LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Karl GIRRBACH
Service No: 407712
Born: Adelaide SA, 13 January 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 4 January 1941
Unit: No. 156 Squadron (RAF), RAF Warboys, Cambridgeshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 156 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED615), Germany, 4 April 1943, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Kiel War Cemetery, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Johann Friedrich and Flora Louise Marie Girrbach, of Rose Park, Adelaide, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Adelaide 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 ED615 took off from RAF Warboys at 2024 hours on the night of 4/5th April 1943, detailed to bomb Kiel, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed in the target area and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of ED615 were:
Flying Officer Karl Girrbach (407712) (Second Pilot)
Squadron Leader The Honorable Brian Grimston DFC (84667) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Kevin Robert Hazlewood (937603) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Alfred Beazley Marsh (107993) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Albert Leonard Stanley Portch (51888) (RAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Graham Campbell Stafford DFM (1182873) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Thomas John Woodward (1218440) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Stewart James Volante DFM (143771) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
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, 163/34/166
Bibliography:
Gaston, Bruce DFC (406646), Harry Horner DFC OAM (406595), Raymond Storer (406666) (Editors), Aircrew for the Duration: of and by members of RAAF EATS Courses 10, 11, 12 & 13, Gaston Horner and Storer, Nedlands WA, 1990