Flight Sergeant - Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserves - 103 Squadron - Service No. 1337264
Walter James Jewiss was born on 27th July 1922 in Gravesend, Kent. His father was Horace Jewiss, a Labourer, and his mother was Annie (née Cuthill). The first school that he attended was Denton School in Gravesend.
In 1933 Walter Jewiss joined The County School for Boys – now known as Gravesend Grammar School. The Head Master at that time was the Reverend Samuel Lister. The County School for Boys was located in Darnley Road, Gravesend close to the Railway Station (now the Victoria Centre for Education). In 1938 the School moved to brand new premises in Church Walk, Milton, Gravesend opposite to Milton Church.
The School’s Admission Register lists Walter’s address as 26 Shamrock Road, Gravesend. Whilst at the School, Walter was in Hill House.
In 1938 Walter left the School and started work at Short’s Aeronautical Works, based at Rochester Airport. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserves as a Flight Sergeant, Service Number 1337264, joining 103 Squadron, a Lancaster Bomber Squadron with No.1 group flying from Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire. Walter married Winifred Furrents in 1944.
Walter’s Squadron took part in bombing raids in March 1945 over the Ruhr. His aircraft left the base on the evening of 18th March for an operational sortie against Hanau in Germany, but Walter Jewiss and his fellow crew members were reported as lost without trace on the 19th March 1945. Walter was 22 years old. He is remembered at Runnymede Memorial Panel 275.
There are links below to Newspaper Clippings and Photographs from the Gravesend Grammar School Archives.
Below are links to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and a few other websites that might be of interest:
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/1802092/jewiss,-walter-james/
https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/112159
http://www.rafcommands.com/database/wardead/details.php?qnum=23466
https://www.northlincsweb.net/103Sqn/html/adrian_w_essex_and_crew_103_sqn.html