LEST WE FORGET
Wing Commander John Frederick DILWORTH DFC
Commanding Officer, No. 100 Squadron RAF
Commanding Officer, No. 460 Squadron RAAF, 14 December 1942 – 16 February 1943
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 40044 (RAF)
Born: Bondi NSW, 17 October 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1936 (at RAAF Station Point Cook VIC)
Enlisted in the RAF: 1937
Unit: No. 100 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 24 February 1944
Died: Air Operations: (No. 100 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED815), Germany, 25 February 1944, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Joseph and Anne Louise Dilworth; husband of Vera Dilworth, of Ealing, Middlesex
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel Supplementary 12, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wing Commander Dilworth was an Australian Cadet trained for the RAF who embarked for the UK on 17 July 1937.
No.100 Squadron Lancaster ED815 was reported missing on the night of 24/25th February, 1944. The aircraft took off from RAF Station Grimsby at 1822 hours on 24 February 1944 to bomb Schweinfurt, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. It was later learned that six crew members had been killed and two had become Prisoners of War.
The recommended route to the target was Base – 50.45N 00.15E – 50.10N 0130E – 48.36N 08.36E – Target – 50.15N 10.25E – 50.30N 0720E – 50.00N 01.20E – 50.45N 00.15E –Base. Thirteen other aircraft from 100 Squadron were detailed for this mission and two of the other aircraft failed to return. The main fighter activity was en route to the target particularly between Stuttgart and
Schweinfurt. On the homeward route practically no opposition was encountered. Ground defences were moderate.
The crew members of ED815 were:
Sergeant Percy Roy Bourne (1315094) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Wing Commander John Frederick Dilworth DFC (40044) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant John Hewitson (1565879) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Arthur John Howard Merricks (1323482) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Phillip Henry Savage (658651) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Ernest Hamilton Victor Smith (1865935) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant J E Tippleston (1575987) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air) PoW
Warrant Officer J G T Trumpour (R/115377) (RCAF) (Air Bomber) PoW
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
Newton, Dennis A Few of the Few: Australians and the Battle of Britain, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT 2600, 1990