LEST WE FORGET
Air Operations (No. 464 Squadron Mosquito aircraft HR153), Gravesend, 11 June 1944
Mosquito HR153 took off from RAF Gravesend at 0011 hours on 11 June 1944 to bomb convoys, road and rail junctions, trains and bridges in support of Army landings in Normandy, France. The aircraft crashed just after take off into the river just off Gravesend, and it was assumed that both engines had cut out. The Port of London authority working on the wreckage recovered the body of the Pilot.
The crew members of HR153 were:
Captain Andrew M Wakeman (O-886291) (USAAF) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Geoffrey Stewart Holmes (152844) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
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:
Lax, M. (Mark) and Leon Kane-Maguire The Gestapo Hunters: 464 Squadron RAAF 1942-5, Banner Books Maryborough QLD 4650, 1999
Vincent, D. (David) Mosquito Monograph: A history of Mosquitoes in Australia and RAAF operations, David Vincent Highbury SA 5089, 1982