LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Harold BURNSIDE
Service No: 417293
Born: Woolmer, England, 2 November 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 March 1942 (at Adelaide SA)
Unit: No. 7 Squadron (RAF), RAF Oakington, Cambridgeshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 7 Squadron Lancaster aircraft NE129), France, 11 June 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Dreux Communal Cemetery, Eure-et-Loir, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John George and Elizabeth Burnside; husband of Margaret Joy Burnside, of Toorak, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
NE129 took off from RAF Oakington at 2300 hours on the night of 10/11th June 1944 to bomb railway installations at Dreux marshalling yards, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. Following post war enquiries including discussions with local French inhabitants, it was reported that the aircraft had been shot down by anti-aircraft fire at 1300 hours on 11 June 1944. A Frenchman stated that on the following day he went to the crash and as the bodies of the crew had not been taken by the Germans, he with the aid of the Parish Priest had buried the crew at Dreux.
The crew members of NE129 were:
Sergeant Rex Ward Athey (1575432) (RAF) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Henry John Bonnett (169906) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer Harold Burnside (417293) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer Iorwerth Pierce Edwards (174351) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Flight Sergeant Albert Leonard Goulding (1806619) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Daniel Henry Hedley (1394245) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Leonard William Pullee (1311450) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air 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, 166/6/566