LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Simon Stanley SOLOMONS
Service No: 432281
Born: Kensington NSW, 3 January 1912
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 December 1942
Unit: No. 166 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Kirmington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 166 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PD226), Baltic Sea, 30 August 1944, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Malmo Jewish Cemetery, Sweden
CWGC Additional Information: F/ Son of Reuben and Esther Solomons, of Coogee, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Sydney NSW
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: The Great Synagogue World War 2 Roll of Honour, Sydney NSW
Remembered: The Great Synagogue Roll of Honour Book, Sydney NSW
Lancaster PD226 was one of five Squadron aircraft detailed to carry out a mine laying sortie in the Baltic, on the night of 29/30 August 1944. Opposition from the enemy was not on a large scale, but two of the aircraft were engaged in combat by enemy night fighters. PD 226 did not return to base and nothing was heard of the aircraft or crew. In a 1949 report it was confirmed that the body of Flight Sergeant Solomons was washed ashore in the vicinity of Brakne Hoby, Sweden. It was assumed that the aircraft had crashed into the sea and the remainder of the crew members were lost at sea.
The crew members of PD226 were:
Sergeant Thomas Rhys Llewellyn Griffiths (1339216) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Laurence David Heath (423305) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William Warren Hiscock (418275) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant Leslie George Lewis (1850225) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant William Fred Noble (747740) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Simon Stanley Solomons (432281) (Navigator)
Sergeant George Albert Vaughan (1352859) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
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, 166/38/669
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line