LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John William HALLAS
Service No: 414558
Born: Gatton QLD, 22 June 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 October 1941
Unit: No. 434 Squadron (RCAF), RAF Station Tholthorpe
Died: Air Operations: (No. 434 Squadron Halifax aircraft LK648), North Sea, 27 September 1943, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Esbjerg (Fourfelt) Cemetery, Denmark
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Sydney Henry and Dulcie Bella Hallas, of Gatton, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Gatton QLD
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1921 hours on the night of 27 September 1943, Halifax LK648 took off from Tholthorpe detailed to bomb Hanover, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed into the North Sea off the Island of Fano, and all on board lost their lives.
The crew members of LK 648 were:
Sergeant Jean Galt de Sieyes (R/59777) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant John William Hallas (414558) (Second Pilot)
Flying Officer Benjamin Stanley Jones (J/14774) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Flight Lieutenant Frederick Charles Lord (J/6829) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Basil Morgan O’Hara (R/128741) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer David James Sinclair (J/21037) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Robert Noble Wallace (R/78305) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Stanley Alan Walter (1802702) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/17/323