LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer John William VICKERS
Service No: 400300
Born: Moombooldool NSW, 25 January 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 18 August 1940 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 48 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 48 Squadron Hudson aircraft AM801), North Sea, 26 March 1942, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Herbert and Mary Jane Vickers, of Locksley, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Euroa VIC
Remembered: Panel 111, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2010 hours on 26 March 1942 Hudson AM 801 took off from Wick to carry out a “Bert” patrol in the Bergen-Stavanger area. The ETA at Wick was 0100 hours but AM 801 did not return to base. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and no Radio Direction Finding plots were made. After the war the bodies of two crew members were located and in 1948 it was recorded that the remaining two members of the crew had lost their lives at sea and had no known grave.
The crew members of AM801 were:
Sergeant George Giles (924497) (RAFVR) (Navigator) Remains recovered
Sergeant Desmond McDonald (987173) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Sergeant William Herbert Peters (636082) (RAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner) Remains recovered
Flying Officer John William Vickers (400300) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/62/11