LEST WE FORGET

Flight Lieutenant Charles Oscar AUBERT DFM

Service No: 403490
Born: Bellingen NSW, 26 December 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 February 1941
Unit: No. 156 Squadron (RAF), RAF Warboys, Cambridgeshire
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM), 20 April 1943 (Citation Title: No. 12 Squadron RAF)
Died: Air Operations (No. 156 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB216), North West Europe, 16 December 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Charles Eugene Louis and Grace Gertrude Aubert, of Northmead, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Parramatta NSW
Remembered: Panel 187, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

DFM Citation: Flight Sergeant Aubert has taken part in many operational sorties against the enemy’s most heavily defended targets, including Kiel, Essen, Dusseldorf and Hamburg. He has set an excellent example to the Squadron by his thoroughness in preparing for an operational flight and his determination in pressing home the attack. On one occasion in January 1943, despite intense anti-aircraft fire over Essen, this airman obtained a good photograph. Throughout the course of his operational duty Flt Sgt Aubert has shown consistent courage, skill and devotion to duty.

Lancaster JB216 of 156 Squadron took off from RAF Station Warboys at 1628 hours on 16 December 1943, to carry out a bombing attack on Berlin. At 1845 hours a fix was obtained of the aircraft over North Sea in position 52.22N 002.48E approximately 200 miles from base. No further message received from the aircraft which did not return to base. The aircraft and crew were lost without trace.

The crew members of JB216 were:

Flight Lieutenant Charles Oscar Aubert DFM (403490) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant William Starkey Fisher (1098374) (RAFVR)
Squadron Leader Ronald Hadley DFC (102608) (RAFVR)
Flight Lieutenant Norman Thomas Riggall Poulton DFM (400820) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Lieutenant Leslie John Powell DFC (406873) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Lieutenant John Frederick Samuel DFC (400999) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Robert Sidney Smith DFC (403766) (Wireless Operator)
Flight Lieutenant Theodore Trilsbeck DFC (J/10163) (RCAF)

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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/4/82

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