LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Malcolm John McKAY
Service No: 425042
Born: Brisbane QLD, 6 May 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 December 1941
Unit: No. 158 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Lissett
Died: Air Operations: (No. 158 Squadron Halifax aircraft LW718), Norfolk, 24 March 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Lindsay McKay and Constance Kate Alice McKay, of North Ipswich, Queensland. Australia.
Roll of Honour: Boonah QLD
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1855 hours on the night of 24 March 1944 Halifax LW718 took off from Lissett detailed to bomb Berlin. At 2240 hours a radio message was received from the aircraft indicating very serious engine trouble and that the sortie was being abandoned. This was the last contact Control had with the crew and at 2311 hours the aircraft crashed onto the sand downs just above Winterton-on-Sea, Norfolk, in an area known as Horsey Gap. Tragically the aircraft had come down in a coastal mine field and in doing so it touched off a mine and exploded. Civil Defence workers were quickly on the scene and after removing bodies from the shattered aircraft they dealt with unexploded bombs found lying on the ground nearby. All the crew members were killed in the crash.
The crew members of LW718 were:
Sergeant Thomas James Barnett (1174351) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant William Alexander Buchan (954002) (RAFVR) (Mid Gunner)
Pilot Officer Derek Joseph Hemsley (168620) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer Norman Hindley DFC (144450) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Malcolm John McKay (425042) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer Keith Shambler Simpson (414166) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Walter Suddaby (1495722) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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, 166/26/407