LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Cyril John STALLARD
Service No: 403451
Born: West Maitland NSW, 21 July 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 January 1941
Unit: No. 50 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Swinderby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 50 Squadron Lancaster aircraft R5728), Belgium, 30 July 1942, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Braine-Le-Compte Cemetery, Hainaut, Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Frederick Knight Stallard and Mary Beveridge Stallard, of East Maitland, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: East Maitland NSW
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0001 hours on the morning 30 July 1942 Lancaster R5728 took off from Swinderby to bomb Saarbrucken, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return. The aircraft was shot down at 0330 hours by a night fighter at Braine-Le-Compte, Hainaut, Belgium, 6 miles north east of Soignies and all the crew members were killed. One engine fell on a school commandeered by the Wehrmacht killing six soldiers and injuring two.
The crew members of R5828 were:
Sergeant Cyril Alfred Bowes (1290940) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Robert Hugh Curran (113935) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Pilot Officer Leslie Foster (J/16685) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Cameron Duff Kennedy (404406) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Cyril John Stallard (403451) (Second Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Douglas John Ware (1123342) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Allan Wyles (401264) (First 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, 163/163/456