LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John William HOUSEMAN
Service No: 424634
Born: Clovelly NSW, 12 September 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 October 1942
Unit: No. 626 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Wickenby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 626 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM633), Belgium, 21 July 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Leonard Harry Houseman, and of Bertha Houseman, of Potts Point, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 260, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster LM633 took off from Wickenby on the night of 20/21 July 1944, to attack Courtrai, Belgium. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. The aircraft crashed with one crew member killed, two taken prisoner and the other four evading capture. In 1949 it was recorded that with the aircraft buried deep in the ground, it was impossible to locate any other remains, and Flight Sergeant Houseman the only missing member of the crew was listed as having no known grave.
The crew members of LM633 were:
Flight Sergeant Charles Morrison Beattie (428899) (Mid Upper Gunner) Evaded capture, Discharged from the RAAF: 22 January 1946
Flying Officer John Bowen (414334) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 5 January 1946
Flight Sergeant Robert Christopher Clarke (418252) (Navigator) Evaded capture, Discharged from the RAAF: 3 January 1946
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Duncan Ferguson (423234) (Air Bomber) Evaded capture, Discharged from the RAAF: 4 March 1946
Sergeant J S Fyfe (987709) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) Evaded capture
Flight Sergeant John William Houseman (424634) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Walter Albert Purnell (422810) (Wireless Operator Air) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 5 November 1945
In later statements from the survivors, it was reported that LM 633 was attacked by a JU 88 causing fires in the fuselage and starboard engines. The abandon aircraft order was given and the aircraft crashed at Zietenacy ou Zoetenasie, approximately 8 kms north west of Diksmuide on 21 July 1944.
Flying Officer Bowen stated that the Germans had assumed that Flight Sergeant Beattie and Flight Sergeant Houseman were buried under the wreckage and both were listed as dead in German documents. Beattie however evaded capture and was safe. Members of the crew also thought that with the inter communication useless that Flight Sergeant Houseman may have baled out in the confusion.
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, 166/18/414