LEST WE FORGET
Air Operations: (No. 460 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND674), Belgium, 12 May 1944
Date: 11-12 May 1944
Target: Hasselt Rail Centre
Total Force: Dispatched – 128, Attacking – 43
RAAF Force: No. 460 Dispatched – Not available, Attacking – 11
Tons of Bombs Dropped: 231
Total Aircraft Lost: 5
RAAF Aircraft Lost: 1
Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Over Europe 1944-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1963 – Page 28
No. 460 Squadron Lancaster ND674 was tasked to attack the Hasselt Rail Centre and was shot down by a night fighter and crashed near Antwerpen, Belgium. Two crew members received moderate injuries requiring hospitalisation.
The crew members of ND674 were:
Flying Officer Wesley Hirst Betts (410209) (Navigator) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 17 November 1945
Flight Sergeant Donald Jeffrey Dyson (427309) (Air Gunner) Evaded capture, Discharged from the RAAF: 25 August 1945
Sergeant Arthur Frederick Hamilton (1895854) (RAFVR) PoW
Sergeant Andrew Coutts Law (1434905) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Warrant Officer Henry Jeffries Long (417091) (Air Bomber) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 7 June 1946
Pilot Officer James McCleery (415585) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 16 January 1946
Flight Sergeant Victor Widdup (415596) (Air Gunner) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 29 October 1945
References:
Chorley, W.R. Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War – Volume 5 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1944, Midland Counties Publications, 1997
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
Bibliography:
Firkins, P. C. (Peter Charles) (441386) Strike and Return, Westward Ho Publishing City Beach WA, 1985