LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Alfred Geoffrey SMITH
Service No: 407688
Born: Balaklava SA, 3 February 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 December 1940
Unit: No. 106 Squadron (RAF), RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 106 Squadron Lancaster aircraft R5638), Germany, 11 September 1942, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frederick Alfred and Edith Ellen Smith, of Pinnaroo, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Glenelg SA
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Lancaster R5638 took off from RAF Coningsby at 2045 hours on the night of 10/11th September 1942, detailed to bomb Dusseldorf, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at the Bahnhof in Dusseldorf, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of R5638 were:
Sergeant Walter Mowbray Andrews (R/92243) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Gerald Graham Chalmers (778593) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Andrew Patten Jamieson (778713) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Ray Douglas McPherson (401244) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer John Frederick Nicolle (J/7784) (RCAF) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant John Russell (622505) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Alfred Geoffrey Smith (407668) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/162/456