LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Albert CLYNE
Service No: 410454
Born: Richmond VIC, 22 may 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 30 January 1942
Unit: No. 582 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Little Staughton
Died: Air Operations (No.582 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JA968), France, 4 May 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Montdidier French National Cemetery, Somme, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Henry and Monica Clyne, of Elwood, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: St Kilda VIC
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2242 hours on the night of 3 May 1944, Lancaster JA968 took off from Little Staughton detailed to bomb the airfield at Montdidier, France. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was intercepted by a night fighter, and shortly after exploded, debris falling on the north side of the target area. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of JA968 were:
Flight Lieutenant Frederick Castell Bertelsen (J/9077) (RCAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Geoffrey Albert Clyne (410454) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Reginald George Lovegrove (967425) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Ronald Mansbridge (1876639) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer James Leigh Ritchie (J/23721) (RCAF) (Navigator)
Warrant Officer II Glenwood Allan Schwerdfager (R/150897) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Edward Kenneth Slattery (1580782) (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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/7/490
Bibliography:
Feast, Sean Master Bombers: the experiences of a Pathfinder Squadron at war, 1944-1945, Grub Street, London, 2008