LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Roy Christian THIELE
Service No: 405112
Born: Ballarat VIC, 27 May 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 2 February 1941
Unit: No. 117 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 117 Squadron Hudson aircraft FK389), Tunisia, 27 December 1942, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Enfidaville War Cemetery, Tunisia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Johann Albert and Emelia Lydia Thiele, of Hamilton, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Flight Sergeant Thiele joined the RAAF Reserve at Bundaberg, Queensland, on 6 June 1940 and was allocated the service number 405112 which he retained when he joined for full-time service in Melbourne on 2 February 1941.
On a daytime operational flight on 27 December 1942 Hudson FK389 was leading a convoy of Hurricane aircraft to fly from Egypt to Tunisia. During the flight the Hudson inadvertently approached an aerodrome in Tunis occupied by a United States P40 Fighter Squadron, and the Hudson was shot down by an American aerodrome patrol which failed to identify the Hudson as a friendly aircraft. All on board FK389 were killed.
The crew members of FK389 were:
Sergeant Thomas Holliday (939976) (RAFVR) (Rigger)
Sergeant Arthur Alfred James Mills (928684) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Flying Officer Cyril Lloyd Winston Popplestone (48626) (RAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Wilfred John Pye (1066295) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Roy Christian Thiele (405112) (Second Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/39/5; A9301, 405112