Some of the men lost in the Battle of Britain did not reach their final resting place until many years later. One of those was John Gilders.
Gilders was born in Deal, Kent on 4 October 1919, the son of an accountant who went to Brazil to work for Unilever in the early 1920s. As a result John Gilders spent several years in the country. On returning to the UK he attended Bancroft’s School, Woodford Green, Essex.
In May 1938 Gilders joined the RAFVR. He was called up on 1 September 1939. On 15 June 1940 he received his first operational posting, when he was sent to Acklington to join No 72 Squadron, equipped with Spitfires. He was slightly injured in a night landing accident on 22 August.
The squadron moved to Biggin Hill on the 31st. During September Sergeant Gilders claimed five enemy aircraft destroyed, one forced down, 1 shared and 3 damaged.
After the Battle Gilders went to No 616 Squadron and then No 41 Squadron.
Gilders was killed on 21 February1941, when his Spitfire, P 7816, dived into soft ground near the Great Stour River at Chilham, Kent and buried itself. Although Gilders is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial, on Panel 43, it always seemed that he went in with his aircraft. His father died in 1969, disappointed in his hope that a proper burial could be arranged.
In 1990 the crash site was located, but in spite of requests by Gilders’ family for the wreckage to be excavated and for him to be given a funeral, the owner of the land would not permit access, even for family members to place flowers.
In April 1994 the site was investigated again, with the owner’s permission, and Gilders’ remains were found. After much legal debate, permission was finally given for the remains to be exhumed.
On 12 May 1995, John Gilders was buried in Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey, with full military honours. His Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone carries the words from his family: “Forever loved and remembered”.
