LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John William Edward WILSON
Service No: 405140
Born: Rockhampton QLD, 17 February 1910
Enlisted in the RAAF: 2 February 1941
Unit: No. 103 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Elsham Wolds
Died: Air Operations: (No. 103 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W4339), Germany, 3 December 1942, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Durnbach War Cemetery, Bad Tolz, Bayern, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Edward and Mary Ann Wilson, of Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Rockhampton QLD
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster W4339 took off from RAF Elsham Wolds at 0127 hours on the morning of 3 December 1942, detailed to bomb Frankfurt, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later learned that all the crew members had been were killed.
The crew members of W4339 were:
Flying Officer Robert Morison Cumming (122943) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Hedley Dyke (574454) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Alan Moffatt Hamilton (1479880) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) Aged 18 Years
Flight Sergeant Richard Grange Stolz-Page (755061) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flying Officer Reginald Wallace (120810) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant John William Edward Wilson (405140) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Thomas Tweedy Wilkinson (1125372) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
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 A9301, 405140
Bibliography:
Charlwood, D.E.C. (Donald Ernest Cameron) (408794) No Moon Tonight (Angus and Robertson 1956), Penguin Ringwood VIC, 3134, 1991