Appeal to help trace a Luton war hero

A commemorative plaque will be placed at Luton Police Station
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Bedfordshire Police is looking for the relatives of a Second World War casualty who is being commemorated with a plaque at Luton Police Station, after he served with the force in the 1930s.

John Frederick Little was a Cadet Clerk for Luton Borough Police and resigned as the war started to enlist into the Royal Air Force (RAF), having been a member of the Volunteer Reserve (RAFVR).

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He was killed over Dusseldof on 30 August 1943, but as he had resigned from the police, rather than being conscripted or recalled, his name was not included in the original Luton Borough Police WWII Memorial, which was installed in 1948.

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John’s plaque is planned to sit alongside it at the Buxton Road station.

Bedfordshire Police Museum Curator Special Inspector Keith Jackson said: “I'd like to try and trace some of John Little’s descendants.

"He didn’t have any children, but he had two brothers, who in turn may have had offspring.

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"We thought it would be nice for them to attend the unveiling of the plaque as the relatives of a war hero.”

John was born on 6 July, 1921 to John William and Esther Annie Little in Luton, he had two younger brothers, Edward born in January 1925 and William born in May 1928.

Esther sadly died in early 1939. When the National Register was taken on 30 September 1939, the three brothers and their father were living in Chester Avenue.

John Junior was recorded as a Police Cadet Clerk, having joined aged 16 in 1937.

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Rather than wait to be conscripted into the army, John resigned in order to join the RAF. When he died he was a Warrant Officer Pilot in Bomber Command.

Anyone with any information about John Little’s family can contact Special Inspector Jackson by emailing [email protected].