Samuel Cliff's Story.
Sergeant Samuel Cliff Wedgwood (Service Number 1204039) was a 28-year-old flight crew member in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve who was killed when his Vickers Wellington Mk III bomber, serial number BJ650, was shot down during a raid on the industrial city of Essen, Germany (targeting the Krupp works). All five occupants on board were killed.
Their plane departed from RAF Chipping Warden at 20:24 hours on September 16, 1942. Sergeant Wedgwood's role was Observer. On its homeward journey, the aircraft was intercepted by a German Luftwaffe night-fighter (flown by Hauptmann Werner Streib and Oberfeldwebel Walter Ruscher) and shot down. It crashed at approximately 01:15 hours on September 17, 1942, near a swimming pool area at Veldhoven, about 6 kilometres southwest of Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Samuel Cliff Wedgwood was born on 10th June 1914, the third child of Samuel Wedgwood (1880 - 1942) and Georgina nee Cliff (1877 - 1945). He was the brother of John James, May and Leslie. He grew up at 39 Queen Street, in Burslem but by September 1939, the family was living in Endon Villa, 2 Chancery Lane, Alsager. His father and brothers were fruiterers. Samuel was an audit clerk.
In March 1942, his father died, and six months later Samuel was killed when the plane crashed. His mother Georgina died in 1945. Samuel was unmarried.
Samuel's name appears on the north face of the war memorial in Alsager.
Their plane departed from RAF Chipping Warden at 20:24 hours on September 16, 1942. Sergeant Wedgwood's role was Observer. On its homeward journey, the aircraft was intercepted by a German Luftwaffe night-fighter (flown by Hauptmann Werner Streib and Oberfeldwebel Walter Ruscher) and shot down. It crashed at approximately 01:15 hours on September 17, 1942, near a swimming pool area at Veldhoven, about 6 kilometres southwest of Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Samuel Cliff Wedgwood was born on 10th June 1914, the third child of Samuel Wedgwood (1880 - 1942) and Georgina nee Cliff (1877 - 1945). He was the brother of John James, May and Leslie. He grew up at 39 Queen Street, in Burslem but by September 1939, the family was living in Endon Villa, 2 Chancery Lane, Alsager. His father and brothers were fruiterers. Samuel was an audit clerk.
In March 1942, his father died, and six months later Samuel was killed when the plane crashed. His mother Georgina died in 1945. Samuel was unmarried.
Samuel's name appears on the north face of the war memorial in Alsager.
Researched by Shena Lewington (July 2026)