LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Kenneth Winston EVANS
Service No: 409678
Born: Elwood VIC, 24 May 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 October 1921
Unit: No. 100 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 100 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB563), Germany, 22 March 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Henry and Winifred Nancy Evans, of Elwood, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brighton VIC
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster JB563 took off from Grimsby at 1903 hours on the night of 22/23 March 1944 detailed to bomb Frankfurt. Broadcast winds were received from the aircraft at approximately 2138 hours on the 22 March which put the aircraft in a position about 40 miles north of Frankfurt. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft and it failed to return to base. Seventeen other aircraft from the Squadron were on the mission and all returned safe. Other crews reported ground defence was moderate to intense and enemy aircraft were much in evidence. A Missing Research & Enquiry team reported later: “The aircraft exploded in the air and crashed a short distance north east of Bergen-Enkheim on the 22nd March. Bergen-Enkheim is 4 miles north east of Frankfurt.” Six crew members had been killed and one taken Prisoner of War.
The crew members of JB563 were:
Sergeant Ashley John Armstrong (1317510) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Sergeant Phil Atha (1542940) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Charles Albert Brookes (955093) (RAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer R F Emery (142356) (RAFVR) (Second Navigator) PoW
Pilot Officer Kenneth Winston Evans (409678) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Dilwyn Francis (1422866) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Joseph Jackson Lapes (1459947) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Sidney Smith (1583052) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
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, 166/12/68