LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer George Corbett IVE
Service No: 415331
Born: Geraldton WA, 7 May 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 September 1941
Unit: No. 76 Squadron (RAF), RAF Holme upon Spalding Moor, Yorkshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 76 Squadron Halifax aircraft LK958), Germany, 20 January 1944, Aged 24 years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest William and Philomena Mary Ive, of South Perth, Western Australia. A.F.I.A.
Roll of Honour: South Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Halifax LK958 took off from RAF Holme-upon-Spalding Moor at 1639 hours on the night of 20/21st January 1944, detailed to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. LK 958 crashed near Luckstedt, 19 miles north west of Stendal, Germany. Five of the crew were killed and two became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of LK958 were:
Sergeant Kenneth Cavan Buchan (415892) (Air Bomber) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 21 January 1946
Flight Sergeant Michael Frederick Curry (420830) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 28 September 1945
Pilot Officer George Corbett Ive (415331) (Pilot)
Sergeant Kenneth Frank Hutson (1579061) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Arthur John Edward Raven (1873868) (RAFVR) (Tail Gunner)
Sergeant John Chapman Stones (1084598) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Raymond Valentine Turner (1530427) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
In a later report Flight Sergeant Curry stated “we were attacked by an enemy fighter in the target area. The aircraft was out of control with the starboard engine on fire and also the overload petrol tank and bomb bay. The Captain ordered ‘bale out quickly’, and this was acknowledged. I was the first to leave at about 16,000 feet. The others were still in the aircraft. I was captured after 24 hours by the German police.”
Sergeant Buchan reported “the aircraft was attacked at 18,000 feet and badly damaged. The starboard inner was hit and the aircraft was on fire. The Captain ordered bale out. No one was injured. The escape hatch was opened by the Navigator and the WOP went out. The aircraft went into a spin. I managed to put on my chute but could do nothing owing to the centrifugal force. After the aircraft dropped some thousands of feet it blew up and I was blown out. The only other crew member I saw was Curry.”
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, 166/19/40
Bibliography:
Chorley W R, To See the Dawn Breaking: 76 Squadron Operations, W R Chorley Devon UK, 1981