LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Edgar Albert James GILES
Service No: 420740
Born: Arncliffe NSW, 6 October 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 November 9141
Unit: No. 429 Squadron (RCAF), RAF Station Leeming
Died: Air Operations: (No. 429 Squadron Halifax aircraft LW688), Germany, 24 March 1944, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Kiel War Cemetery, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edgar Rudolph, and Elizabeth Alice Giles, of Arncliffe, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Arncliffe NSW
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1903 hours on the night of 24 March 1944, Halifax LW688 took off from Leeming detailed to bomb Berlin, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at 2130 hours between Sieseby and Thumby, two small villages some 8kms south south east of Kappeln. Five of the crew members were killed and two became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of LW688 were:
Sergeant Roy Michael Byrne (1262762) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Edgar Albert James Giles (420740) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer William George Hampton (J/90362) (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Arthur William Larochelle (R/180662) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner) PoW
Flight Sergeant Herbert John Nicholls (1223376) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW
Flight Sergeant William Thomas George Peckham (1389552) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Felix Charles Rousseau (137532) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
In a PoW report Flight Sergeant Larochelle stated “I last saw Giles prior to my own departure from the aircraft. I had received no information from the Captain.”
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, 166/15/209