LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Clarence Walter BECKINGHAM
Service No: 422381
Born: Bexley NSW, 22 October 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 May 1942
Unit: No. 550 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Killingholme
Died: Air Operations (No.550 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PD319), Germany, 14 October 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Venray War Cemetery, Limburg, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles William and Sarah Hadley Beckingham, of Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0647 hours on the 14 October 1944, Lancaster PD319 took off from RAF North Killingholme detailed to bomb Duisberg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed to the north east of Duisberg, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of PD319 were:
Flight Sergeant Clarence Walter Beckingham (422381) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Henry Black (153665) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Arthur Reginald Brown (182555) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Harry Dodds (152259) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Albert Laidlaw (3021455) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Harold Lewis (3005380) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Douglas John Kenneth White (169611) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
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, 166/5/740