Open Questions — Archium

The Questions That Remain

Good research is honest about what it does not know. Three significant questions remain unresolved in the Stevens research. They are documented here precisely because a future discovery — a letter, a record, a conversation — might answer them.

1. Was John Henry Stevens McMillen’s Second Pilot?

This is the central unresolved question of the research.

The Published Account

Alan Cooper’s Wot No Engines? (Woodfield Publishing, ISBN 1-903953-18-9, pp.164–165) contains an account of Captain McMillen’s glider during Operation VARSITY. The book describes McMillen’s second pilot as an RAF pilot.

The Evidence on Both Sides

Interpretation A — Different man (the book is correct):

The Pegasus Archive casualty roll carries no “RAF” marker beside John’s name, confirming he was Army
If the book’s description of an RAF second pilot is accurate, John was not McMillen’s co-pilot

Interpretation B — Same man, author error:

John’s log book records him flying with McMillen as established crew throughout all of February 1945 — the weeks immediately before VARSITY
The Epsom College Register describes John as “R.A.F.V.R.” — Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve — raising the possibility that his precise status was mixed or misrecorded
It would be highly unusual for an established crew pairing to be separated immediately before a major operation
The author may simply have been mistaken about John’s branch of service

Why It Matters

If John was McMillen’s second pilot, we have a detailed published account of his final flight — what happened inside that glider, how it came down, and what occurred in the immediate aftermath. If he was not, that account belongs to another man entirely.

What Could Resolve It

The complete National Archives file WO 171/5129 (F Squadron debriefing summaries may name individual crew)
Contact with Woodfield Publishing to establish the author’s source for the McMillen account
MOD Medal Office or Army service record — confirming branch of service definitively

2. The Date of Death Discrepancy

The permanent CWGC headstone at Reichswald Forest War Cemetery reads:

“26th March 1945”

The correct date of death is 24 March 1945 — the day of the VARSITY landing, confirmed by the battlefield cross photograph (“24.3.45”), the Pegasus Archive casualty roll, and John Arthur Stevens’s 2017 research from forces-war-records.co.uk.

The discrepancy likely arose during the post-war reinterment and headstone registration process. Mrs Minnie Stevens was asked to complete paperwork in 1950 — five years after the event — and an administrative error may have entered the record at that stage.

The CWGC can correct headstone inscriptions where documentary evidence supports the correction. This has not yet been pursued.

What Could Resolve It

Write to CWGC Records Office (records@cwgc.org) with the battlefield cross photograph as primary evidence
Quote CWGC Casualty ID 2046150

3. The CO’s Letter

John’s contemporary newspaper obituary states that his Commanding Officer wrote to his mother following his death. This letter — if it survives — would be an extraordinary primary source: an eyewitness account of John’s service and character from his commanding officer, written within weeks of his death.

The letter has not been located. It may exist across one of the three family branches — Stevens, Charmans, or Lords.

What Could Resolve It

A systematic search of family papers across all three branches
The CO of F Squadron at the time was S/Ldr Reynolds DFC — this can be confirmed from the war diary

Further Research Leads

The following offline avenues have not yet been pursued and represent the most productive remaining lines of inquiry:

National Archives, Kew — WO 171/5129 (highest priority) — the complete physical file
National Archives, Kew — Army Service Record — quote service number 2665293
MOD Medal Office — Imjin Barracks, Gloucester GL3 1HW / DBS-Medals@mod.gov.uk
Woodfield Publishing — source of the McMillen account
Glider Pilot Regiment Society — R