LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant George Ifould RUGLESS
Service No: 417519
Born: Unley Park SA, 27 November 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 May 1942
Unit: No. 15 Squadron (RAF), RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk
Died: Air Operations (No. 15 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LL923), Germany, 5 January 1945, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Francis Samuel and Eva Gertrude Rugless, of Millswood Estate, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Goodwood SA
Remembered: Panel 129, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Lancaster LL923 took off from RAF Mildenhall at 1129 hours on 5 January 1945 to bomb the railway yards at Ludwigshafen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. A post war report by a Missing Research & Enquiry Team established that the aircraft was shot down and exploded on impact at 1440 hours on 5 January 1945 at Beidesheim, about 30 kms north of Mannheim, Germany. Six of the crew members were killed and one became a prisoner of War.
The crew members of LL923 were:
Sergeant D T Darby (1735519) (RAF) (Rear Gunner) PoW
Sergeant Stephen Joseph Dolan (2218443) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Arthur Bernard Nicklin (1684306) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Evan Emlyn Parkhouse (1652685) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant George Ifould Rugless (417519) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant David Hamilton Williams (1323497) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flying Officer William Young (163591) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/36/435