LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant William John BROWNE
Service No: 414914
Born: Boonah QLD, 15 February 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 December 1941
Unit: No. 158 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Lissett
Died: Air Operations: (No. 158 Squadron Halifax aircraft HR739), Germany, 31 August 1943, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Heverlee War Cemetery, Limburg, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Joseph and Ellen Browne, of Moogerah, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Boonah QLD
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2349 hours on the night of 30 August 1943 Halifax HR739 took off from Lissett detailed to bomb Monchengladbach, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was shot down by a night fighter and crashed 4 kms south of Hechtel-Eksel (Limburg), 21kms north of Hassel, Germany. Four of the crew members were killed and three crew members became Prisoners of War.
The crew members of HR739 were:
Flight Sergeant William John Browne (414914) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant William John Bryden (422121) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant James Sidney Clenton (1817088) (RAFVR) (Mid Gunner)
Sergeant C C Gardiner (1262922) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Sergeant J Partington (1576778) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner) PoW
Sergeant R G Townley (R/125497) (RCAF) (Navigator) PoW
Pilot Officer Ronald William Wildman (420322) (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, 166/6/256