LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Douglas Conway HOUGHTON
Service No: 420469
Born: Hunters Hill NSW, 20 January 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1941
Unit: No. 214 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Chedburgh
Died: Air Operations: (No. 214 Squadron Stirling aircraft EE970), Germany, 1 September 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Donald and Florence Annie Elizabeth Houghton, of Waverley, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Municipality of Hunters Hill War Memorial Honour Rolls, Hunters Hill NSW
Remembered: Manly ANZAC War Memorial, Manly NSW
At 2042 hours on the night of 31 September 1943 Stirling EE970 took off from Chedburgh detailed to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. In 1947 it was established that the aircraft crashed in the Russian Zone of Germany at Jutterbug, quite close to Berlin. There were four survivors from the crash who had been taken prisoner. The survivors stated that Flight Sergeant Houghton was killed having baled out without a parachute.
The crew members of EE970 were:
Sergeant W R Case (R/184772) (RCAF) (Air Gunner) PoW
Sergeant Raymond Colin Chislett (1384670) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant D Daulby (657141) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner) PoW
Sergeant H M Diebel (R/161427) (RCAF) (Navigator) PoW
Sergeant J A Giblin (1801548) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Flight Sergeant Douglas Conway Houghton (420469) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Kenneth John Simpson (413675) (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, 166/18/164
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line