LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Robert Blackburn HARDIE
Service No: 415649
Born: Albany WA, 25 August 1910
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 December 1941
Unit: No. 138 Squadron (RAF), RAF Tempsford, Bedfordshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 138 Squadron Stirling aircraft LJ503), France, 1 September 1944, Aged 34 Years
Buried: Arc-Et-Senans Communal Cemetery, Doubs, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John and Sarah Hardie, of Albany, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Stirling LJ503 took off from RAF Tempsford at 2200 hours on the night of 30 August 1944, detailed to carry out a Special Operations Executive (SOE) Operation. The aircraft set course for France, but encountered a violent electrical storm during which the aircraft clipped the tops of hills at Lombard (Doubs), a village approximately 8 kms north east of Arc-et-Senans. All eight on board the aircraft were killed in the crash.
The crew members of LJ503 were:
Sergeant John Campbell Alexander (1672382) (RAFVR) (Second Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Robert Alexander Ashton (436598) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Norman Edward Barnes (424554) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Robert Blackburn Hardie (415649) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Stuart James Hayes (432172) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant George McPherson Jack (1822606) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Gordon Wesley McLeod (422658) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Morris Stanley (427160) (Navigator)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records WWII Nominal Roll (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9300, HARDIE B R