LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Hugh CAMPBELL
Service No: 415115
Born: Milford Ireland, 18 January 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 July 1941 (at Perth WA)
Unit: No. 103 Squadron (RAF), RAF Elsham Wolds, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 103 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JB658), Germany, 16 December 1943, Aged 27 Years
Buried: Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William John and Marjory Reid Campbell, of Yandanooka, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Lancaster JB658 took off from RAF Elsham Wolds at 1630 hours on the night of 16 December 1943, detailed to bomb Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research & Enquiry team reported “the aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and exploded in mid air. It crashed on the edge of Teufelssee, a small lake in the Grunewald which is a large park on the western border of Berlin, and all the crew members were killed.”
The crew members of JB658 were:
Sergeant Philip William Alderton (545761) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Warrant Officer Hugh Campbell (415115) (Pilot)
Sergeant William Henry Chambers (1620466) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Matthew Hartley (1450365) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Denis McGrath (641119) (RAF) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Thomas Watson Moore (1081184) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Charles O’Neill (1821708) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper 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, 166/7/270
Bibliography:
Charlwood, D.E.C. (Donald Ernest Cameron) (408794) No Moon Tonight (Angus and Robertson 1956), Penguin Ringwood VIC, 3134, 1991