Trevelyan (Trevor) Ivan Powis

Trevor Powis was just 19 years old when he took off from RAF Stornoway at 14:14 hrs on 26th November 1944. He was serving aboard Halifax Mk.II (JP319) ‘D’ of 502 Squadron, piloted by Flt. Lt. J.H. Burrough, on a “Gardening” anti-shipping sortie to the Skagerrak off the Norwegian and Danish coasts.

Apart from the regular crew, the newly appointed Commanding Officer of 502 Squadron, Wing Commander Corbould, was on board for an operational area familiarisation flight. The aircraft carried a typical war load for such operations: six 500-pound Mk.II anti-shipping bombs. A final signal was received from the aircraft at 19:00 hrs, after which nothing further was heard.

The aircraft failed to return from the sortie and was assumed lost to unknown causes. The squadron Operational Record Book (ORB) notes: “It was learnt from another source that the aircraft was shot down off the Swedish coast.” A short while after the loss, the body of P/O G. Booth, one of the crew members, washed ashore in Norway and was buried in the cemetery at Tønsberg. None of the other crew members were ever recovered.

Local Legacy & Remembrance

Although Trevor has no known grave, he is commemorated on his parents’ headstone in Leominster Cemetery. The grave is carefully maintained by his family and monitored regularly by the Explorer Scout Unit.

In 2019, the Explorers created a short video project to help reflect on just how young Trevor was when the world descended into conflict: