LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Norman Kenneth DUNLOP
Service No: 419166
Born: Carlton VIC, 27 October 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 July 1942
Unit: No. 170 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Hemswell
Died: Air Operations: (No. 170 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB397), Germany, 7 January 1945, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Archibald John and Mary Dunlop, of North Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Fitzroy VIC
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster PB397 took off from RAF Hemswell at 1826 hours on the night of 7 January 1945, detailed to bomb Munchen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team later reported “PB397 collided with another aircraft in the air and crashed near the village of Hengen on 7 January 1945.” Hengen is 24 miles south east of Stuttgart, Germany. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of PB397 were:
Flight Sergeant Robert Sidney Bennett (1335173) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Peter Day (2213761) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Norman Kenneth Dunlop (419166) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Jack Mace (1589239) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Thomas Miller (87338) (RAF (Auxiliary Air Force)) (Navigator)
Sergeant John Henry Pinsent (1852125) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Charles Albert Robinson (2209776) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
W R Chorley states that No. 405 Squadron Lancaster PB229 collided with No. 635 Squadron Lancaster PB173 on 7 January 1945 and both aircraft were lost. This is the only collision between friendly forces recorded on this operation.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Chorley W R, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 6 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1945, Midland Counties Publications UK, 1998
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/382