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Name: WOODHOUSE, Geoffrey Clayton Rance
Nee: son of Percy St John Rance Woodhouse
Birth Date: 15 June 1915 Epsom, Surrey
Death Date: 10 Apr 1945 over Leipzig
First Date: 1937
Profession: Killed in Lancaster bomber over Germany - buried in Berlin War Cemetery
Book Reference: Sitrep 2
War Service: RAFVR (Rhodesia) Squadron
General Information:
One of the original '500' men in the Kenya Regt. in 1937. (KR 269)
https://www.chwarmemorial.org.uk/RollofHonour.aspx?RecID=212&TableName=ta_ww2rollofhonour&BrowseID=1180 Pilot Officer / 44 Squadron Royal Air Force, Died on 10 April 1945
Biography: Geoffrey Woodhouse was the son of Percy and Marie Woodhouse. He was born in Ewell, Surrey on 13 June 1915. His parents were both born in India and married there (in Calcutta) in December 1909. Percy Woodhouse was an officer in the Indian Army who attended both military academies at Woolwich and Sandhurst in England.
Geoffrey Woodhouse was the youngest of four children and the only one to be born in England. His brothers Anthony and John were born in 1911 and 1913 respectively and Anne was born in 1912. They were all born in India.
After CH Geoffrey Woodhouse took up a career in farming. He left CH in 1932 and by 1934 was in NW Australia. In 1937, the CH Club notes in The Blue reported that correspondence to his address in Australia was being returned marked 'gone away'. This is consistent with him being in Africa by then as he was one of the original 500 men in the Kenya Regiment which was formed that year. On the outbreak of war, the Regiment's personnel were divided between the King's African Rifles and the Northern Rhodesia Regiment. In 1941 Geoffrey Woodhouse enlisted in the RAF as a volunteer reservist. He returned to England in 1943 as a sergeant to join the Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Swinderby in Lincolnshire.
He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in 1944 and assigned to Number 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron which was part of Bomber Command. On 10 April 1945, Geoffrey Woodhouse was the second pilot on a Lancaster bomber destined for an attack on Wharen railway yards at Leipzig but the aircraft crashed over enemy territory with only one crew member surviving.
Geoffrey Woodhouse was one of five Old Blues who served with Number 44 Squadron. The others were DC Barker, RF Carnegie, JG Macintyre and TL Scott-Smyth. At the end of the First World War the Squadron was commanded by Arthur Harris who went on to be called 'Bomber' Harris. In late 1941 the Squadron was re-named No 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron in honour of the colony's contribution to the war effort and to recognise that up to 25% of the Squadron's air and ground crews came from Southern Rhodesia. In the Second World War the Squadron sustained the third highest casualty rate of Bomber Command.
Biography: Geoffrey Woodhouse was the son of Percy and Marie Woodhouse. He was born in Ewell, Surrey on 13 June 1915. His parents were both born in India and married there (in Calcutta) in December 1909. Percy Woodhouse was an officer in the Indian Army who attended both military academies at Woolwich and Sandhurst in England.
Geoffrey Woodhouse was the youngest of four children and the only one to be born in England. His brothers Anthony and John were born in 1911 and 1913 respectively and Anne was born in 1912. They were all born in India.
After CH Geoffrey Woodhouse took up a career in farming. He left CH in 1932 and by 1934 was in NW Australia. In 1937, the CH Club notes in The Blue reported that correspondence to his address in Australia was being returned marked 'gone away'. This is consistent with him being in Africa by then as he was one of the original 500 men in the Kenya Regiment which was formed that year. On the outbreak of war, the Regiment's personnel were divided between the King's African Rifles and the Northern Rhodesia Regiment. In 1941 Geoffrey Woodhouse enlisted in the RAF as a volunteer reservist. He returned to England in 1943 as a sergeant to join the Heavy Conversion Unit at RAF Swinderby in Lincolnshire.
He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer in 1944 and assigned to Number 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron which was part of Bomber Command. On 10 April 1945, Geoffrey Woodhouse was the second pilot on a Lancaster bomber destined for an attack on Wharen railway yards at Leipzig but the aircraft crashed over enemy territory with only one crew member surviving.
Geoffrey Woodhouse was one of five Old Blues who served with Number 44 Squadron. The others were DC Barker, RF Carnegie, JG Macintyre and TL Scott-Smyth. At the end of the First World War the Squadron was commanded by Arthur Harris who went on to be called 'Bomber' Harris. In late 1941 the Squadron was re-named No 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron in honour of the colony's contribution to the war effort and to recognise that up to 25% of the Squadron's air and ground crews came from Southern Rhodesia. In the Second World War the Squadron sustained the third highest casualty rate of Bomber Command.
Geoffrey Woodhouse is also commemorated on the on line memorial of Epsom and Ewell History Explorer. In addition, he is one of 38 Old Blues commemorated on the International Bomber Command Memorial.