LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Fred BENNETT
Service No: 434492
Born: Branxholm TAS, 5 April 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 4 December 1942 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 218 Squadron (RAF), RAF Chedburgh, Suffolk
Died: Air Operations: (No. 218 Squadron Lancaster aircraft NG330), Germany, 31 December 1944, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Henry and Madelene Kate Bennett, of Branxholm, Tasmania
Roll of Honour: Branxholm TAS
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster NG330 took off from RAF Chedburgh at 1115 hours on the 31st December 1944, detailed to bomb Vohwinkel. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at Solingen, Germany, and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of NG330 were:
Sergeant John Barton (1622233) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Fred Bennett (434492) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Robert Harold Kench (437135) (Pilot)
Sergeant Dennis Walter Maycock (1899304) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Roy Morley (1866330) (RAF) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Victor Thomas Phillips (2211498) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Celt Williams (1316112) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
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, 166/5/875