LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Henry Joseph CARRINGTON
Service No: 415761
Born: Fremantle WA, 30 October 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 February 1942
Unit: No. 49 Squadron (RAF), RAF Fiskerton, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 49 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM539), Netherlands, 22 May 1944, Aged 32 Years
Buried: Roosendaal-En-Nispen Cemetery, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Edgar and Edith May Carrington; husband of Bessie Gertrude Carrington, of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Boulder WA
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Lancaster LM539 took off from RAF Fiskerton, Lincoln, at 2221 hours on the night of 21/22nd May 1944 to bomb Duisburg, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed in Roosendaal-en-Nispen (Noord-Brabant), Netherlands killing six crew members and one became a Prisoner of War.
The crew members of LM539 were:
Sergeant Robert William Berry (1865875) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Pilot Officer Henry Joseph Carrington (415761) (Pilot)
Sergeant Ronald F Coleman (1582838) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Joseph Harold England Hales (1533561) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Ronald Charles Hill (1601477) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Lawrence Foulkes (3010396) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Stanley Alfred Silver (419348) (Air Bomber) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 18 July 1946
In a later report Flight Sergeant Silver stated “ Attacked by fighter and ordered to bale out. Aircraft on fire and in steep dive. Presume I was first to bale out and believe others still in aircraft. Injured in descent. Arrived farmhouse. Doctor accompanied by police. Aircraft crashed about 30 miles from Duisburg.”
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, 166/7/502