LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Douglas Buchanan ABERLE
Service No: 427631
Born: Fremantle WA, 5 August 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 August 1942
Unit: No. 460 Squadron, RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 460 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED 644), Germany, 23 November 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest and Susan Elizabeth Aberle, East Fremantle WA
Roll of Honour: East Fremantle, WA
Remembered: Panel 106, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Remembered: Honour Avenues, Kings Park WA
Date: 23-24 November 1943
Target: Berlin
Total Force: Dispatched – 382, Attacking – 332
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 16, Attacking – 15; No. 467 Dispatched – 16, Attacking – 12
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 1,335
Total Aircraft Lost: 20
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 2
The air campaign to cripple Berlin began in earnest in mid-November, and eight heavy attacks were made before the end of 1943. … Both the RAAF Lancaster squadrons returned on the following night (23 November) in a smaller raid lasting only twenty-three minutes. The cloud was thinner on this occasion and the target indicators could be seen burning on the ground and Squadron Leader Arthur Whichelo Nichols (483) of No. 460 judged that bombing was fairly concentrated, the resultant fires giving a larger and stronger glow than previously. The German gun barrage was lessened to allow free play to night fighters, but although losses were relatively heavier, none of the RAAF crews which returned was actually intercepted. There was no diversion staged for this raid and the safety of the bombers was ensured by the short time over the target in conjunction with a new radio counter-measure which gave apparently genuine but unsettling instructions to the German fighter pilots. The result was exasperation and doubt in the minds of the pilots who were further confused by simulated fighter-type flares dropped by Mosquitos well to the north of the bomber stream.
Extracts from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Pages 637-9
Lancaster ED644 took off from RAF Binbrook at 1737 hours on 23 November 1943 to bomb Berlin. The bomb load was 1 x 4,000 lb (pound) (1,800 kg) bomb, 56 x 30 lb (14 kg) and 1230 x 4 lb (2 kg) incendiaries. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base.
The crew members of ED644 were:
Flight Sergeant Douglas Buchanan Aberle (427631) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Arthur Ernest Ashley (413508) (Navigator) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 25 October 1945
Sergeant Thomas Elliott (1002912) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Maurice John Freeman (413561) (Pilot)
Sergeant Donald Arthur Jackson (1813132) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Flight Sergeant Colin Robert Kingsmill (421339) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF 31 October 1945
Sergeant Peter Anderson Forgie Liddle (1556756) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer) PoW
Post war it was established that the aircraft crashed near the Bahnof at Mollen, 5 kms north west of Dinslaken. In a later statement Flight Sergeant Ashley said “I last saw Freeman still at the controls and uninjured. After the others were taken into custody the Wireless Air Gunner and Flight Engineer were informed by local authorities that Freeman’s chute had opened but he was fatally hit by flak during the descent.” Sergeant Liddle also reported “he did not see any bodies but saw Freeman’s identity disc and other items.”
No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster W4162 (Flight Sergeant Roy Brown (412003) (Pilot)) on 23 November 1943.
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, 166/3/142
Bibliography:
Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985