LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Clifford Douglas LUEDEKE
Service No: 406809
Born: Albany WA, 17 May 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1941
Unit: No. 27 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Lichfield, Staffordshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 27 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft DV552), Belgium, 1 August 1942, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Huldenberg Churchyard, Huldenberg, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frederick T. and Beatrice Ethel Sarah Luedeke, of North Perth, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
On the night of 31 July 1942, Wellington DV552 took off from RAF Lichfield at 2341 hours, detailed to bomb Dusseldorf, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at 0330 hours at Huldenberg in the Province of Brabant, 23 kms south east of Brussels. All the crew were killed.
The crew members of DV552 were:
Sergeant Clifford Douglas Luedeke (406809) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Charles Henry Robert McKee (411031) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Mervyn George McNeil (40239) (RNZAF) (Screened Pilot)
Sergeant Owen Morgan (405450) (Observer)
Flying Officer Arthur Frederick Richard Nash (406576) (Pilot)
Sergeant John Daniel O’Halloran (403991) (Air Bomber)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/140/96