John Gardner

Bank: Williams Deacon's Bank

Place of work: Manchester

Died: 16 March  1945

John Vincent Gardner was born in Lancashire in 1919, the son of George and Florence Gardner. In June 1937 he went to work for Williams Deacon's Bank, and by the time he left the bank to go on military service he was working for the bank in Manchester. 

Gardner became a Flying Officer (Air Gunner) in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. On 16 March 1945 he was part of the crew of a Lancaster bomber from RAF Kirmington, Lincolnshire, which set out on an operation to Nuremberg. The plane was shot down over Germany. Two of the crew survived but were taken prisoner; the other five, including Flying Officer Gardner, were killed. He was 25 years old and left a widow, Frances Mary, whom he had married in 1942.

John Gardner is commemorated on a bank war memorial at Hardman Boulevard office, Manchester.