LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Allan Robert HART
Service No: 412434
Born: Murrumburrah NSW, 29 April 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 19 July 1941
Unit: No. 97 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Bourn
Died: Air Operations: (No. 97 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB659), Netherlands, 31 January 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Harlemmereer (Zwanenburg) General Cemetery
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Norman James Hart and Ruby Agnes Hart, of Murrumburrah, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Murrumburrah NSW
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Harden-Murrumburrah War Memorial Wall, Harden NSW
On the night of 30 January 1944 Lancaster JB659 took off from Bourn to attack Berlin. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was established that the aircraft crashed 4 kms north of Halfweg, 11 kms west of Amsterdam, on 31 January 1944. The nature of the crash was such that all the crew members were killed, as well as seven civilians in a farmhouse.
The crew members of JB659 were:
Flight Sergeant Harold James Boal (409497) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Leslie Clifton (1146496) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Douglas Frederick Hicks (1397995) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Pilot Officer Allan Robert Hart (412434) (Pilot)
Sergeant William Joseph Jones (1131932) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Flight Sergeant Charles Melville Price (R/182206) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner)
Warrant Officer Gordon Ivan Williams (R/119950) (RCAF) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/17/463
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line