LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John DALEY
Service No: 425612
Born: Brisbane QLD, 4 January 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942
Unit: No. 83 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Wyton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 83 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND448), Germany, 20 February 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Joseph and Irene Daley, of New Farm, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0008 hours on the morning of 20 February 1944Lancaster ND448 took off from Wyton detailed to bomb Leipzig, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed and exploded near Niemegh Cemetery, 40 miles south west of Berlin, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of ND448 were:
Flight Sergeant John Daley (425612) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Thomas Bertram Field (149554) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Cyril Howes (1399427) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant George Inglis Paterson (1552814) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer Malcolm John Reid (J/22672) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant Ronald Allen James Rudge (1316548) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant George Wheeler (1393912) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
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, 166/9/253