Ananda Kularatne

Ananda Kularatne was the father I never knew, he perished with his crew together with 55,000 other aircrew in Bomber Command during the Second World War. After a period of over 50 years I have started to gather information on his life.

He was born in Colombo, Ceylon on December 25, 1921, the eldest of three children of Patrick de Silva Kularatne and Hilda Muriel (nee Westbrook). He attended Ananda College Colombo from 1933 to 1939 and then University College Colombo until 1941. In October 1941, in the darkest days of the war, he left home to come to what must have been a cold, war-torn England to join the RAF as a pilot.

This is the record of his RAF career from when he enlisted at Euston in December 1943 until he was lost in February 1944:

Euston 3/12/41
No 11 ACSB F.2171 3/12/41
No1 ACRC 8/12/41
91 TW 17/1/42
51 G.P. (3.P.P.P.) 11/4/42
S.F.T.S. Cranwell 19/8/42
Awarded Flying Badge 2/2/42
10 O.T.U. 22/2/43
1652 C.U. 29/5/43
102 (Ceylon) Squadron 2/7/43
Missing 16/2/44

My mother, Holly Margaret Bradley, joined the WAAF and was posted to a barrage balloon unit. She met Ananda at a party held for service personnel at the Dulwich house of his English grandparents. From the few letters I have it appears that my mother's parents did not meet him until the wedding which was held on 4th September 1943. There were seven people at the wedding including Holly's parents and her sister. The crew was represented by both of the air gunners 'Joe' Filmer, who was the best man, and Alf Stapleton.

Click on an image below to see the picture full-size.

THE CREW

158038 Plt Off Ananda Kularatne, RAFVR, 22. (Pilot)
(Sgt 1399701, promoted P/O 22/8/43)
Son of Patrick and Hilda Kularatne
Marriage: 1/9/43 Holly Margaret Bradley, Blackpool Lancashire
Son: Simon Ananda Kularatne DOB 16/8/44

1439598 Sgt (2nd Plt) Ralph Whitaker, RAFVR. (2nd Pilot)
Son of Arthur and Edith Whitaker of Ikley, Yorkshire

1392448 Flt Sgt (Nav) William Frederick Johnson, RAFVR, 27 (Navigator)
Son of Frederick Cupper Johnson and Ada Irene Johnson of Bedingfield, Suffolk.

170437 Plt Off (W.Op) James Arthur Downs, RAFVR, 32. (Wireless Operator)
Son of William and Florence Downs
Husband of Louise Emma Downs of Thornton Heath, Surrey.

425238 Plt Off (Air Gnr - MU)Alfred James Stapleton, RAAF, 33. (Air Gunner MU)
Son of Alfred Edward and Lilac Stapleton
Husband of Marjorie Stapleton of Gladstone, MacLeay River, NSW Australia.
Daughter Glenda dob March/April 1943
Buried in Berlin 1939-45 War Cemetery Brandenburg Germany Plot 8, Row D, Grave 18.
Original Place of burial Neuer Friedhof Rostock GSGS 4416 1/100 000 Sh K6 MR 875.185

J/14184 Flg Off Jasper Mayton Watson Filmer, RCAF, 28. (Air Gunner Rear)
Son of George and Rose Filmer of Lethbridge, Alberta.

172498 Plt Off Kenneth William Sherlock, RAFVR, 22, (Flight Engineer)
(Sgt 1446874)
Son of William and Evelyn M. Sherlock of Jarvis Brook, Sussex.

J/18903 Plt Off William Mason Maxwell Manser, RCAF, 24, (Bomb Aimer)
of Woodstock, Ontario.

(Sources: Combat Reports Dated 1/8/43,14/8/43 & 6/12/43, CWGC, The British, Commonwealth & Polish Air Services Personnel Archive, 102 Squadron ORB)

I am trying to trace the families of the crew. I have so far found only Filmer's family in Canada.

If anyone can help with information regarding my father's crew, please email me.

Date	Aircraft	Aircraft ID	Target	Type	No. of A/C
24/7/43	DT743	DY-O	Hamburg	Halifax B/GR Mk II Srs I	22
25/7/43	JB794	DY-L	Essen	Halifax B/GR Mk II Srs I	22
27/7/43	JD366	DY-J	Hamburg	Halifax B/GR Mk II Srs IA	20
29/7/43	JD366	DY-J	Hamburg		22
2/8/43	JD366	DY-J	Hamburg		20
9/8/43	JD366	DY-J	Mannheim		16
12/8/43	JD366	DY-J	Milan		17
17/8/43	JD366	DY-J	Peenemunde		17
22/8/43	JB844	DY-S	Leverkusen	Halifax B/GR Mk II Srs I	18
15/9/43	JD421	DY-G	Montebelard	Halifax B/GR Mk II Srs I	18
16/9/43	JD421	DY-G	Modane		15
2/10/43	HX149	DY-J	Gardening	Halifax B/GR Mk II Srs IA	8
3/10/43	HX149	DY-J	Kassel		15
8/10/43	HX149	DY-J	Hannover		10
22/10/43	HX149	DY-J	Kassel		19
3/11/43	HX149	DY-J	Dusseldorf		18
22/11/43	HX149	DY-J	Berlin		23
25/11/43	HX149	DY-J	Frankfurt		22
26/11/43	HX149	DY-J	Stuttgart		17
20/12/43	HX149	DY-J	Frankfurt		21
29/12/43	HX149	DY-J	Berlin		23
6/1/44	HX149	DY-J	Gardening		10
20/1/44	HX149	DY-J	Berlin		16
2-3/2/44	LW329	DY-O	Gardening	Halifax B/GR Mk II Srs IA	10
5-6/2/44	LW329	DY-O	Gardening		8
15/2/44	HX155	DY-Q	Berlin	Halifax B/GR Mk II Srs IA	20

By early 1944 Ananda and his crew must have been amongst the longer surviving crews in the squadron. I know that he was counting the missions up to the figure of 30 which meant the end of the tour of duty. Crews often did not mix as they were never sure who would be missing at the breakfast the morning after a raid.

On 15 February 1944 saw the launching of the largest bomber force sent to Berlin and the largest non-1,000 bomber force sent to any target, exceeding the previous record of 826 aircraft, with a total of 891 aircraft dispatched including 314 Halifaxes. HX155 DY-Q took-off from Pocklington @ 17.27hrs.

III/NJG 3 (Covering Schleswig, Denmark, North German coast and Baltic) was operating off the North German coast on the 15/16 February 1944. Two claims were submitted by Oberleutnant Paul Zorner of 8 Staffel and five by Hauptmann Peters of 9 Staffel. One of Peters' was 'East of Flensburg' and another was 'Northwest of Rostock'. (Hauptmann Peters was killed a few days later.)

The body of one crew member, Stapleton, was recovered and was originally buried in Neuer Friedhof Rostock and is now buried in the RAF Cemetery in Berlin (see above). From this information it appears that the aircraft almost certainly came down in the sea on the outward leg of the operation which was over Denmark, the Baltic and south east towards Berlin.

43 aircraft were lost (17 Halifaxes) and a total of 265 men were killed, 54 p.o.w & 5 evaded capture.
(Sources: 57 Rescue, John Foreman)

Ananda Kularatne

Click on an image below to see the picture full-size.

THE CREW

Text and Pictures Courtesy of Simon Kularatne

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