LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Henry Cecil ELSLEY
Service No: 411686
Born: Cobar NSW, 16 March 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 24 May 1941
Unit: No. 199 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Lakenheath
Died: Air Operations: (No. 199 Squadron Stirling aircraft EH934), Germany, 24 August 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Berlin1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Thomas Elsley and Lottie Elsley, of Coogee, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Parramatta NSW
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2045 hours on the night of 23August 1943 Stirling EH934 took off from Lakenheath detailed to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was attacked by a night fighter and crashed at Ruhlsdorf, which is 12 miles south west of Berlin. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of EH934 were:
Sergeant Edward Harold Cuff (1312113) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Henry Cecil Elsley (411686) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Robert George Cameron Forbes (1256940) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Pilot Officer Russell Gardiner Fisher (401933) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Norman Kendall (656267) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Clifford Morton Nairn (411936) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Jeffery Cyril Bert Parkinson (1098353) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 411686