LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Irwin WORTH
Service No: 415713
Born: Claremont WA, 30 August 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF:
Unit: No. 97 Squadron (RAF), RAF Bourn, Cambridgeshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 97 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB312), UK, 21 February 1944, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire UK
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest William and Nerissa Worth, of Claremont, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Claremont WA
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Lancaster JB312 took off from RAF Bourn at 0015 hours on the morning of 21 February, 1944, detailed to bomb Stuttgart, Germany. The aircraft crashed 300 yards short of the runway on its return to base, having previously reported a mid air collision while leaving the target area. In the collision the H2S (radar) blister was torn away, and the fuselage and flaps were badly damaged. The aircraft had probably been also damaged by anti-aircraft fire. All the crew were killed in the crash.
The crew members of JB312 were:
Plot Officer John Arthur Bartholomew DFC (53826) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant William Garfield Duncan (1105973) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Warrant Officer I Robert James Dickie (R/72665) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant Roderick Stanley Emerson (66558) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Albert Joseph Newell (647142) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Irwin Worth (415713) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Walter Wood DFM (1810692) (RAFVR) (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
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/44/109