LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Ian Lindsay FELGATE DFC
Service No: 427079
Born: Geelong VIC, 8 August 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 May 1942 (at Perth WA)
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Wickenby, Lincolnshire
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 12 February 1946 (Citation Title: No. 12 Squadron RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 12 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ME526), Germany, 16 March 1945, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Murchison Felgate and Millie Fay Felgate, of Trayning, Western Australia; husband of Myrtle Ruth Felgate, of Trayning.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Remembered: Honour Board, Postmaster General’s Department, GPO Forrest Chase, Perth WA
DFC Citation: “Flying Officer Felgate as pilot has completed numerous operations against the enemy, in the course of which he has invariably displayed the utmost fortitude, courage and devotion to duty.” (Gazette 12 February 1946) Awarded with effect 15 March 1945. Flying Officer Felgate had flown 34 operations.
Brother of Flying Officer John Melvyn Felgate (436371)
Lancaster ME526 took off from RAF Wickenby at 1714 hours on the night of 16 March 1945 to bomb Nuremburg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. Five aircraft from the Squadron failed to return from the raid. A Missing Research & Enquiry report stated “the aircraft crashed on a house in Alberndorf near Ansbach at approximately 9 pm on 16 March 1945 and exploded on impact.” Five crew members were killed and two became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of ME526 were:
Flight Sergeant Vincent James Arnold (434611) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Gerard Sydney Barbeler (425917) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Raymond Franklin Lindsay Barber (9242) (Navigator)
Sergeant J C Devine (1459717) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer) PoW
Flying Officer Ian Lindsay Felgate DFC (427079) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer James Hyde (429570) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant H F Nixon (1493451) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
In a letter to Mrs Barber, Sergeant Nixon wrote “We arrived at the target OK and were on the run up to the town itself when a muffled explosion occurred in the starboard wing. The aircraft took fire almost immediately and the Pilot ordered bale out. The Bomb Aimer went before me. As I floated down there was an explosion on the ground which I suspect was the aircraft blowing up. There was time for the others to get out as I floated down for about 10 minutes which shows how high the plane was when I baled out. The aircraft crashed 10/15 miles south west of Nuremburg. I did not meet up with any crew again because I was picked up about 2 kms from the Swiss border.”
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/13/421