LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Walter John HOBAN
Service No: 403812
Born: West Maitland NSW, 24 September 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 March 1941
Unit: No. 49 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Scampton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 49 Squadron Lancaster aircraft R5890), Germany, 17 September 1942, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest and Ethel May Hoban, of Largs, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Newcastle NSW
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2017 hours on the night of 16 September 1942 Lancaster R5890 took off from Scampton to bomb Essen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed in the target area and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of R5890 were:
Squadron Leader Henry Walter Barnard MID (39845) (RAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Keith Arnold Bouffler (1029681) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Alfred Bryan Brooks DFM (638755) (RAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Aime Leon Caron (R/116332) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Walter John Hoban (403812) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Donald Beverley Moody (117699) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Owen Dixon Thomas (45490) (RAF) (Second Pilot)
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, 163/123/333