WEEK 42

John H. McGlade

John Herbert McGlade, born in 1924 in Rotherham, is my second cousin, once removed and the only child of Mabel Mollekin.

In June 1944, John flew out of R.A.F. Waddington with the Canadian 420 Squadron on board the Halifax NA-505 (coded PT-J) during an operation to Acheres in France. However, an enemy night fighter shot down John’s plane and all eight crew members on board perished.

John is remembered on two war memorials in Rotherham; on the cenotaph in Clifton Park and on the memorial in the grounds of Thomas Rotherham College (formerly Rotherham Grammar School).

Rotherham Grammar School

THE ADVERTISER, SATURDAY, JUNE 9th, 1945

PRESUMED KILLED ON AIR OPERATIONS.

Sergeant Flight-Engineer John Herbert McGlade (R.A.F.V.R.), aged 19, only son of Mr. and Mrs. E. J. McGlade, of “Ngong,” Stag Lane, Rotherham, must now be presumed to have lost his life on air operations over France on June 8th last year, exactly one year after he joined up. Sergt. McGlade, who was attached to a Canadian squadron, was reported missing last year and his parents have received a communication from the Air Ministry to the effect that he must now be presumed killed.

Rotherham War Memorial

A member of the choir of St. Cuthbert’s Church, Herringthorpe, Sergeant McGlade was also an active member of the church and a server. He attended the Rotherham Grammar School, and was later employed in the accounts department of Messrs. John Brown and Co. Ltd., at their Roundwood Colliery.