LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Robert Wallis WRIGHT
Service No: 410780
Born: Launceston TAS, 1 July 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 158 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Lissett
Died: Air Operations: (No. 158 Squadron Halifax aircraft LV954), France, 18 April 1944, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Meharicourt Communal Cemetery, Somme, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur Wallace Wright and Thelma Mary Wright, of Emerald, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2103 hours on the night of 18 April 1944 Halifax LV954 took off from Lissett detailed to bomb railway yards at Tergnier, France. The aircraft which was believed to have been heard on the radio at 2352 hours, subsequently crashed near Rosieres-en-Santerre (Somme), 15kms north west of Roye. Five of the crew members were killed in the crash and two became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of LV954 were:
Pilot Officer Peter Kettles-Roy (174614) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Alan Francis Kneller (1608360) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Michael Madden (1874494) (RAFVR) (Mid Gunner)
Sergeant George McEwan (1552110) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant L Sowden (1036187) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Flying Officer P G Taylor (55029) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW
Flight Sergeant Robert Wallis Wright (410780) (Wireless Air 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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/44/122