WWII crew buried

The crew of Lancaster ED 867, killed on a bombing raid over Germany during World War II.

Chaplain (Air Commodore) Peter O’Keefe leads the funeral procession at the Berlin War Cemetery for the Lancaster crew. The bearer party included Australian airmen.

CAF Air Marshal Angus Houston at a memorial unveiled for the dead crew. Photos by Tim Callaway

FIFTY-NINE years after they were reported missing in action, the crew of Lancaster ED 867, shot down in a bombing mission during World War II, have been buried with full military honours in Berlin.

The families of the four Australian and three British crew, killed when their aircraft went down 40km north of their target, attended the service on July 15 at Berlin War Cemetery.

CAF Air Marshal Angus Houston joined other members of the RAAF and RAF to pay tribute to the crew, whose remains were discovered in 1999 near the town of Oranienburg.

“It may have taken nearly 60 years to formally honour these men and their heroism, yet the fact that we remember is a poignant reminder to us that those who die in service of their country live in our hearts and memories forever,” AIRMSHL Houston said.

Lancaster ED 867, of RAAF’s No. 467 Squadron, was shot down near Berlin on January 29, 1944. Wreckage was discovered in
1997 in a wooded area of a former East German Army miltary practice range. German aviation enthusiasts excavated the site in 1999 and unearthed what was thought to be the remains of three airmen.

Investigations by Marion Bywater, the niece of one of the RAF aircrew, revealed that the aircraft was an RAAF plane.
Many family members travelled to Berlin to honour and remember their loved ones. The official party also included some serving personnel in the United Kingdom on Exercise Longlook.

The son of Flight Sergeant Jack Sutherland, David, was only nine-months-old when his father was killed in action. Now 60, he said it was an emotional pilgrimage to honour the father he never really knew.

“He’s been lying there for almost 60 years for me to come and see him ... he’s going to be so happy,” Mr Sutherland said.
The combined Allied crew were:

• Flight Lieutenant Ivan Durston DFC, RAAF pilot of Windsor, Queensland, aged 32.
• Pilot Officer Robert Ludlow, RAAF wireless operator of Glen Niven, Queensland, aged 31
• Flight Sergeant Jack Sutherland, RAAF rear gunner of Fullarton, South Australia, aged 22.
  
• Flight Sergeant Phillip Gill, RAAF upper gunner of Coorparoo, Queensland, aged 20
• Flight Lieutenant Harold Fry, RAF navigator of Ilford, Essex, UK, aged 21.
• Pilot Officer Sidney Griffiths, RAF air bomber of Cardiff, UK, aged 22.
• Sergeant Francis Aver, RAF engineer of Merstham, Surrey, UK, aged 23.
  

More than 20,000 Allied airmen from World War II are still listed as missing.

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