LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Roy Wallace BUTLER
Service No: 428466
Born: Northcote VIC, 11 September 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 November 1942
Unit: No. 101 Squadron (RAF), RAF Ludford Magna, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 101 Squadron Lancaster aircraft DV292), Germany, 13 August 1944, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Hanover War Cemetery, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John and Hazel May Butler, of Chelsea, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster DV292 took off from RAF Ludford Magna at 2133 hours on the night of 12 August 1944, detailed to carry out ABC duties (Air Borne Cigar – jamming transmitter carried by No. 101 Squadron Lancasters to monitor and jam German night fighters using Lichtenstein radar) over Braunschweig, 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 at 0010 hours on 13th August 1944 at Brockum, 3 kms east of Lemforde, Germany. All the crew of eight were killed and they are buried in the Hanover War Cemetery.
The crew members of DV292 were:
Flight Sergeant John Alfred Adams (425819) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Roy Wallace Butler (428466) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Cain Clay (1594522) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Alan Hopkins (430128) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Geoffrey James Munro Johnstone (423762) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer Gordon Pead (415440) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Robert Vincent Selenyi (155821) (RAFVR) (Navigator) (Specialist Operator ABC Equipment)
Flight Lieutenant Leonard Ormond Tugwell (416728) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/6/655