LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Arthur Ronald GILES
Service No: 417464
Born: Auburn SA, 25 June 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 May 1942
Unit: No. 576 Squadron (RAF), RAF Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 576 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ME854), Germany, 12 September 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Leonard Hollway Giles and Elsie Elizabeth Giles, of Willunga, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On the night of 12 September 1944, Lancaster ME854 took off from Elsham Wolds at 1834 hours, detailed to bomb Frankfurt, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. ME854 is believed to have collided with Lancaster NF911 of No. 218 Squadron (RAF) at about 2350 hours on 12 September 1944, with both aircraft crashing in the vicinity of Nastatten. All the crew members in both aircraft were killed.
The crew members of ME854 were:
Flying Officer Arthur James Aldridge (175106) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Arthur Ronald Giles (417464) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Alan Richard Lewendon (1608368) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Morley Francis Nelson (R/219944) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Stanley Ormondroyd (1520717) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer II Ross Burton Rennie (R/169236) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant Joseph Wilkinson (1590798) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
The crew members of NF911 were:
Sergeant Peter Baguley (1165133) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Basil McCormack Catley (1351915) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Alfred James Ford (1801152) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Frederick William Rogers (184478) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Warrant Officer Edmund Smith (1119114) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Frank John Smith (161663) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flying Officer John Yeoman (169449) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Chorley W R, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War – Volume 5 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1944, Midland Counties Publishing, 1997
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, 166/15/313