LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Alexander BROCK
Service No: 409287
Born: Melbourne VIC, 25 August 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 August 1941
Unit: No. 50 Squadron (RAF), RAF Skellingthorpe, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 50 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED712), Germany, 25 June 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James and Anne Victoria Brock, of Neerim South, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Malvern VIC
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Brother of Flight Sergeant James Brock (409983)
Lancaster ED712 took off from RAF Skellingthorpe at 2305 hours on the night of 24/25th June 1943 detailed to bomb Wuppertal, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research & Enquiry Team report stated “the aircraft crashed and exploded on impact in a field near the village of Houverath, which is about 45 kms south of
Cologne, Germany.” All of the crew members were killed.
The crew members of ED712 were:
Flight Sergeant John Alexander Brock (409287) (Pilot)
Sergeant Reginald Harry Cookson (658137) (RAF) (Navigator)
Sergeant Thomas William Page (26228) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer II William Pearson (R/123129) (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Leonard Lawrence Seal (658294) (RAF) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Bernard Veall (1079916) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Thomas Gerald Wilkinson (1123748) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
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, 166/6/187