Sergeant, Wireless Operator/Air Gunner. Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Service no. 1450865.
Early life:
Cecil was born in 1922 and was the son of William Knight and Agnes Tilson Knight, née Atkinson. They were married in 1934, three years after Agnes’s first husband John Frederick Clark had died in 1931. Because Cecil had been born in 1922 he was likely to be William’s stepson and aged about twelve when they married. John and Agnes were married in 1919 so John is quite likely to have been his real father.
We are unsure when William, Agnes and Cecil came to live in Oakworth. Cecil was a keen member of the Oakworth Methodists Sports Club and a leader of the Youth Movement. He had worked for Messrs. John Procter, corn millers of Oakworth and then Messrs G. Whalley and Co.; timber merchants of Keighley.
War service:
He was Sergeant Cecil Knight of Eston near Middlesborough and he joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve some time in late 1941. In late November 1942, he was in training as a Wireless Operator and Air Gunner as a crew member of Avro Anson, serial number DJ635. On 28th November 1942, they were on a night navigation exercise from RAF Penrhos, when they went off course in bad weather and flew into a mountain near Betws Garmon, close to Lake Cwellyn in Caernarvon, killing all of the crew except Cecil.
He was very badly injured and was taken to Caernarvonshire & Anglesey Hospital, where he died the next day on 29th November. He was aged twenty.
They had flown out of RAF Penrhos in North Wales. The base was an advanced flying unit providing training in armament, air observer, bomber and gunnery training for crews who were training up for advanced operational flying.
Keighley News, Saturday 5th December 1942:
OAKWORTH
R.A.F. Man Killed.-Sergeant Air-Gunner Cecil Knight, an Oakworth young man, has lost his life while serving with the Royal Air Force. He had been in the Service for about 12 months, and was a keen member of the Oakworth Methodists Sports Club and a leader of the Youth Movement. Before joining up he was employed by Messrs G. Whalley and Co.; timber merchants, Keighley, and was formerly with Messrs. John Procter, corn millers, Oakworth. Only 20 years of age, he was a native of Middlesbrough.
Cecil’s body was transported to his home town in North Yorkshire and he was buried on 4th December 1942 at Eston Cemetery, which is to the East of Middlesborough. He has a Commonwealth War Grave headstone and their inscription to him is inscribed at the bottom which says: “Dearer To Us Than Words Can Tell Was The Son We Lost And Loved So Well.”
Wilfred and Agnes had originated from Eston and were recorded living at 7, James Street Oakworth in 1937 and 1938 and possibly, at Hill End Farm in Stanbury, before returning to Eston. They were living at 34, St. Patrick’s Road in Eston in the 1939 Register.
There are two redacted records for their house which may be their children and one of them may be Cecil as he is unlikely to have been serving in the Royal Air Force yet, because he would have been aged around seventeen.
Remembrance:
Agnes died in 1975 aged 77 and Wilfred died in 1977 aged 80. They are also buried in Eston Cemetery, but in a separate section from Cecil.
Cecil is named on the Oakworth WW2 memorial garden in Holden Park. He is not named on the Keighley War Memorial board in Keighley Library.
Notes:
Cecil Knight’s name is inscribed on one of the Oakworth WW2 Memorial Garden stones, but we have not found a great deal of information to connect him with the village.
Our first piece of information is from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, which gives us the details of Sergeant Cecil Knight, who died in service in the Second World War.
The other crew members killed in the air crash were:
Leading Aircraftsman G. Ross.
Leading Aircraftsman J. R. Knowles.
Sergeant C. R. Morgan (RNAZAF).
Sergeant D E Johnson (RCAF).
Information sources:
1921 Census.
England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005
1939 England and Wales Register.
National Archives.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Eston Cemetery.
RAFCommands.com.
Aviation Safety Network.
Wikipedia RAF Penrhos page
World War II Index to Allied Airmen Roll of Honour, 1939-1945.
UK and Ireland, Find a Grave® Index, 1300s-Current.
UK, Burial and Cremation Index, 1576-2014.
West Yorkshire, England, Electoral Registers, 1840-1962.
Teesside, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1974.
England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007.
Keighley News archives at Keighley Library.
