LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Norman Edward MARSH
Service No: 424532
Born: Barraba NSW, 17 March 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 September 1942
Unit: No. 622 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Mildenhall
Died: Air Operations: (No. 622 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM477), France, 25 July 1944, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Essey-Les-Nancy Churchyard, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest Edward and Abagail Annis Marsh; husband of Urva Lillian Marsh, of Manilla, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Manilla NSW
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Manilla and District Soldiers Memorial Hall, Manilla NSW
At 2155 hours on the night of 24 July 1944, Lancaster LM477 took off from Mildenhall detailed to bomb Stuttgart, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team later reported: “The aircraft exploded about 0230 hours on 25 July 1944 over the village of Essey-Les-Nancy, which is in the Meurthe-Et-Moselle department in the Lorraine, France. Six of the crew members were killed and one was taken prisoner.”
The crew members of LM477 were:
Sergeant Richard Arthur Duffield (1891039) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Kenneth Edward Gronow (1890169) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant G H Jeary (1610626) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) PoW
Flight Sergeant Norman Edward Marsh (424532) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Douglas Reid Pepper (425591) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant Theophilus John Simpson (1836408) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Peter Newman Vercoe (425805) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
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, 166/27/522
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line