionally retrieved the bodies of dead aircrew and afforded them a
proper burial.  Initial reports were that they were buried at the nearby
airfield of Weissewarte. There is however no definitive evidence as to any
final place of burial. It is possible that they were both taken to an
American cemetery in Netherlands or alternatively a war cemetery in Berlin.
 All airmen with no known graves are of course listed on the Runnymede
memorial and there are also many references elsewhere.( Ely Cathedral, St
Clements , London , Lymm GS  and Sale War Memorial) .  

Apparently to this day the site of the crashed aircraft is still cordoned
off (due to the possiblity of live ammunition?). German researchers have
determined most of the events of that night. Of course after WW2 the Allies
were denied access to East Germany which was under Soviet control. Only
after 1989 was it possible to learn more. Despite our many efforts over the
post war years neither MOD or British Embassy was able to provide this
amount of detail. The Messerschmitt pilot Jorg Cyzpionka has recalled often
his experience of that night. Apparently after the ending of hostilities he
surrendered his plane to the allies flying to nearby airfield. Remarkably
after a long career he moved to California and is still alive at the age of
100 in March 2021 ! 

Michael Vale   23rd March 2021