LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Henry Sylvester JONES
Service No: 436051
Born: Katanning WA, 16 April 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 2 November 1942
Unit: No. 44 Squadron (RAF), RAF Spilsby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: Resumption of the Strategic Bombing (No. 44 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PD373), Germany, 4 December 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Henry and Stella Elizabeth Jones, of Kojonup, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Kojonup WA
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Lancaster PD373 took off from RAF Spilsby at 1642 hours on the night of 4/5th December 1944, to bomb Heilbronn, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed near Kleiningersheim, a village west of the river Necker and some 18 kms south south west from the centre of Heilbronn. It was believed that the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter. All seven crew members were killed.
The crew members of PD373 were:
Captain G W Hirschfeld (103929V) (SAAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Henry Sylvester Jones (436051) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Alfred Dennis Lorrain (1607068) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Jack Mitchell (1514804) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer Desmond Eric Murphy (429472) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant John Storr (1431938) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Peter Yorke (160033) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
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, 166/21/232