LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer William John ARMOUR DFC
Service No: 414333
Born: Mt Morgan QLD, 4 June 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 13 September 1941
Unit: No. 428 Squadron (RCAF), RAF Middleton St George, Durham
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 8 May 1945 (Citation Title: No. 428 Squadron RCAF))
Died: Air Operations: (No. 428 Squadron Halifax aircraft EB 252), Germany, 20 December 1943, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William James Armour and Ethel Mary Armour; husband of Mercia Armour, of Woolloomooloo, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Pilot Officer Armour was awarded the DFC by a General Citation promulgated in London Gazette of 8/5/1945, Page 2417.
On the night of 20/21st December 1943, Halifax EB 252 took off from RAF Middleton St George at 1600 hours, detailed to bomb Frankfurt, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research & Enquiry team reported: “The Burgomeister of the village of Naunheim stated that two airmen tried to bale out but were killed in the attempt. The aircraft was only 75/100 feet high at the time. Five others were still in the aircraft, and Clucas and Moon had been identified.” Seven of the crew members were killed and Flying Officer Elliott became a prisoner of War.
The crew members of EB 252 were:
Pilot Officer William John Armour DFC (414333) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Frank Cottier Clucas (416932) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Leonard Peter Coupe (1458000) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Herbert Charles Dumbrill (1386442) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer J D Elliott (J/20710) (RCAF) (Navigator) PoW
Flying Officer James Joseph Moon (410908) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Sidney Percival Page (1675979) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Charles Richard Sandes (J/22255) (RCAF) (Second Pilot)
In a PoW Report Flying Officer Elliott stated “As the intercom was rendered inactive I was unable to state whether Clucas was alive when I abandoned the aircraft by chute. The Germans told me he had been killed and identified. The aircraft crashed 20 miles south of Koblenz, and the Germans told me that all the others had been killed.”
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, 166/4/83