LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Lawrence Stanley TUCKER
Service No: 417766
Born: Minlaton SA, 16 April 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 July 1942
Unit: No. 138 Squadron (RAF), RAF Tempsford, Bedfordshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 138 Squadron Stirling aircraft LK279), Denmark, 10 February 1945, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Garnet Ludwig Tucker and Eleanor Rose Tucker; husband of Evelyn Jean Tucker, of Eden Hills, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Eden Hills SA
Remembered: Panel 284, Runnymede Memorial Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
At 2114 hours on the night of 9 February 1945 Stirling LK279 of No. 138 Squadron took off from RAF Tempsford, to carry out Operation Tablejam 190 along with other aircraft of the Squadron and the formation set course for Denmark. Nothing was heard from Stirling LK279 after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed in a blizzard over Gamborg Fiord east of Sonderskov and south of Faend Island. All of the crew members were killed.
The crew members of LK279 were:
Warrant Officer Ronald James Ball (1321859) (RAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant William John Carthew (1853102) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Richard York French (424752) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant William Maurice Haragan (3000040) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Gordon Ernest Mercer (154929) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Geoffrey Chapman Toes (1683242) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Lawrence Stanley Tucker (417766) (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, 166/40/341