LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer John Howell FURNESS
Service No: 429111
Born: Malvern SA, 8 April 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 27 October 1942 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 15 Squadron (RAF), RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk
Died: Air Operations (No. 15 Squadron Lancaster aircraft HK626), Germany, 4 December 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Herbert Edwin and Kate Furness, of Malvern, South Australia. B.A.
Roll of Honour: Unley SA
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Lancaster HK626 took off from RAF Mildenhall at 1151 hours on 4 December 1944 on a day mission to bomb Oberhausen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. HK 626 was seen by other crews from the Squadron on the same mission, to explode in the air and crash at Oberhausen. Oberhausen is 8 miles north east of Duisburg Germany. It was believed the aircraft was hit by flak. All crew members were killed.
The crew members of HK626 were:
Flying Officer Vincent Davis (429452) (Pilot)
Sergeant John George Shewen (2211742) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer John Howell Furness (429111) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer James Thomas Lowe (427002) (Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Robert Wesley Skilbeck (430063) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Stanley William John Taylor (3000350) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Patrick Byram Wilson (3040116) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/14/319