LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Francis Leslie CONN DFC
Service No: 413154
Born: Armidale NSW, 6 January 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 August 1941
Unit: No. 100 Squadron (RAF), RAF Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 12 February 1946 (Citation Title: No. 100 Squadron RAF)
Died: Air Operations (No. 100 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB572), Germany, 1 February 1945, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Leslie and Edith Elizabeth Conn; husband of Violet Ethel Conn, of Woolbrook, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Kempsey NSW
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Kempsey War Memorial, Kempsey NSW
DFC Citation: General Citation (London Gazette 12 February 1946)
Lancaster PB572 took off from RAF Grimsby at 1555 hours on the night of 1/2nd February 1945, detailed to bomb Ludwigshafen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at Linkenhem at approximately 2300 hours on 1st February, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew member of PB572 were:
Flying Officer Geoffrey Robert Percival Blackbourn (162193) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant John Brady (436381) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Francis Leslie Conn DFC (413154) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Robert Burnaby Alexander Dukelow (172456) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Wallace Frederick Hart (1880123) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Joseph Reginald Hartshorn (1580971) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Eric Charles Hemmant (3000858) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Percy Gerald Hughesdon (153136) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant John Alexander Wilson (1592933) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/8/849
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line