GRAVE OF MISSING WORLD WAR 2 PILOT IDENTIFIED IN THE NETHERLANDS

Military party of Acting Warrant Officer Neil Rudge 51 Sqn RAF Captain Sam Edwards RM Air Specialist (Class 1) Marcus Gatenby and Reverend Jonathan Reverend Jonathan Stewart CF, Station Chaplain RAF Odiham (Crown Copyright).

More than eighty five years after his death, the previously unmarked grave of Flying Officer Philip Anthony Neville Cox, has finally been identified and a service of rededication held at his graveside.

The rededication service, organised by the MOD’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre (JCCC), also known as the ‘War Detectives’, was held at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s (CWGC) Bergen Op Zoom War Cemetery in The Netherlands on Wednesday 4 June 2025.

The service was conducted by the Reverend Jonathan Stewart CF, Station Chaplain RAF Odiham.

JCCC Caseworker, Tracey Bowers, said:
“I am grateful to the researcher who originally submitted evidence suggesting this brave Pilot was buried in the grave in Bergen op zoom cemetery. Cox was a brave and talented Officer and excelled in all aspects of service life, serving his Country for 8 years, he will never be forgotten” 

Evidence and research undertaken by the researcher, RAF Air Historical Branch, CWGC and JCCC shows that Cox was reported missing, believed dead when his Hurricane P3808 failed to return from air operation on 27 July 1940, over Dover. 

A month later, a body was washed ashore on the Westenschouwen (Dutch coast) and buried as an unknown British Air Force Officer, the records also showed some details of his name and service number. 

When he was concentrated into Bergen op Zoom cemetery in 1946 it appears some of these details were accidentally struck off and attempts to identify him missed, resulting in him being buried as an “Unknown”. 

Research shows there was only one other missing with the name Cox, but he was not an Officer, and the date and location of his crash ruled him out. 

Fergus Read, Commemorations Case Officer at the CWGC, said: 
"It is an honour to have been involved in the research that led to the formal identification of Flying Officer Cox. This case involved evidence from multiple sources, including Dutch and German archives, which had not been previously connected. It was a privilege to play a part in establishing where this Battle of Britain pilot was buried and the Commission will care for his grave, in perpetuity."

Flying Officer Philip Anthony Neville COX RAF No.501 (County of Gloucestershire) Sqn, AuxAF

Flying Officer Philip Anthony Neville COX RAF, 501 Sqn  

Philip Anthony Neville Cox was born in Pacham, near Brighton on 21 July 1915 to Dr Arthur Neville Cox MD and Winifred Alice. Philip went to Brighton and Hove Grammar School leaving aged 17 in 1932 to begin his RAF career as an Aircraft Apprentice, passing out in August 1935. Shortly after Cox won a place at RAF College Cranwell where he excelled, qualifying as a Pilot in July 1937 and winning the RM Groves Memorial Prize – awarded to the senior terms best Pilot.

Cox served with 43 Sqn at Tangmere (West Sussex) and also as an instructor at St Athan. In 1940 he was posted to France where he joined 501 Sqn as a Flight Commander before taking part in the BEF evacuation from Cherbourg.

Cox’s younger brother Lt Robert Arthur Neville Cox of the Royal Naval Reserve was killed in action in 1944 aged 27 when his minesweeper HMS Hussar was sunk. His body was never found.