Frank James Emberson was born on 9 April 1911, the elder son of Frank Emberson (1885-1950) and Alice Maud Emberson née Whiting (1887-1976). His birth was registered in the 2nd quarter of 1911 in the Islington Registration District, London.
On 15 May 1914 both he and his brother, Leonard George Emberson (1914-1981), were baptised at Holy Trinity Church, Haverstock Hill, Camden, London and in the baptismal register their family was shown to be living at 5 Bassett Street, Camden and their father was a labourer.
In May 1928 he was appointed as a Temporary Postman Messenger. In August 1928 he was confirmed as a Postman Messenger in the West London Postal Service and was promoted to Sorter on 11 November 1937 in the London Postal Region.
In the 1939 England and Wales Register he is shown as Post Office sorter, living at 13 Bassett Street, Camden, with his parents and two younger sisters: Marjorie M. Emberson (b.1920), a copy typist and Gladys May Emberson (1922-1994), a watch importer's junior clerk. His father was described as a painter and paper hanger.
In the 3rd quarter of 1942 he married Myfanwy Taylor (1904-1993) in the Manchester Registration District, Lancashire (now Greater Manchester) and they lived at 12 Lorne Street, Manchester.
He joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, service number 1254332, and served as a Navigator. Both the RAF Commands website and the International Bomber Command Centre website show that he was a Sergeant Navigator attached 14 Operational Training Unit and was on board a Vickers Wellington Mk 1c bomber aeroplane, serial number Z8896, that took off from RAF Cottesmore, Rutland, on 28 January 1943 and crashed attempting a landing at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire, probably due to engine failure. All five RAF personnel on board were killed. He was aged 31 years.
His body was buried in Section 4, Row 1A, Grave 12 in St. James Churchyard, Danes Road, Birch-in-Rusholme, Lancashire and it was marked by the usual Commonwealth War Graves Commission's headstone, but in 1981 the Church Commissioners closed the church and in 1983 started to remove the headstones. Their contemporaneous records differ as to the site of his grave, claiming it was in Block O, Row 1c, Grave 13. He is now commemorated on the screen wall of the Manchester Southern Cemetery, Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Greater Manchester.
Probate records show his address to have been 13 Lorne Street, Manchester 13 and when administration of his estate was granted on 4 May 1943 to his widow his effects totalled £205. His widow remarried on 7 September 1943 to Joseph Samuel Lowe (1895-1973).
He is shown as 'EMBERSON F.J.' on the Western Postal District war memorial in Mount Pleasant, London, WC1. He is also commemorated on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's website and on page 80 of the Post Office Fellowship's Book of Remembrance 1939-1940.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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