Old Coathamians of World War Two

Lancelot William RAILTON



No. 616197 Leading Aircraftman, Royal Air Force.


Died 21 June 1941, aged 35 years.

Buried in Habbaniya War Cemetery, Iraq,
Grave I.C.10.


Habbaniya had been a peacetime Royal Air Force station under Anglo-Iraqi treaty arrangements, but became operational when hostilities erupted in Iraq in 1941. How Leading Aircraftman Railton met his death is at present unknown.



Lancelot William Railton was the son of Thomas Lancelot Railton and Margaret Railton, who lived in Redcar at the time of his birth on 21 February 1906. His father was a cabinet maker and they were living at 176 High Street when Lancelot came to Coatham Grammar School in January 1920. He had attended Zetland Elementary School before becoming a fee-paying day boy at Coatham. Aged thirteen, he joined Miln’s House, in Form III. In the 1923-24 football season he played for the 1st XI, where it was noted that “he was safe and dependable and had played well all season”. He was rewarded with his colours for that and, on leaving school, he signed to play for Middlesbrough Football Club as an amateur player. His subsequent career is currently not known. In 1940 Lancelot was on the first published list of Old Coathamians in H.M. Forces, serving as an Aircraftman Class 2, RAF. Both parents were still alive at the time of his death. He was first listed on the School’s Roll of Honour in July 1942.