LEST WE FORGET
Air Operations (No. 467 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED367), Belgium, 8 January 1943
Pilot Officer Wark and crew were the first crew of No. 467 Squadron reported missing in World War II.
On 8th-9th January 1943 a small raid by thirty-eight Lancasters, including two from No. 467, served the purpose of preventing any redistribution of German gun batteries in the Ruhr.
Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Against Germany and Italy 1939-1943, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1954 – Page 467
Lancaster ED367 took off from RAF Bottesford at 1726 hours on the night of 7/8th January 1943 to bomb Duisberg. Two aircraft from the Squadron took part in the raid and ED 367 failed to return. Post war searches and enquiries failed to find any trace of the missing aircraft or crew. The names of the crew are commemorated on the Memorial to the Missing at Runnymede, Surrey, UK.
The crew members of ED367 were:
Sergeant Edwin John Charles Florey (577867) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Ralph Trever Hanbidge (J/16661) (RCAF) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Harold Albert Horton (R/135101) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant James William Humphries (1318034) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant David Hayes Barcham Powell (R/82995) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Albert Mercier Wark (J/16662) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Stanley Verdun Woyce (R/93302) (RCAF) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
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