LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Rex Bernard TEMPLETON
Service No: 428079
Born: Launceston TAS, 18 September 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 October 1942
Unit: No. 619 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Strubby
Died: Air Operation (No. 619 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM742), Germany, 6 November 1944, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Thomas and Mary Ann Templeton, of Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Roll of Honour: Launceston TAS
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1629 hours on the night of 6 November 1944, Lancaster LM742 took off from Strubby detailed to attack the Dortmund-Ems Canal and Mitteland Kanal systems near Gravenhorst, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed and three crew members were killed and the other four became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of LM742 were:
Flight Sergeant Leo Croney (1672013) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW
Flying Officer Eric William Hookings (154315) (RAF) (Pilot) PoW
Sergeant Alick Clem Norris (1589308) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Harold John Hamilton Tait (1896656) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Flight Sergeant Rex Bernard Templeton (428079) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant R G Walters (1577984) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) PoW
Sergeant Edward Frederick Wood (1816621) (RAFVR) (Rear 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, 166/39/388