LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Ray Douglas McPHERSON
Service No: 401244
Born: Donald VIC, 12 May 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 January 1941
Unit: No. 106 Squadron (RAF), RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 106 Squadron Lancaster aircraft R5638), Germany, 11 September 1942, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Antill McPherson and Ethel Myra McPherson, of Donald, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Donald VIC
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster R5638 took off from RAF Coningsby at 2045 hours on the night of 10/11th September 1942, 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 the Bahnhof in Dusseldorf, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of R5638 were:
Sergeant Walter Mowbray Andrews (R/92243) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Gerald Graham Chalmers (778593) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Andrew Patten Jamieson (778713) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Ray Douglas McPherson (401244) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer John Frederick Nicolle (J/7784) (RCAF) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant John Russell (622505) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Alfred Geoffrey Smith (407668) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/141/710