LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Alexander BENNETT
Service No: 418698
Born: Perth WA, 21 September 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 12 June 1942 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 148 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 148 Squadron Halifax aircraft JP181), Poland, 5 August 1944, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Krakow Rackowicki Cemetery, Poland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Maxwell and Sadie Bennett; husband of Lydia Adelaide Bennett, of East St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1957 hours on the night of 4 August 1944 Halifax JP181 took off detailed to carry out a special operation in South Poland. Nothing was heard from the aircraft and it failed to return to base. A missing Research and Enquiry team operating in Poland reported: “the aircraft was shot down by an enemy fighter at Letowice on the 5 August 1944. Letowice is a village situated approximately 6 miles south west of Tarnow. All the crew members were killed.”
The crew members of JP181 were:
Sergeant Dennis Aird (1875074) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Charles Alec Beanland (R/208472) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Alexander Bennett (418698) (Air Bomber)
Warrant Officer John Aloysius Carroll (1117201) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Pilot Officer Charles William Crabtree (173346) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Dennis John Mason (1575994) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Alexander Sandilands (1001799) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Five RAAF members serving in RAF Squadrons were lost in action during air operations providing assistance during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944:
Warrant Officer Murray Alexander Baxter (416821) No. 178 Squadron (RAF), Died: 15 August 1944
Flight Sergeant Alexander Bennett (418698)
Flying Officer Maurice Langford Casey (418064) No. 148 Squadron (RAF) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 12 November 1945
Squadron Leader John Philip Liversidge (401092) No. 178 Squadron (RAF) Died: 17 August 1944
Flight Lieutenant Allan Hunter Hammett DFM (400754) No. 178 Squadron (RAF) Fought with Polish Resistance Forces, Discharged from the RAAF: 16 February 1946
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, 166/5/644