LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant John Howard APLIN
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 1270708
Born: Date, Location unavailable
Enlisted in the RAF: Date unavailable
Unit: No. 432 Squadron (RCAF), RAF Station East Moor
Died: Air Operations: (No. 432 Squadron Lancaster II aircraft DS850), Germany, 14 January 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Howard Stanley and Florence Evelyn Aplin, of Kingsford, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Lancaster DS850 took off from East Moor at 1703 hours to attack Brunswick. The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire over the target which severely wounded Sergeant Aplin and caused structural damage. Petrol tanks were holed and the order to bale out was given in the vicinity of Rheine, the Lancaster crashing on the Engdener Waste, east of Nordhorn. Two crew members were killed and the rest became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of DS850 were:
Sergeant John Howard Aplin (1270708) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant J S Evans (1391057) (RAFVR) PoW
Flight Sergeant William John Thomas Garvey (1445910) (RAFVR) PoW
Sergeant Robert Anthony Hutchinson (1533378) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant G C Pike (R/151601) (RCAF) PoW
Flight Lieutenant G H Rainville DFM (J/15751) (RCAF) PoW
Sergeant A L J Thomas (1548711) (RAFVR) PoW
Flight Lieutenant C V Wales (J/6174) (RCAF) (Pilot) PoW
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 UK, 1997
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records