LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Henry Herbert BRIEN
Service No: 411281
Born: Cowra NSW, 1 March 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 April 1941
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Wickenby
Died: Air Operations (No. 12 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W4855), Germany, 3 March 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Becklingen War Cemetery, Soltau, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Henry James Brien and Millicent Margaret Brien, of Cowra, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Cowra NSW
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cowra World War 2 and Korea Memorial Roll of Honour, Cowra NSW
Lancaster W4855 took off from RAF Wickenby at 1858 hours on the night of 3/4 March 1943 to bomb Hamburg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. Post war it was established that the aircraft crashed near Rotenburg (Wumme) and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of W4855 were:
Flight Sergeant Henry Herbert Brien (411281) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Laurence Burnett (574662) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Roy Victor Malcolm Davenport (1386048) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Ian Victor Heatley (405310) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Donald Kerr (401646) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Archibald John Marfell (400677) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Kenneth Rupert William Simmonds (551578) (RAF) (Pilot)
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, 166/6/65
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line