LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant John James OSMOND DFC
Service No: 415177
Born: Perth WA, 2 October 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 July 1941
Discharged from the RAAF: 11 December 1945
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 14 November 1944 (Citation Title: No. 35 Squadron RAF)
Unit at Discharge: No. 466 Squadron
Died: Ground Accident, near Mount Magnet WA, January 1946, Aged 24 Years
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Flight Lieutenant Osmond was killed in a vehicle accident when his motorcycle ran into a bogged truck stuck in a creek on a dark night near Mount Magnet, Western Australia, in January 1946. He became a Prisoner of War on 22 February 1945 following the loss of No. 35 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ME335. His father, Private John James Osmond (2302), 16th Battalion AIF, was also a Prisoner of War, having gone missing on the Western Front on 11 April 1917 and was repatriated through Switzerland on 27 December 1917.
At 2026 hours on 21 February 1945, No. 35 Squadron (RAF) Lancaster ME335 took off RAF Station Graveley, Cambridgeshire, to attack Duisburg, Germany (Air Operations: Spring 1945). The aircraft was lost with one crew member killed and six taken as Prisoners of War.
The crew members of ME335 were:
Pilot Officer Archibald Clarence Aston (157747) (RAFVR) PoW
Sergeant B J B Carr (1802655) (RAFVR) PoW
Flying Officer Bert William Golden DFC (179878) (RAFVR)
Flight Lieutenant John James Osmond (415177) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 11 December 1945
Warrant Officer Geoffrey Arnold Perry DFM (427728) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 4 December 1945
Flight Sergeant J K Spedding DFM (1685592) (RAFVR) PoW
Flying Officer Albert Weston Wolk (439508) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 30 October 1945
References:
Chorley W R, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 6 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1945, Midland Counties Publications UK, 1998
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/31/324