Former cadet of the Air Training Corps - 296th (Stoke Newington) Squadron. Died in WW2.
Flight sergeant Cyril Albert Payne, aged 23, (Navigator) crashed at Pegll, Burma through engine fault. 28 March 1946.
The above information was shown on a laminated plaque attached to one of the 13 trees in Lavell Street, N16, however it is incorrect say he died in World War Two which officially ended on 2 September 1945. Additionally he died at Pegu, Burma (now Myanmar), and not Pegll.
Cyril Albert Payne was born on 2 September 1922 and his birth was registered in the Hackney registration district.
He was the only son and second child of Frank Albert Payne (1882-1963) and Clara May Payne née Bonney (1889-1981). His father was a general labourer. Electoral registers for 1923 and 1924 show the family living at 37 Chesholm Road, Stoke Newington but from 1926 onwards the family had moved next door to 35 Chesholm Road.
He joined the the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service number 180475, and gained the rank of Flight Sergeant. He was attached to No.159 Squadron and on 28 March 1946 he was one of 21 occupants aboard a Liberator C. Mk VIII aeroplane, serial number KN760, on a flight from Pegu, Burma, (now Myanmar) to Digri, India (now Pakistan). Shortly after take-off, while in its initial climb, the No.1 engine failed. The captain reduced his altitude in an attempt to make an emergency landing but the aircraft stalled and crashed in a huge explosion. Four passengers were seriously injured while the 17 other occupants were killed. Investigators revealed that the captain who was assigned to this flight failed to show himself to the pre-flight briefing and it was decided to replace him by another captain, aged 24, who was also killed in the crash. Of the 17 who were killed, 14 were from the RAFVR and 3 were from the army. The bodies were buried in a collective grave in Plot 1, Row D, Graves 4-19 in the Rangoon War Cemetery, Yangon, Myanmar.
Probate records confirm that his home address remained as 35 Chesholm Road, Stoke Newington and when administration was granted to his father, who by now was listed as a Salesman, his effects totalled £330-0s-3d.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan
