Service No: 420322 - Pilot Officer - Pilot - Royal Australian Air Force. 158 Sqdn.
Son of Harold Ethelbert Wesley and Jean Bella Suttie Wildman of Killara, New South Wales, Australia.
Part of a seven man crew that took off at 23:49 on Monday 30th August,1943 from RAF Lissett, Yorkshire, for a bombing raid on Munchengladbach, Germany. After take off nothing further was heard and the aircraft was reported as missing. It was later discovered that it had been shot down by a night-fighter pilot Oberleutnant Heinz Strüning of the 3./NJG 1, flying a Bf 110 G-4 from Venlo airfield, the Netherlands, crashing 4 km S of Hechtel-Eksel (Limburg) 21 km N of Hasselt Belgium.
There were four casualties and three survivors who baled out of the stricken aircraft, captured and were interred in PoW camps.
The other casualties were,
F/S. William Joseph BROWNE – S/No. 414914 – Air Gunner – RAAF
F/S. William Edward BRYDEN – S/No. 422121 – Air Bomber – RAAF
Sgt. James Sidney CLENTON – S/No. 1817088 – Air Gunner – RAFVR
The survivors
Sgt. Colin Charles GARDENER – S/No. 1262922 - Flight Engineer – RAFVR - Stalag 4B, Muhlberg (Elbe), Germany
Sgt. Robert Garfield TONWLEY – S/No. R/125497 – Navigator – RCAF -
Sgt. John PARTINGTON – S/No.1576778 - Wireless Operator – RAFVR - Stalag 4B, Muhlberg (Elbe), Germany
Service No: 420322 - Pilot Officer - Pilot - Royal Australian Air Force. 158 Sqdn.
Son of Harold Ethelbert Wesley and Jean Bella Suttie Wildman of Killara, New South Wales, Australia.
Part of a seven man crew that took off at 23:49 on Monday 30th August,1943 from RAF Lissett, Yorkshire, for a bombing raid on Munchengladbach, Germany. After take off nothing further was heard and the aircraft was reported as missing. It was later discovered that it had been shot down by a night-fighter pilot Oberleutnant Heinz Strüning of the 3./NJG 1, flying a Bf 110 G-4 from Venlo airfield, the Netherlands, crashing 4 km S of Hechtel-Eksel (Limburg) 21 km N of Hasselt Belgium.
There were four casualties and three survivors who baled out of the stricken aircraft, captured and were interred in PoW camps.
The other casualties were,
F/S. William Joseph BROWNE – S/No. 414914 – Air Gunner – RAAF
F/S. William Edward BRYDEN – S/No. 422121 – Air Bomber – RAAF
Sgt. James Sidney CLENTON – S/No. 1817088 – Air Gunner – RAFVR
The survivors
Sgt. Colin Charles GARDENER – S/No. 1262922 - Flight Engineer – RAFVR - Stalag 4B, Muhlberg (Elbe), Germany
Sgt. Robert Garfield TONWLEY – S/No. R/125497 – Navigator – RCAF -
Sgt. John PARTINGTON – S/No.1576778 - Wireless Operator – RAFVR - Stalag 4B, Muhlberg (Elbe), Germany
Inscription
Pilot Officer
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