LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Eric Allan HILL
Service No: 414238
Born: Cessnock NSW, 16 September 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 August 1941 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 15 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Mildenhall
Died: Air Operations: Hamburg and Raids on Italy (No. 15 Squadron Stirling aircraft BK774), North Sea, 4 September 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Frederikshavn Cemetery, Denmark
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Joseph and Elizabeth Hill, of Kurri Kurri, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Kurri Kurri NSW
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2017 hours on the night of 3 September 1943 Stirling BK774 took off from Mildenhall detailed to carry out a gardening (mine-laying) operation in the Kattegat. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later established that the aircraft crashed in the North Sea off the west coast of Denmark and all the crew members lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of BK774 were:
Sergeant Robert Edward Belton (1851875) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Victor John Caselton (1801923) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Eric Allan Hill (414238) (Pilot)
Sergeant Robert Otley Lander (1425942) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Ralph Lawson (1145407) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Harry Perry (R/58888) (RCAF) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant William John Price (1702083) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Hill’s body was washed ashore at Klitmoller south of Hansted on the west coast of
Denmark on 11 September 1943.
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, 166/17/245