Serial Number: 53926
RAF Trade: Flight Engineer
Date of Enlistment: Not Known
Rank Achieved: Flight Lieutenant
Operational Sorties: 8 Ops with 156 Squadron.
Date of Birth: Not Known

Personal Details: Son of William and Annie Bingham; husband of Marjorie Bingham, of Leiston, Suffolk
 

F/L Bingham was the Squadron Engineer Leader, given his rank and position it is almost certain that he served with another Squadron previously.

T/o 1823 Upwood. Crashed at Koln-Rodenkirchen following a direct hit from flak. All were laid to rest alongside the airmen of 582 Squadron who had died nearly a week previous. Their graves are now in Rheinberg War Cemetery. W/C Falconer had commanded 156 Squadron for a shade over five weeks. He had just completed a five hour mission to Koblenz prior to this raid and there was only a gap of one and a half hours from his return from that mission to the commencement of this one. His operational tally stood at 55 sorties. F/L Bingham was the Squadrons Flight Engineer Leader. (details from Chorley's Bomber Command Losses)

W/C Falconer and F/L Bingham were standing in for the regular Pilot and Flight Engineer who had been wounded on a mission the prior night.

I believe that the story was that when the plane came down the airmen where buried in a grave near the site of the crash. We also believe that the story was told by a disabled young girl who every day put flowers onto the site before they were moved to the commonwealth cemetery at Rheinberg. (details from Sharon Bingham)