LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Alexander NORMAN
Service No: 406365
Born: Cottesloe WA, 25 June 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 November 1940
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Binbrook, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 12 Squadron Wellington aircraft Z8403), North Sea, 27 August 1942, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John and Beatrice Gertrude Norman, of Cottesloe, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Cottesloe WA
Remembered: Panel 111, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Wellington Z8403 of 12 Squadron took off from RAF Station Binbrook, on the night of 27/28th August 1942 to attack Kassel, Germany. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. With no trace of the missing aircraft or crew being found following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1948 that the crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of Z8403 were:
Sergeant Charles James Broomhead (1231185) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer Harry Fallas (117451) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Glyndwr Hughes (1326549) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Pilot Officer Alexander Norman (406365) (Pilot)
Sergeant Stanley Allen Wilson (R/82838) (RCAF) (Wireless Operator)
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, 163/147/284