PDF
« Previous

Nel , Charles Paul (C P)

Next »
Photo of Nel
Identity
Person No.
18498
Service No.
206556V
Last Name
Nel 141
First Name
Charles Paul
Initials
C P
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1923 (±1 yr) 541
Age at Death
21
Death Record
Date of Death
12 October 1944 358
Cause code
KIA 14,811
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action 14,686
Killed in action, Liberator B.VI KG999, 8 crew (1 RAF and 5 RAFVR), took off from Celone, Italy, for Partisan supply drop in Northern Italy, north of Turin at night in poor weather. The weather conditions were very poor with 10/10 cloud cover and the aircraft crashed into the mountains above Ala di Stura. At the time of the crash there was no reported flak or air opposition
Military Service
Branch
Air Force
Rank
Lieutenant
Regiment
31 Squadron 97
Corps
South African Air Force 3,524
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
UDF 24,809
Union Defence Force
Location
Country
Italy 1,909
Locality
Unknown
Cemetery
MILAN WAR CEMETERY 45
Grave Reference
Coll. grave V. C. 1-8. 4
Coordinates
45.48499, 9.10346 OSM
Memorial
Crew roll for all six Liberators lost 12/13 Oct 1944 (KG874 Ostana, KG875 Valprato Soana, KG999 Ala di Stura, KH154 Rorà, KH158 "disappeared without trace" north of Genoa, KH239 Cantalupa -- 34 Sqn), as displayed at the Alpine 44 Commemoration Service, Air Force Memorial Swartkop, 11 Oct 2026. Source: Alpine 44 Commemoration Facebook post / Ad Astra Magazine, Cpl Khensane Cheriz Nkuna.
Memorial
South African Air Force Memorial – Swartkop
Location
SAAF Memorial, AFB Swartkop, Pretoria, South Africa
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
KG999
Notes

Son of Louis Leopold and Catherine Elizabeth Nel, of Oudtshoorn, Cape Province, South Africa.

Research notes


5 Sep 2026: Unit "31 Squadron" (a squadron, SAAF's regiment-equivalent) promoted to Regiment, per John's decision. Corps (South African Air Force) unchanged.
16 Oct 2026: Confirmed by the Alpine 44 Commemoration crew-roll photo -- all core fields match. Minor Age/Rank variants in the photo not applied, SAWGP independently sides with this record's existing values (see each note below).
16 Oct 2026: AGE CONFLICT, NOT CHANGED. Alpine 44 Commemoration photo gives age 20; SAWGP (id 18498, DOB 25 Apr 1923) independently confirms this record's existing age of 21 as consistent with the DOB. Photo's figure treated as the outlier.

Citations
Unknown
External References
Stories

No stories have been added yet.

Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.