LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer William George McCRACKEN
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 36157 (RAF)
Born: Date, Location unavailable
Enlisted in the RAF: Date unavailable
Unit: No. 139 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Wyton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 139 Squadron Blenheim IV aircraft N6234), Germany, 30 October 1939, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Grace McCracken and Lillian McCracken, of St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Special Memorial 9, Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Pilot Officer McCracken was an Australian Cadet trained for the RAF who embarked for the UK on 19 July 1938.
On 30 October 1939, Blenheim N6234 took off from Wyton at 1026 hours on a reconnaissance mission. The aircraft crashed at Gross Berssen, 10 km north of Haselunne, Germany, and all three crew members were killed.
The crew members of N6234 were:
Pilot Officer William George McCraken (36157) (RAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Stanley Robert Mitchell (580376) (RAF) (Observer)
Aircraftman Class I Robert Boaler Smith (526371) (RAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
References:
Chorley, W.R. Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War Volume 1 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1939-1940, Midland Counties Publications UK, 1992
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Newton, Dennis A Few of the Few: Australians and the Battle of Britain, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT 2600, 1990