Friends of the Somme - Mid Ulster Branch  
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1123740   Sergeant Hugh McManus
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Dated added: 01/01/2016   Last updated: 09/04/2020
Personal Details
Regiment/Service: 107 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (British Air Force)
Died: 10/11/1942 (Killed in Action)
Age: 22
Summary      
Hugh McManus was the only child of Patrick and Elizabeth McManus. He was born about 1920. Hugh attended the Christian Brothers School in Monaghan. He joined the Royal Air Force after he left school. On the outbreak of war, he volunteered for active service. Sergeant Hugh McManus served with 107 Squadron as part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. On Tuesday 10th November 1942 two Boston aircraft collided off the Le Havre coast and Sergeant Hugh McManus was among those killed.
Further Information
Hugh McManus was the only child of Patrick and Elizabeth McManus. He was born about 1920.
Hugh attended the Christian Brothers School in Monaghan.
He joined the Royal Air Force after he left school. On the outbreak of war, he volunteered for active service.
Sergeant Hugh McManus served with 107 Squadron as part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve.
On Tuesday 10th November 1942, at 13:20, Sergeant Hugh McManus was part of the four man crew of a Boston aircraft (Serial number Z2164) which took off for a mission to Le Havre in France from RAF Great Massingham in Norfolk.
Boston bomber aircraft
One of the Boston aircraft in the squadron was hit by anti-aircraft fire off the Le Havre coast and proceeded to collide with another Boston and both went down. Reports suggest that both planes may have disintegrated in the air. The four crew were:
The other Boston aircraft had the serial number AL284. It too was from 107 Squadron.
bullet Sergeant John BELL (1123836)
bullet Sergeant Alan Frank GOFF (1176030)
bullet Sergeant Hugh McMANUS (1123740)
bullet Sergeant Howard Yorke TORR (1379180)
From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 5th December 1942: Reported Missing
Newspaper report
Sergeant Pilot Hugh McManus, Royal Air Force, is officially reported after being in action over France. He is the only child and son of Mr and Mrs Patrick McManus of Queen Street, Magherafelt. Only 22 years of age, he has been in the R.A.F. since he left the Christian Brothers School in Monaghan, to be a wireless operator. On the outbreak of war, he volunteered for active service. Mrs Cousley, of the Medical Hall, is making active enquiries through the medium of the Red Cross, to get some news for his anxious parents.
At the time of his death, his parents were living in Queen Street, Magherafelt.
Sergeant Hugh McManus has no known grave and is commemorated on Panel 89 of the Runnymede Memorial.
The CWGC record Sergeant Hugh McManus as the son of Patrick and Elizabeth McManus of Magherafelt, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
Read more
Relevant Magherafelt Area Locations
No Location Region Location Notes Longtitude Latitude
1 Queen Street, Magherafelt Magherafelt Town Newspaper lists parents in Queen Street 54.754926 -6.608785
References and Links
No Link Reference Map Doc
1 Back to Normandy Details of crew and crash
2 Flickr - Douglas Boston photo Included in photo is the actual plane - Z2164
3 International Bomber Command Details of crew and crash
4 RAF Commands - Z2164 Details of crew and crash
5 Runnymede - panel 89 Top Photo of Sergeant Hugh McManus' inscription
Magherafelt District's War Dead Acknowledgements 2014-2023