LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Howard Russell VINCENT
Service No: 416635
Born: Broken Hill NSW, 4 January 1912
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 July 1941
Unit: No. 467 Squadron, RAF Bottesford, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 467 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB124), North West Europe, 24 August 1943, Aged 31 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John and Lily Blanche Vincent; husband of Rita May Vincent, of North Unley, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 191, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 111, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Date: 23-24 August 1943
Target: Berlin
Total Force: Dispatched – 719, Attacking – 625
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – 24, Attacking – 24; No. 467 Dispatched – 15, Attacking – 15
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 1,765
Total Aircraft Lost: 57
RAAF Aircraft Lost: No. 460 – 1; No. 467 – 1
During the 23-24 August raid German aircraft dropped dummy target indicators well clear of vital areas, but Australian pilots reported that these imitation markers lacked brilliance and did not cascade; however, they did attract many bombs. The main weight of effective attack fell in south and south west suburbs despite the attempts of a large force of free-lance fighters to disrupt the timing and concentration of the raid. Pilot Officer Whiting (1) was attacked three times in the target area and finally had to jettison his bombs without precise aiming in order to withdraw his damaged aircraft. Other Australians encountered fighters over all stages of the route, though these were mostly evaded by good crew cooperation.
(1) Flight Lieutenant John Harold Whiting DFC (407853) was discharged from the RAAF on 1 July 1947.
Extracts from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Page 601
Lancaster JB124 took off from RAF Bottesford at 2048 hours on the night of 23/24th August 1943 to bomb Berlin. The bomb load was 1 x 4000 lb (pound) (1,800 kg) bomb, 1230 x 4 lb (2 kg) incendiaries. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Fourteen aircraft from the Squadron took part in the raid and one of these JB 124 failed to return. Post war enquiries and searches found no trace of the missing aircraft or crew.
The crew members of JB 124 were:
Flight Sergeant Leonard Charles Fitzner (414667) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Roy Frederick Holdaway (1259359) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Pilot Officer William Grover Hurle (409411) (Navigator)
Sergeant John Morris Jones (650138) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Pilot Officer Frederick Goodwin McIntyre (420703) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Derek Percival Robert Schubert (414602) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer Howard Russell Vincent (416635) (Pilot)
No. 460 Squadron lost Lancaster ED421 (Flight Sergeant James Geoffrey Collins (404749) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)) on 23 August 1943.
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, 166/42/33