LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ernest John PHILIPSON
Service No: 418299
Born: Thornbury VIC, 19 April 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 May 1942
Unit: No. 630 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station East Kirkby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 630 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND583), France, 16 March 1944, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Bourguignon-sous-Coucy Churchyard, Aisne, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest George and Catherine White Philipson; husband of Mavis Elise Philipson, of Coburg, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Coburg VIC
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1857 hours on the night of 15 March 1944, Lancaster ND583 took off from East Kirkby detailed to bomb Stuttgart, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed and exploded near Bourguignon-sous-Coucy in the Department of the Aisne, 23 kms north west of Soissons, France and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of ND583 were:
Sergeant Richard John Harry Easter (1636431) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer II A McC Freeman (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Leslie Hall (1495938) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Frank James Hobbs (1262633) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Ernest John Philipson (418299) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer Kenneth Rodbourn (169004) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Albert Henry Wilkinson (1622716) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
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, 166/32/327