LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Reginald Charles Joffre POWELL
Service No: 412179
Born: Katoomba NSW, 28 July 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 June 1941
Unit: No. 357 Squadron (RAF), Jessore, Bangladesh
Died: Air Operations: (No. 357 Squadron Liberator aircraft BZ956), Myanmar, 1 November 1944, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Kanchanaburi War Cemetery, Thailand
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Percy Charles and Alice Maud Powell, of Rose Bay, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Katoomba NSW
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the 1st November 1944, Liberator BZ956 took off at 12 noon detailed to carry out a special operation. The aircraft crashed near Manpang Central Burma, in position, 22.05 North 099.21 East on the top most slopes of Loi Anglawng at a height of 8,537 feet. In a report by a Recovery Party to the Burma-China border, eyewitnesses stated that “the aircraft was to have dropped supplies on a nearby spot and flares had been lit to guide the aircraft.”
The crew members of BZ956 were:
Warrant Officer I Ernest Joseph Leonard Bolingbroke (R/90953) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Albert George Carlton (412390) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer Dennis Leslie Francis (189477) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Peter George Masters (1850121) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Reginald Charles Joffre Powell (412179) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Osbourn Sydney Shave DFC (408527) (Pilot)
Flight Lieutenant Sydney Desmond Titterington DFC (411553) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/33/240