LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Archie Thomas LITTLE
Service No: 402821
Born: Narrandera NSW, 15 June 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 October 1940
Unit: No. 103 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Elsham Wolds
Died: Air Operations: (No. 103 Squadron Wellington aircraft DV611), Germany, 3 July 1942, Aged 28 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Charles and Mary Elizabeth Little, of Albury, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Narrandera NSW
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Narrandera World War Two Memorial, Narrandera NSW
Wellington DV611 took off from RAF Elsham Wolds at 2321 hours on the night of 2 July 1942 detailed to bomb Bremen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later learned that four of the crew members had been killed and one was a Prisoner of War.
The crew members of DV611 were:
Flight Sergeant Joseph Vincent Chicoine (R/56204) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer D H Davidner (R/62173) (RCAF) (Observer) PoW
Sergeant John William Edwards (1052838) (Second Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Thomas Alfred Elliott (1325341) (RAFVR) (First Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Archie Thomas Little (402821) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Davidner later reported “the aircraft was shot down on the morning of 3 July and the other four crew members were killed.”
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, 163/138/97
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Charlwood, D.E.C. (Donald Ernest Cameron) (408794) No Moon Tonight (Angus and Robertson 1956), Penguin Ringwood VIC, 3134, 1991