LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Harry Cosgreave CASWELL
Service No: 413735
Born: Coonamble NSW, 29 October 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 13 September 1941
Unit: No. 76 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Holme-on-Spalding Moor
Died: Air Operations (No. 76 Squadron Halifax aircraft MZ604), France, 3 June 1944, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Bretigny-sur-Orge Communal Cemetery, Essonne, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur Thomas Caswell and Ethel Gertrude Caig Caswell, of Brewarrina, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brewarrina NSW
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2231 hours on the night of 2 June 1944 Halifax MZ604 took off from Holme-on-Spalding Moor detailed to bomb the railway yards at Trappes, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. MZ604 crashed at Longvilliers which is 25 miles south of Paris. Six of the crew members were killed and one was taken prisoner.
The crew members of MZ604 were:
Flight Sergeant Harry Cosgreave Caswell (413735) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Alexander Young Ferguson (1818698) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant T R Hood (1585947) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW
Sergeant Campbell Lowrie (1056079) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Leonard James Richard Smith (176021) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Owen Arkle Teasdale (177400) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Thompson (1453762) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Hood later reported “After leaving the target we were badly shot up by a night fighter. Caswell was unhurt in this attack as he helped me put on my parachute and was seen fitting on his own chute. I was endeavouring to quelch a fire in the WOP’s cabin when the aircraft went into a dive and I lost consciousness. When I recovered I was at about 3,000 feet and pulled the ripcord. I saw the aircraft burning on the ground. I was told by the Germans that six bodies had been recovered.”
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, 166/7/516