LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Harold Edward Richard SAUNDERS
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 785073 (RAFVR)
Born: Date, Location unavailable
Enlisted in the RAF: Date unavailable
Unit: No. 102 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Pocklington
Died: Air Operations: Early Pathfinder Raids (No. 102 Squadron Halifax II aircraft W7879), Yorkshire, 11 February 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Barmby-on-the-Moor (St Catherine) Churchyard, Yorkshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John William Theodore and Marie Saunders, of Penang, Malaya. Of Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Sergeant Saunders came from Australia, though his parents later moved to Penang, Malaya.
On 11 February 1943, Halifax W7879 took off from Pocklington at 1808 hours to attack Wilhelmshaven, Germany. The aircraft crashed at 1839 hours while trying to make an emergency landing just to the north of Dalton, Yorkshire. Six crew members were killed and one injured.
The crew members of W7879 were:
Sergeant Trevor Charles Coles (569527) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Frank Cooper (1546822) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Henry Farquharson Ley (121554) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Alvah Wilkie Flansburgh-Washbourne (411796) (RNZAF) (Wireless Operator / Air Gunner)
Sergeant Hill (RAF) Injured
Sergeant Michael Norman Reilly (1559119) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Harold Edward Richard Saunders (785073) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
References:
Chorley W R, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War Volume 4 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1943, Midland Counties Publications, 1996
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records