LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Kevin William HENNESSY
Service No: 437579
Born: Melbourne VIC, 12 November 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 March 1943 (at Adelaide SA)
Unit: No. 1667 Conversion Unit (RAF), RAF Sandtoft, Yorkshire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1667 Conversion Unit Halifax aircraft LL459), Yorkshire, 8 June 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Harrogate (Stonefall) Cemetery, Yorkshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Henry and Mary Agnes Hennessy, of Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Oakleigh VIC
Remembered: Panel 123, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On the 8th June 1944, Halifax LL459 took off from RAF Sandtoft for a night cross country flight. At about 0210 hours, the aircraft dived out of control onto the banks of the river Humber, at a place known locally as Howden Dyke Island, just to the south of Hook and more or less directly east of Goole, Yorkshire. It was believed that the aircraft stalled. All the crew of six members were killed.
The crew members of LL469 were:
Flight Sergeant Gilbert Francis Brown (418699) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Raymond Leslie Francis (418380) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Kevin William Hennessy (437579) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer William Edgar Laurence Moody (422623) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant William Robert Rex Porter (40230) (Navigator)
Sergeant Frederick William Reed (1181898) (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, 166/17/621