LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Raymond George LAWRENCE
Service No: 403192
Born: Sydney NSW, 5 June 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 December 1940
Unit: No. 49 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Scampton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 49 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W4306), Sussex, 24 October 1942, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Littlehampton Cemetery, Sussex
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Henry John and Ethel Mary Lawrence, of Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Chatswood NSW
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1220 hours on 24 October 1942 Lancaster W4306 took off from Scampton detailed to bomb Milan, Italy. The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire when over the target but was able to continue flying. On the homebound journey the aircraft was again hit by anti-aircraft fire at Le Havre and it crash landed at 2138 hours 400 yards north of the Ford airfield, Sussex. Five crew members were killed in the crash and are two were injured.
The crew members of W4306 were:
Flight Lieutenant Dorian Dick Bonnett DFC (46416) (RAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Eric Brookes (930979) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) Fatally injured: Died 30 October 1942
Sergeant Westmore Arthur Colquhoun (401232) (Mid Upper Gunner) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 23 March 1945
Flight Sergeant Richard Desmond Dangerfield DFM (401272) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Raymond George Lawrence (403192) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer William Henry Ingham Myers DFM (404798) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Robert Joseph Wallis (625132) (RAF) (Air Bomber)
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, 163/136/230