LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Stanley Malcolm MITCHELL
Service No: 422544
Born: Burwood NSW, 24 June 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 May 1942
Unit: No. 50 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Skellingthorpe
Died: Air Operations: (No. 50 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ME798), France, 25 June 1944, Aged 28 Years
Buried: St Pierre Cemetery, Amiens, Somme, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Robert and Mary Ann Mitchell, of Croydon, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2236 hours on the night of 24 June 1944 Lancaster ME798 took off from Skellingthorpe detailed to bomb a flying bomb site at Prouville, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later established that the aircraft was attacked by a night fighter and crashed near Hardinval (Somme) 3kms north of Doullens, France, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of ME798 were:
Pilot Officer Lionel Percy Facey-Crowther (J/88618) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Edward Arnold Johnson (1507974) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Peter Brendon McRann (645384) (RAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Stanley Malcolm Mitchell (422544) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Stuart Charles Orrell (1819567) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant George Taylor (1561928) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Pilot Officer Kenneth Irvine Wood (174079) (RAF) (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, 166/27/491