LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Norman James RITCHIE
Service No: 412843
Born: Paddington NSW, 28 July 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1941
Unit: No. 101 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Holme-on-Spalding Moor
Died: Air Operations: (No. 101 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED618), Netherlands, 9 April 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Doornspijk General Cemetery, Gelderland, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank and Clarice Maud Marion Ritchie, of Caringbah, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Australia Remembers 1945-1995 Memorial, Lane Cove NSW
Lancaster ED618 took off from Holme-on-Spalding Moor on the night of 9/10 April 1943 detailed to bomb Duisberg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team later reported “the aircraft collided with a German aircraft above Doornspijk, Holland. There was a terrific explosion and wreckage was scattered over a wide area. All the crew members had been killed.
The crew members of ED618 were:
Flight Sergeant Michael John Bennett (957663) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant D’Arcy Gould (1255195) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Stanley Grundy DFM (626664) (RAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant John Hence (632926) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant William David George O’Brien (1323095) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer Norman James Ritchie (412843) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer John David Steele (R/94702) (RCAF) (Pilot)
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, 166/35/44
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line