LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Geoffrey Robert PALMER
Service No: 415820
Born: Perth WA, 23 July 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 February 1942
Unit: No. 223 Squadron (RAF), RAF Oulton, Norfolk
Died: Injuries from Air Operations (No. 223 Squadron Liberator aircraft TT346), Belgium, 14 January 1945, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Leopoldsburg War Cemetery, Leopoldsburg, Limburg, Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Cecil George and Valentine Grant Palmer, of Claremont, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Claremont WA
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Liberator TT336 took off from RAF Oulton at 1606 hours on the night of 14 January, 1945, for Jostle (airborne radar jamming) duties in support of the Grevenbroich raid. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was either hit by Allied anti-aircraft fire (as suggested by the Squadron record) or despatched by an enemy night fighter at 6,000 feet. It crashed on 14 January near Meerhout (Antwerpen), a small town some 8 kms south east of Geel. Eight of the crew were killed, and Flying Officer Palmer who was injured died of his injuries in hospital on 14 January 1945.
The crew members of TT346 were:
Flight Sergeant Donald Kenneth Clark (R/207938) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Arthur Leslie Evens (R/185896) (RCAF) (Co-Pilot)
Warrant Officer John George Galley DFM (751913) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant William Alexander Gray (R/223012) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Robert Hartop (1880569) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Frank Arthur Mason (143659) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant J Mellers (578518) (RAF) (Air Gunner) Uninjured
Flight Lieutenant G Noseworthy (J/22147) (RCAF) (Pilot) Uninjured
Flying Officer Geoffrey Robert Palmer (415820) (Navigator) Injured, Died 14 January 1945
Warrant Officer Robert Edward Ralph (934263) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant George Trail (130716) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
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, 166/32/618