LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Edward WILKINS
Service No: 414442
Born: Cooroy QLD, 16 April 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 September 1941
Unit: No. 51 Squadron (RAF), RAF Snaith, Yorkshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 51 Squadron Halifax aircraft LV822), Germany, 31 March 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Hanover War Cemetery, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur and Catherine Wilkins, of Maleny, Queensland, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Maleny QLD
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Halifax LV822 took off from RAF Snaith at 2200 hours on the night of 30 March 1944, detailed to bomb Nuremburg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. LV822 when outbound to the target was sent down out of control by a night fighter, crashed and exploded near Guntersdorf, approximately 21 miles north west of Giessen,
Germany.
The crew members of LV822 were:
Sergeant Louis Robert Adams (1322911) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Allan James Bradshaw (R/175313) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flying Officer William Kelso James (152150) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer James Brown Marshall (151613) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Jack Nicholl (1301629) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Ernest Wilkins (414442) (Pilot)
Sergeant Louis Henry Wyness (1814793) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/43/589