LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Peter Vivian MONK
Service No: 416383
Born: Penang, Malaya, 18 September 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 24 May 1941 (at Adelaide SA)
Unit: No. 100 Squadron (RAF), RAF Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 100 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED563), Germany, 17 April 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal. Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Errol Francis Monk, O.B.E., and Edith Maud Monk, of Toorak Gardens, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Adelaide SA
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Lancaster ED563 took off at 2122 hours on the night of 16/17th April 1943, detailed to bomb Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. Nine aircraft from the Squadron took part in the mission. Nothing was heard from ED 563 after take off and it failed to return to base. The other eight aircraft returned safely to base. A later report by a Missing Research & Enquiry team operating in Germany stated that the aircraft crashed on the outskirts of Rentrisch on 17th April 1943, presumably as the result of enemy action. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of ED563 were:
Sergeant Donald Keith Atkinson (416075) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Ian Stewart Brown (R/124176) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant Robert Frank Clutterbuck (1292995) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Peter Vivian Monk (416383) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Peter Rudick (R/140995) (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant John Rutter (1535677) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Norman Vanston (1128891) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
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, 163/145/288