LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Russell GAHAN
Service No: 400174
Born: Clifton Hill VIC, 10 September 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 23 June 1940
Unit: No. 7 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Oakington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 7 Squadron Stirling I aircraft N3710), France, 6 May 1942, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Avesnes-Sur-Helpe Communal Cemetery, Nord, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Andrew William and Jane Margaret Gahan, of Ivanhoe, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 122, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2133 hours on 5 May 1942 Stirling N3710 took off from Oakington to attack Stuttgart, Germany. The aircraft crashed near Avesnes-sur-Helpe (Nord), 14 km south of Maubeuge, France. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of N3710 were:
Sergeant John Arthur Edwards (1253057) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Russell Gahan (400174) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Anthony John Higgins (567990) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Jeffrey Lewis (404384) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Arthur Sylwood Lush (1306388) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Geoffrey Sherwood Markland (1069580) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Pilot Officer Robert Leonard Wootley (107929) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Chorley W R, Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 3 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1942, Midland Counties Publications UK, 1994
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/115/95