LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer James Bowes COSSART
Service No: 426544
Born: Boonah QLD, 23 September 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 July 1942
Unit: No. 106 Squadron (RAF), RAF Metheringham, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 106 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LL948), Germany, 14 March 1945, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Edward and Beatrice Clara Cossart, of Boonah, Queensland, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Boonah QLD
Remembered: Panel 283, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster LL948 took off from RAF Station Metheringham at 1705 hrs on the night of 14 March 1945 to bomb oil refineries at Lutzkendorf, about 50 kms west of Leipzig. The aircraft was one of fifteen Squadron aircraft detailed to attack the target. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft which did not return to base. Crew member Sergeant Hussey who survived the crash later reported: “the aircraft was on the return journey just south of Karlsthur not far from the Rhine, when hit by anti-aircraft fire. The plane caught fire and flames spread rapidly with the plane breaking up. Hussey in the rear turret was able to exit the plane but believed the others did not have time to get out.”
The crew members of LL948 were:
Sergeant George Henry Armstrong (1615683) (RAFVR) (Mid-Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Bruce Ernest Barrow (437109) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Harold Bedford (1684458) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Herbert Castle (1594757) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer James Bowes Cossart (426544) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant J S Hussey (1598072) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) Survived
Flight Sergeant Reginald Kingsley Locke (433115) (Wireless Operator)
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, 166/8/477