#Cork City and County Archives have released the gravestone inscriptions index from the Abbey Cemetery, Bantry, West Cork with the promise of accompanying maps to arrive online soon. One of the inscriptions contained in the document refers to the grave of Flight Sergeant Dudley Newlove.[1]
His final resting place is marked by a memorial by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) memorial. Dudley Newlove was a member of 58 Squadron 19 Group that went down in the sea in the vicinity of the Fastnet Rock off the south coast of Ireland.
The Canadian Air Force crew were on a navigation training exercise. At 1740 hrs on 20 April 1942, they radioed their base at Royal Air Force, Saint Eval, Cornwall, returning to base due to an engine failure. However, communication was lost and despite extensive searches, the plane was not located.[2] The body of Dudley Newlove was recovered a month later. He was taken to Bantry house, where his body lay in state until his funeral on 29 May 1942. His headstone carries the inscription, Dudley, Beloved Only Son of W. & O. Newlove, Islington, Ontario. Until The Day Break’.[3]
[1] Cork City and County Archives, 'Abbey Grave Yard, Bantry, Co. Cork, Index containing all decipherable inscriptions of headstones as a survey made and completed up to 4th March, 1957'. (Available https://publications.corkarchives.ie/view/256138431/) [2] Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Canada; Service Files of the Second World War - War Dead, 1939-1947; Series: RG 24; Volume: 28333 [3] Commonwealth War Graves Commission. (Available https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2701324/DUDLEY%20NEWLOVE/#&gid=2&pid=1)