LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Geoffrey Kenneth HENDY
Service No: 410980
Born: Cobram VIC, 9 October 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 24 April 1942
Unit: No. 635 Squadron (RAF), RAF Downham Market, Norfolk
Died: Air Operations: (No. 635 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB173), Germany, 7 January 1945, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Stanley Gordon Hendy and Ila Christina Hendy, of Numurkah, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Numurkah VIC
Remembered: Panel 283, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster PB173 of 635 Squadron took off from RAF Station Downham Market at 1902 hours on 7 January 1945 to attack Munich. Nothing further was heard of the aircraft which failed to return to base. A 1948 report based on an inspection of German documents and investigations carried out at the Germering Cemetery, confirmed that the aircraft was shot down and crashed at Unterphaffenhofen on 7 January 1945. The report adds that the aircraft exploded in the air and that the remains of only 2 members of the crew, Pilot Officer Wiggins and Flight Sergeant Watson were recovered.
The crew members of PB173 were:
Flight Lieutenant Robert Mayo Clarke DFC (427294) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer William Thomas Pethard (185214) (RAFVR)
Pilot Officer Geoffrey Kenneth Hendy (410980) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Charles Denis Mountain (1621552) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Pilot Officer Alexander Anderson Wiggins (185673) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant James Hendry Watson (1566050) (RAFVR) (Rear Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Robertshaw (1592154) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/17/934