LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Bernard Malcolm GEISSMANN
Service No: 404334
Born: Brisbane QLD, 14 December 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 August 1940
Unit: No. 452 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 452 Squadron Spitfire aircraft AD430), off the French Coast, 6 November 1941, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Bernard Reinhold and Isabella Wyness Geissmann, of North Tamborine, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Tambourine QLD
Remembered: Panel 62, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 6 November 1941, Spitfire AD430 flown by Sergeant Geissmann was one of 12 Spitfires that were spotting for the guns operating from the French Coast against Dover. About five miles from the French coast at about 10,000 feet, in the vicinity of Cape Gris Nez, the formation was attacked by a number of German Focke Wulfe aircraft and Sergeant Geissmann was heard to call on the radio that he thought he had been hit and was intending to reach the English coast. The aircraft failed to return and it was thought that it had crashed into the sea. Sergeant Eric Henry Schrader (400135) was also lost during this action.
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, 163/116/15