LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Russell George TICKNER MID
Service No: 420304
Born: Goulburn NSW, 28 July 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 October 1941
Unit: No. 196 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Shepherd Grove
Awarded the Mentioned in Despatches (MID)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 196 Squadron Stirling aircraft LJ245), Norway, 25 February 1945, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Henry and Azalea Mary Tickner, of Lindfield, New South Wales; husband of Phyllis Patricia Tickner, of Thornleigh, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 283, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the night of 25 February 1945 Stirling LJ245 took off from Shepherds Grove detailed to drop panniers, boxes and six Special Air Services soldiers near Holen Lake, Norway. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was shot down in the target area with three crew members killed, two taken as Prisoners of War and one evaded capture.
The crew members of LJ245 were:
Flying Officer John Henry Caldwell (423986) (Air Bomber) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 27 November 1945
Flight Sergeant George Alfred Humphrey (919841) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer Rolf William Mann (422649) (Navigator) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 29 October 1945
Pilot Officer Eric Sydney Quirk (423888) (Air Gunner) Evaded capture, Discharged from the RAAF: 8 October 1945
Warrant Officer John Daglish Stevenson (422761) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Russell George Tickner (420304) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Tickner has no known grave and his name is commemorated on the Memorial to the
Missing, Runnymede, Surrey. The aircraft is at the bottom of Holen Lake in Norway.
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 A9300, TICKNER R G