Image Gallery: September 2005
Funeral of WWII RAAF bomber crewmen in Germany
2 September 2005
The
Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is to hold
a funeral service in Germany in September 2005
for four World War Two RAAF Lancaster bomber
crew.
The men were killed on 6 December 1944 when
their aircraft, No. 463 Squadron Lancaster PB290
JO-K, was shot down during a night raid on the
German city of Geissen, 40km north of Frankfurt.
The service will be held at the Hanover War
Cemetery in Germany on 13 September 2005. In
2004 German historians found part of the Lancaster’s
wreckage with some human remains in a forest
near Geissen.
Forensic tests identified the remains of Flying
Officers Alan Bond, the aircraft navigator,
Gwynne Thomas, the wireless operator, and Flight
Sergeant Joslyn "Len" Henderson, the rear gunner.
From this information, unidentified remains
in the Hanover War Cemetery were identified
as Flight Sergeant Richard Hawthorn, the mid-upper
gunner. The Lancaster took off on its mission
from RAF Base Waddington on 6 December.
Its crew comprised six Australians and one British
Royal Air Force crew member. Over Geissen, a
German night fighter shot down the Lancaster.
It crashed into woods about 3km north-east of
the town. At the time of the crash, the bodies
of Flying Officers Richard Young, the aircraft
captain, and Henry MacMeikan, the bomb aimer,
Flight Sergeant Hawthorn and Sergeant Phillip
Gwynne, RAF, the engineer, were recovered and
buried in Geissen local cemetery.
At the time, the remains of Flight Sergeant
Hawthorn could not be identified, but were buried
with the others. Later, all remains of the bomber
crew were reinterred in the Hanover War Cemetery.
(Following photographs of Flying Officer Richard "Rod" Young, Flying Officer Gwynne Thomas, Flight Sergeant Richard Hawthorn and Flight Sergeant Joslyn "Len" Henderson are courtesy of their families. Other photos from the RAAF Museum, Point Cook.)
| 2005_S1324_01 Flight Sergeant Richard Hawthorn (left) and Flying Officer Richard "Rod" Young cycling in Derbyshire, England, in July 1944. (Date taken: 31 July 1944) Low-res | High-res |
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| 2005_S1324_02 Pilot Officer Gwynne Thomas (front, left) with RAAF mates (not later crew members of Lancaster PB290 JO-K) at Parkes, NSW, September 1943. (Date taken: 30 September 1943) Low-res | High-res |
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| 2005_S1324_03 Flight Sergeant Richard Hawthorn. (Date taken: unknown) Low-res | High-res |
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| 2005_S1324_04 Flight Sergeant Joslyn "Len" Henderson beside his rear turret, 21 November 1944. (Date taken: 21 November 1944) Low-res | High-res |
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| 2005_S1324_05 Flying Officers Gwynne Thomas (left) and Richard "Rod" Young cycling near Church Broughton, Derbyshire, England, in July 1944. (Date taken: 31 July 1944) Low-res | High-res |
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| 2005_S1324_06 Flying Officer Gwynne Thomas in RAAF working dress, Filey, Yorkshire, March 1944. (Date taken: 31 March 1944) Low-res | High-res |
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| 2005_S1324_07 Flight Sergeant Joslyn "Len" Henderson in his rear turret on 21 November 1944. (Date taken: 21 November 1944) Low-res | High-res |
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| Lancaster
- 463 or 467 Squadron Picture shows; A Lancaster bomber of 463 or 467 Squadron RAAF over England in 1945. (Date taken: 31 December 1945) Low-res | High-res |
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| Lancaster
- BY JOVE RAAF crewmen of 463 Squadron have some fun between missions with chalk art on Lancaster bomber LM309 JO-V. This aircraft was lost in a midair collision in action in September 1944. (Date taken: 31 December 1944) Low-res | High-res |
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| ME
701, JO-F - 463 Sqn, Waddington A Lancaster bomber of 463 Squadron RAAF, at RAF Base Waddington, England. (This aircraft, number ME701 code JO-F, with nose art of a cow titled "Whoa Bessie" was the camera aircraft for the bombing mission which sank the German battleship "Tirpitz" in September 1944.) (Date taken: 31 December 1944) Low-res | High-res |
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