LEST WE FORGET
Air Operations: (No. 460 Squadron Lancaster aircraft NG468), Germany, 22 February 1945
When the campaign against German lines of communication was resumed on 20th-21st February No. 460’s target was Dortmund, a major support centre facing the Twenty-first Army Group front. This raid was followed the next night by a heavy raid against Duisburg, the most important traffic centre on the same front, as it lay directly on the Rhine below Wesel, which Montgomery had already chosen as his intended crossing place. On each of these raids No. 460 lost one aircraft and crew to enemy action.
Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Over Europe 1944-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1963 – Page 411
NG468 took off at 1927 hours on 21 February to attach Duisburg, Germany. The aircraft was lost and all the crew members became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of NG468 were:
Flight Sergeant Clare Gordon Cooper (430440) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 18 December 1945
Flying Officer Austin Flynn (432146) (Bomb Aimer) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 19 November 1945
Flying Officer Bruce Heffer (422952) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 31 October 1945
Flight Sergeant Albert Russell Main (436559) (Navigator) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 8 January 1946
Sergeant G F Rudge (3025166) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Flight Sergeant Frederick Joseph Sheridan (441296) (Air Gunner) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 1 February 1946
Flight Sergeant Robert Charles Styles (441367) (Air Gunner) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 5 December 1945
References:
Chorley, W.R. Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War Volume 6 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1945, Midland Counties Publications UK, 1998
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