Ernest Handley
Ernest attended Brunts School. He started work on 17 April 1939 with the London and North Eastern Railway and was based at Clipstone Colliery as junior numbertaker on a weekly wage of £1 5s.
- Family History
- Military history
- Extra information
- Photographs
Ernest was the eldest son of Ernest Henry Handley and his wife Eliza Hannah (née Swann).
Ernest Henry (b. 22 February 1900) and Eliza (b. 2 July 1897) were married in 1921 (JAS, reg. Mansfield) and had three sons, Ernest (25 December 1921), Wilfred E (1926) and Geoffrey (1932).
Ernest snr. was employed by the London North Eastern Railway. He had joined the company on 12 March 1915 when he was 15 years old. In 1939 Ernest was a signalman at Mansfield Colliery on a weekly wage of £2 15s and living at 25 Bentinck Road, Sutton in Ashfield, in a house owned by LNER at a rent of 7s a week.
The England & Wales Register of 1939 recorded the family at 25 Bentinck Road; Ernest, Eliza and their sons Ernest, a railway number taker, and Wilfred who was at school. One record remains closed but is probably that of the youngest brother, Geoffrey.
Ernest jnr. married Doris May Baxter, the daughter of Ernest Baxter and his wife Eliza Hannah (née Smith), in the summer of 1944. Doris was born on 28 December 1921 so was just three days younger than her husband.
In 1939, Doris, a tin box machinist, was living with her father, a colliery belt erector, mother and her younger siblings at 122 Maltby Road, Mansfield.
Ernest and Doris had been married for less than a year when he was killed on 13 March 1945. There were no children of the marriage. Doris married secondly Reginald Stanley McDonald (b. 1914 d. 1992 reg. Mansfield) in 1948 and they probably had one son (b. 1953).
Ernest's mother died in 1966 and his father in 1989 (deaths registered Mansfield).
Ernest Handley was a Leading Aircraftman and was assigned to AMES (Air Ministry Experimental Station) 114. The name 'Air Ministry Experimental Station' was given to the RAF RADAR development team prior to the war but the acronym was also used throughout the war to name RADAR stations. The Units came under RAF Fighter Command.
Ernest was killed on 13 March 1945 during an air raid on Baraque; this was probably Baraque de Fraiture, which is now the site of a NATO radio communication and early warning system. Baraque de Fraiture, also known from the period of the Battle of the Ardennes (December 1944-January 1945) as 'Parker Crossroads', is in the province of Luxembourg, Wallonia, Belgium (Municipality of Vielalm), and is 652 metres high.
Ernest is buried in Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium (grave ref. 2.K.4). The history of the cemetery indicates that Ernest's grave was brought in after the war.
CWGC History of Heverlee War Cemetery: The cemetery is 30km from Brussels and 3km south of Leuven. 'The original burial ground at Heverlee was on the opposite side of the lane. It was used after the liberation for burials from the 101st British General Hospital, which was then housed in Heverlee Girl's School close by. In July 1946, the present cemetery was started and was used for burials brought in from a wide area round about.' (www.cwgc.org)
CWGC Additional information: 'Son of Ernest Henry and Eliza Hannah Handley, of Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire; husband of Doris May Handley.'
CWGC headstone personal inscription: 'Sacred to the memory of our dear son. In heavenly love abiding'
Brunts School Book of Remembrance: 'Handley E LAC RAF Killed in Action'
There is a reference to the contribution made by AMES 114 which, with other AMES units, operated in area to support the Allies during the Battle of the Ardennes (also known as the Battle of the Bulge), December 1944-January 1945:
WW2 Talk website. Reference to RAF RADAR units in the Battle of the Bulge: ‘On the 23rd February 1945, the following extracts from a personal letter from Air Vice Marshall W.E. Theak, CBE to the Commanding Officer were signalled to the Area Commander Laroche, No. 2/9000 convoy, AMES 7922, 114, 120, 106 and 105: “Now that the Battle of the Ardennes has been successfully won, I would like to congratulate you on the excellent work done by your units in that area under conditions always difficult and often hazardous. I have watched the situation closely from day to day and have been fully informed of the difficulties imposed by severe weather, congested roads and mud, and I fully appreciate the determination and hard work which has been necessary to overcome these difficulties and to maintain essential RNA services. “I would ask you to convey my congratulations to all Officers and Men concerned in this good work of which the Group is justly proud.” ww2talk.com/index.php?threads/raf-radar-units-in-the-battle-of-the-bulge.28600
Photo of Ernest Handley
Buried in Heverlee War Cemetery, Belgium. (www.cwgc.org)