LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Henry Laurence BAETZ
Service No: 414379
Born: Eidsvold QLD, 8 April 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 September 1941
Unit: No. 184 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Detling, Kent
Died: Air Operations: (No. 184 Squadron Hurricane aircraft KZ337), North Sea, 21 December 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Philip Louis and Stella Violet Baetz, of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 192, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 21 December 1943 Hurricane KZ337 flown by Flight Sergeant Baetz was returning to Detling from air operations and he had lost his section and requested a bearing. He acknowledged the bearing and then two more courses were passed to him which were acknowledged. No further contact was made with KZ337 and the aircraft did not return to base. Searches were carried out but no trace of the missing aircraft or pilot was found. The last plot of the aircraft was south east of Dungeness. In 1949 it was recorded that Flight Sergeant Baetz had lost his life at sea.
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, 166/5/388