LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Kemble Russell WOOD
Service No: 411977
Born: Ryde NSW, 10 December 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 June 1941
Unit: No. 405 Squadron (RCAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 405 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB348), Germany, 20 October 1943, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frank Russell Wood and Gwendolen Marion Wood; husband of Ethel Winifred Wood, of Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Blacktown NSW
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1739 hours on the night of 20 October 1943, Lancaster JB348 took off from RAF Gransden Lodge detailed to bomb Leipzig, Germany. The aircraft crashed at Harrenstatte, some 5 kms north west of Werite. Six of the crew members were killed, and one became a Prisoner of War.
The crew members of JB348 were:
Warrant Officer II Ernest Charles Brunet (R/108322) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Francis William Bundy (1390343) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant William Henry Hedley (1126573) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Warrant Officer I Ole Orval Johnston (R/107156) (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner) PoW
Sergeant James Henry Lovelock (1582638) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer John Norman Ralston Redpath (J/21915) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Kemble Russell Wood (411977) (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, 166/44/66