LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Marcus BENSLEY
Service No: 425586
Born: Brisbane QLD, 19 December 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942
Unit: No. 70 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 70 Squadron Wellington aircraft JA508), near Tortorella, 15 August 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Bari War Cemetery, Carbonara, Italy
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Mark and Ellen May Bensley, of Greenslopes, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 15 August 1944 Wellington JA508 was returning from night operations against the Marseilles Dock area, and crashed approximately 5 miles from the Tortorella landing ground on a clear dark night. All the crew members were killed. There were no witnesses to the crash. It appeared from the scene of the crash that the aircraft flew into the ground on an even keel in a slightly nose down attitude and at a very high speed.
The crew members of JA508 were:
Flight Sergeant Marcus Bensley (425586) (Pilot)
Sergeant James Harry Couch (1425206) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Gerford Charles Grimmett (1338980) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Harold Walter James Savin (1323100) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Charles William Stern (1601165) (RAFVR) (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, 166/5/159