LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Gordon HENDERSON
From Australia serving in the Royal New Zealand Air Force
Service No: 42327 (RNZAF)
Born: Cessnock NSW, 7 March 1913
Enlisted in the RNZAF: Date Unavailable
Unit: No. 90 Squadron (RAF), RAF Wratting Common, Cambridgeshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 90 Squadron Stirling aircraft BK813), Belgium, 25 June 1943, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Haasrode Churchyard, Oud-Heverlee, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles and Agnes Henderson, of Rotorua, Auckland, New Zealand; husband of B. Henderson
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Commemorative Roll, Australian War Memorial, Canberra
Stirling BK813 took off from RAF West Wickham (renamed Wratting Common in August 1943) at 2332 hours on the night of 24/25th June 1943, detailed to carry out a raid on Wuppertal, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was shot down by a night fighter and crashed at 0139 hours at Haasrode (Brabant), 6 kms south south east of Leuven, Belgium. Six of the crew were killed and Sergeant Stanton became a Prisoner of War. Those killed are buried in the Haasrode Churchyard.
The crew members of BK813 were:
Sergeant Aubrey Charles Harris (1319009) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Gordon Henderson (42327) (RNZAF) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Hyman Levine (658831) (RAF) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Leo Petersen (403611) (RNZAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Edward Henry Stanton (1178476) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Sergeant Patrick James Taylor (1346152) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Walter Henry Teede (16774) (Pilot)
Sergeant Stanton later reported “I baled out and was aided by local residents and after being taken to Bree was helped as far as Paris. Here I was arrested and incarcerated in the notorious Fresnes prison, before being sent to Germany and a PoW Camp.”
References:
Australian War Memorial Commemorative Roll On-Line Records
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records