LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Richard Power CANTWELL
Service No: 424964
Born: Vaucluse NSW, 29 April 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 October 1942
Unit: No. 582 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Little Staughton
Died: Air Operations (No. 582 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND849), North West Europe, 15 March 1945, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Richard and Louisa May Cantwell, of Maroubra, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Redfern NSW
Remembered: Panel 283, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1808 hours on 15 March 1945 Lancaster ND849 took off from Little Staunton to bomb Hagen, Germany. Nothing further was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1950 that the missing crew members had no known grave.
The crew members of ND849 were:
Warrant Officer Richard Power Cantwell (424964) (Wireless Operator Air)
Sergeant William John Goodwin (1593711) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer John William Lewis (147932) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant George Murray (1898019) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Richard William Robson (1602074) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flying Officer William Harry Thomas Underwood DFC (145864) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Sergeant Gordon Oliver Willer (2221374) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/7/897
Bibliography:
Feast, Sean Master Bombers: the experiences of a Pathfinder Squadron at war, 1944-1945, Grub Street, London, 2008