LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer John Henry McNAMARA
Service No: 420704
Born: Redfern NSW, 25 October 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 November 1941
Unit: No. 620 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Great Dunmow
Died: Air Operations: (No. 620 Squadron Stirling aircraft LJ970), Norway, 28 December 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Sande in Vestfold Cemetery, Norway
CWGC Additional Information: Croix de Guerre (France). Son of Henry Allen and Olive Gladys McNamara, of Riverstone, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Riverstone NSW
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Riverstone and District War Memorial, Riverstone NSW
On 28 December 1944, Stirling took off from Great Dunmow detailed to carry out special operations against the enemy. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return. A Missing Research and Enquiry Team later reported: “at 2330 hours a heavy attack on
Horten took place, and the aircraft was shot down by a German fighter near Sande railway station in Vestfold, Norway. All on board were killed.”
The crew members of LJ970 were:
Flight Lieutenant Kenneth James Harries (133095) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Wilfred Hughes (1819153) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer David Wise Jones (425312) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer John Henry McNamara (420704) (Pilot)
Sergeant George Lyon Mitchell (1340827) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Raymond Poole (1686191) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Sidney Walter Charles Rodman (1317416) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
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, 166/26/733
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line