LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Allan James Henry BOCK
Service No: 408418
Born: Launceston TAS, 27 January 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 May 1942
Unit: No. 27 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Station Lichfield
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 27 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft BJ963), Irish Sea, 22 July 1943, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Parkinson Bock and Mary Gladys Bock, of Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Roll of Honour: Launceston TAS
Remembered: Panel 195, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 22 July 1943 Wellington BJ963 took off from Lichfield on a non-operational cross country flight. The route was from Base – Shrewsbury – Bardsley Island – Studwals – Baggors Park – Base. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. It was presumed that the aircraft must have crashed at sea. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1949 that the missing crew members had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of BJ963 were:
Sergeant Allan James Henry Bock (408418) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Thomas James Clayton (1126817) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Norman Royce Linton (410605) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Arthur Cyril Mack (1183352) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Harold James Richardson (410382) (Observer)
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, 166/6/210