LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Noel Messines TOOHILL
Service No: 404786
Born: Brisbane QLD, 4 May 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 8 November 1940
Unit: No. 207 Squadron (RAF), RAF Bottesford, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 207 Squadron Manchester aircraft L7322), France, 9 January 1942, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edward William and Miriam Toohill, of Tennyson, Queensland, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 113, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Manchester L 7322 of 207 Squadron took off from RAF Station Bottesford at 0359 hours on 9 January 1942, in company with other aircraft to attack the major German warships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in port at Brest, France. L 7322 carried 4 x 2000 lb (pound) (900 kg) Armour Piercing bombs. Other aircraft on the mission reported that the weather and visibility en route was poor, and over the target there was 8-10/10ths cloud and a half moon. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Post war enquiries and investigations established that L7322 crashed in the sea near Crozon (Finistere), France, at approximately 0600 hours on 9 January 1942. There were no survivors.
The crew members of L7322 were:
Pilot Officer George Reginald Bayley (88024) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Peter Charles Herbert Goldie (406450) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Richard Vivian Griffiths (1180380) (RAFVR) (Second Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Alexander Gordon Harris (920869) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Flight Sergeant John Elias Jones DFM (551817) (RAF) (First Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant William Rex Seymour (407808) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Noel Messines Toohill (404786) (Second Pilot)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/168/110