LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Hilton Alfred HALES
Service No: 421847
Born: Hamilton NSW, 19 January 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 March 1942
Unit: No. 61 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Skellingthorpe
Died: Air Operations: (No. 61 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM729), Germany, 17 December 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Locality Bad Tolz, Bayern
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alfred and Gladys Ethel May Hales; husband of Jean Dorothy Hales, of Cardiff, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Cardiff NSW
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1640 hours on the 17 December 1944 Lancaster LM729 took off from Skellingthorpe detailed to bomb Munich, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after-take off and it failed to return to base. A later Missing Research and Enquiry team report stated “the aircraft exploded in the air near Degerndorf, which is 38 miles east of Munich.” Six of the crew members were killed and one became a Prisoner of War.
The crew members of LM729 were:
Flying Officer Percy Barlow (J/39368) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant Ronald William Bennett (1579544) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Warrant Officer Hilton Alfred Hales (421847) (Wireless Operator Air)
Sergeant G S Joce (1881284) (RAFVR) (Rear Turret) PoW
Sergeant David Thomson Muir (1563302) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Edward Roy Newland (J/35848) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Herbert Alfred Tuck (1895120) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
A POW report by Sergeant Joce stated “a photo flash exploded during a straight level run after the bombs were gone. I was in the rear turret when the explosion occurred. The tail plane and turret fell away from the rest of the aircraft. The Germans said that all the others were killed.”
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, 166/17/910