LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant George BECKOFF
Service No: 116352
Born: Melbourne VIC, 11 June 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 October 1942 (at Adelaide SA)
Unit: No. 1 Ferry Unit (RAF), RAF Station Pershore, Worcestershire
Died: Air Operations (No. 1 Ferry Unit Dakota aircraft KG653), Germany, 24 September 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George and Gertrude Beckoff, of Torrensville, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On the 24 September 1944, Dakota KG 653 took off from Pershore for Elmas, Sardinia, en route to Karachi, Pakistan. The weather was very bad, with dark low clouds, heavy rain, thunder and lightning. The aircraft was initially posted as missing but the wreck was later found considerably off course in the German border area to the south west of Neu Leiningen and all on board had been killed.
The crew members of KG653 were:
Sergeant George Beckoff (116352) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Ralph Korer (119790) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Lionel Alfred Veary (165184) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
In addition the aircraft carried 17 RCAF passengers – Dakota squadron ground crew bound for the Pacific War:
Corporal James Ernest Allen (R/116919) (RCAF)
Leading Aircraftman Lawrence Irwin Beach (R/53101) (RCAF)
Leading Aircraftman Oliver Eugene Debs Bergen (R/198657) (RCAF)
Leading Aircraftman Robert Thomas Burden (R/163109) (RCAF)
Corporal William Howard Campbell (R/72053) (RCAF)
Leading Aircraftman John Adelard Real Chevrier (R/54834) (RCAF)
Leading Aircraftman Joseph Robert Marcel Armand Couturier (R/174379) (RCAF)
Corporal James Cumming (R/10195) (RCAF)
Aircraftman Class I Frederick Robert Leigh Gates (R/150018) (RCAF)
Leading Aircraftman Michael James Foch Good (R/169250) (RCAF)
Sergeant Walter Francis Hughes (R/58248) (RCAF)
Corporal Howard John Hunter (R/159360) (RCAF)
Leading Aircraftman Fred Larsen Kristensen (R/191794) (RCAF)
Leading Aircraftman William John Scott Lundy (R/195702) (RCAF)
Leading Aircraftman Donald John MacDoanld (176956) (RCAF)
Aircraftman Class I John Dunlop McVie (R/258359) (RCAF)
Corporal Lorne Hamilton Moreau (P/10407) (RCAF)
Corporal Frederick William Sargeant (R/212995) (RCAF)
Leading Aircraftman John Cyril Sutherland (R/72988) (RCAF)
Leading Aircraftman Henry Studwell Watson (R/270640) (RCAF)
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, 166/5/716
On Line Sources