LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Ernest Hugh BIRCH
Service No: 38770
Born: Bunbury WA, 11 March 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 May 1941
Unit: No. 10 Squadron (RAF), RAF Melbourne, Yorkshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 10 Squadron Halifax III aircraft LV881), Germany, 31 March 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Hanover War Cemetery, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harold Ernest and Victoria Maud Margaret Birch, of Bunbury, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Bunbury WA
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
LV881 took off from RAF Melbourne at 2216 hours on 31 March 1944. Outbound to the target, it was shot down by a night fighter and crashed at Steinheim some 3 km south south east of Hungen, Germany. Four crew members were killed and three became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of LV881 were:
Flight Sergeant Ernest Hugh Birch (38770) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant A D Lawes (1629171) (RAFVR) PoW
Warrant Officer II W S Norris (R/129720) (RCAF) PoW
Pilot Officer William Thomas Andrew Regan (174080) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Donald Lawrence Smith (1395416) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant Ronald Walter Tindal (1805765) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant N Wilmot (1773354) (RAFVR) PoW
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
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, 166/5/484