LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Donald Algernon Joseph AHEARN
Service No: 423032
Born: Kingsford NSW, 27 June 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 June 1942
Unit: No. 226 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Hartford Bridge
Died: Air Operations (No. 226 Squadron Mitchell aircraft FL192), English Channel, 19 June 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Bayeaux War Cemetery, Calvados, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harold Algernon Joseph and Ivy Vine Ahearn, of Kingsford, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the night of 18/19 June 1944 Mitchell FL192 took off from RAF Station Hartford Bridge detailed to attack the battle zone in France. The aircraft was damaged by enemy action. The crew tried to fly the aircraft back, but it crashed into the sea on the way back to base.
The crew members of FL192 were:
Flight Sergeant Donald Algernon Joseph Ahearn (423032) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant David George Badgery (426772) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Conrad Peter Vivian Biddlecombe (R/164649) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Rayburn William Thomas Ulens (R/191540) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/3/233