LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Robert Edward HARDING
Service No: 433103
Born: Woolwich NSW, 14 February 1925
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 February 1943
Unit: No. 166 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Kirmington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 166 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PD261), Germany, 30 August 1944, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, Poland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur Alexander and Jean Elizabeth Harding, of Woolwich, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Hunters Hill NSW
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Municipality of Hunters Hill War Memorial Honour Rolls, Hunters Hill NSW
Remembered: St John’s Anglican Church 1939-1945 Roll of Honour, Woolwich NSW
At 2110 hours on the night of 29 August 1944 Lancaster PD261 took off from Kirmington detailed to bomb Stettin, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry Team later reported “the aircraft crashed in Stettin presumably as the result of enemy action and all the crew members were killed.”
The crew members of PD261 were:
Sergeant John James Carey (1069049) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Trevor Hugh Davis (617912) (RAF) (Air Bomber)
Flight Lieutenant Frederick Ross Dunton (126830) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Robert Edward Harding (433103) (Navigator)
Sergeant Charles Malachi Murray (535937) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant James Henry Peake (1533257) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant David Kingsley Powers (430051) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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, 166/17/719
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line