LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Norman Harry PORT
Service No: 11348
Born: Melbourne VIC, 15 October 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 July 1940
Unit: No. 190 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Fairford
Died: Air Operations: (No. 190 Squadron Stirling aircraft LJ827), France, 26 August 1944, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Villeneuve St Georges Old Communal Cemetery, Val de Marne, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest Alfred and Charlotte Maud Mary Port, of Elsternwick, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Caulfield VIC
Remembered: Panel 128, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2141 hours on the night of 25 August 1944 Stirling LJ827 took off from Fairford on an operational sortie to occupied France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team report stated: “the aircraft was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and crashed near Villebougis, France.” Six of the crew members were killed and one was taken prisoner.
The crew members of LJ827 were:
Sergeant William Thomas Bussell (1853553) (RAFVR) (Second Flight Engineer, attached from No. 1665 Heavy Conversion Unit for operational experience)
Flight Sergeant Ernest Thomas Cornelius (1582478) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant R G Fulcher (1389247) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) PoW
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Charles Garner (1331796) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Frank Cecil Newman (178824) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Norman Harry Port (11348) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Cyril Martin Rosay (178835) (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, 166/33/209