LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Geoffrey Hamilton ANDERSON
Service No: 402214
Born: Newcastle NSW, 1 December 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF:
Unit: No. 144 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station North Luffenham
Died: Air Operations (No. 144 Squadron Hampden aircraft AT194), off the Dutch Coast, 24 February 1942, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Lemvig (Jutland) Cemetery, Denmark
CWGC Additional Information: Son of George Lockhart Anderson and Alice Maude Anderson, of Campsie, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Campsie NSW
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1837 hours on the night of 24 February 1942 Hampden AT194 took off from North Luffenham detailed to carry out a gardening operation and lay mines off the Terschelling Island, near the coast of Friesland, Holland. The aircraft was due over the target at 2030 hours. Nothing was heard from the AT194 after take-off and it did not return to base. Pilots of other aircraft reported moderate anti-aircraft fire with a number of enemy aircraft patrolling the area. Sergeant Anderson’s body was washed ashore on the west coast of Jutland, Denmark, but no trace of the three missing crew members has been found and they are recorded as having lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of AT194 were:
Sergeant Geoffrey Hamilton Anderson (402214) (Navigator)
Sergeant James Robert Dobson (950135) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Karl Hugo Eklund (404887) (Pilot)
Sergeant Peter Anthony Thomas (755868) (RAFVR) (Rear 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
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/87/159