LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Charles John Jay WELLESLEY
Service No: 405370
Born: Grafton NSW, 25 May 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 March 1941 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 15 Squadron (RAF), RAF Bourn, Cambridgeshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 15 Squadron Stirling aircraft BF378), Netherlands, 19 February 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Jay Wellesley and Evelyn Jane Wellesley, of Balgowlah, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Manly NSW
Remembered: Panel 193, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Wallangra and District Memorial Hall and Honour Roll, Wallangra NSW
Stirling BF378 of 15 Squadron took off from RAF Station Bourn at 1753 hours on 19 February 1943 to bomb Wilhelmshaven, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. It was later established that the aircraft crashed in the Waddenzee killing all seven crew members.
The crew members of BF378 were:
Sergeant Arnold Harvey Borrett (406769) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer Bernard Verdun Crawford (414256) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Paul Terence Howson (125164) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Kenneth Stuart Keeble (1114757) (RAFVR) (First Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Clarence Roy Long (J/11238) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant William Henry Macklin (959456) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Charles John Jay Wellesley (405370) (Mid Upper Gunner)
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
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/43/68