LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Frederick Richard SAMPSON
Service No: 417520
Born: Port Pirie SA, 21 November 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 May 1942
Unit: No. 78 Squadron (RAF), RAF Breighton, Yorkshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 78 Squadron Halifax aircraft LV873), France, 27 April 1944, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Clichy Northern Cemetery, Hauts-de-Seine, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frederick and Mabel Lucy Sampson of Port Pirie, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Port Pirie 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
Halifax LV873 took off from RAF Breighton at 2206 hours on the night of 26/27th April 1944, detailed to bomb railway yards at Villeneuve, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed in the southern outskirts of Paris at Choisy-le-Roi, 8 kms north west of the railway yards. All the crew members were killed
The crew members of LV873 were:
Flying Officer Andrew Allan Bell (147665) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Leslie Roy Dyment (R/190695) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Jack Clarke Fell (1684693) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Derek Peter Garraway (175558) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer William Keith Raby (J/26614) (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Frederick Richard Sampson (417520) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer James Hargreaves Wilkinson (175500) (RAFVR) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/37/386