LEST WE FORGET
Air Operations (No. 50 Squadron (RAF) Hampden I aircraft AD839), France, 30 August 1941
Hampden AD839 took off from RAF Swinderby at 2145 hours on the night of 29 August 1941 to bomb Frankfurt, Germany. The aircraft and crew belonged to 50 Squadron RAF with the exception that Flight Sergeant Urpeth (RAFVR) who was the Air Gunner in the crew belonged to No. 455 Squadron. During the mission the aircraft had been heard in contact with Sealand Direction Finding Station, but it failed to return from the mission. Post war it was established that the aircraft crashed in the vicinity of Abbeville (Somme), France and all the crew members had been killed. They are buried in the Abbeville Communal Cemetery Extension.
The crew members of AD839 were:
Flight Sergeant John Gordon Procter (1162796) (RAFVR) (Observer) (No. 50 Squadron (RAF))
Flight Sergeant Leonard Cyril Turner (745663) (RAFVR) (Pilot) (No. 50 Squadron (RAF))
Flight Sergeant Robert Victor Urpeth (923863) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) (No. 455 Squadron (RAAF))
Flight Sergeant Thomas Henry Willis (1050344) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner) (No. 50 Squadron (RAF))
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
Bibliography:
Gordon, I. (Ian) Strike and Strike Again: 455 Squadron 1944-5, Banner Books Belconnen ACT 2616, 1995
Lawson, John Horwood Wightman (251634) The Story of No. 455 Squadron (RAAF), Wilke and Company, Melbourne VIC, 1951