LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant Elliot Livesey COLE

Service No: 401302
Born: Caulfield VIC, 19 June 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1 February 1941
Unit: No. 49 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Fiskerton
Died: Air Operations: (No. 49 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED428), near Fiskerton, 31 January 1943, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Scampton (St John the Baptist) Churchyard, Lincolnshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Rupert Chester Cole and Beryl Marjorie Cole, of Caulfield, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Caulfield VIC
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

At 0226 hours on the morning of 31 January 1943 Lancaster ED428 took off from Fiskerton to bomb Hamburg, Germany. The aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and on return it crashed at 0715 hours short of the Fiskerton aerodrome. The aircraft hit a tree at Reepham Crossing, 2 miles east north east of Lincoln and six of the crew members were killed and the Mid Upper Gunner was injured.

The crew members of ED428 were:

Sergeant James Arthur Gerald Browne (404849) (Air Bomber)
Flight Sergeant Eliot Livesey Cole (401302) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Llewellyn Grey (403187) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant E Phillips (1001700) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner) Injured
Sergeant Frederick Stanley Tristram Pittard (572542) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Frank Ridley (111535) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant William Charles Wood (1324081) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)

A Squadron report into the incident reported: “The aircraft returned from its operational flight and contacted TR9 at Fiskerton for permission to land. Weather was poor with light rain and a cloud base of 600 feet. There was a searchlight canopy over the aerodrome and all available flares were laid out and lit. The aircraft made one low circuit of the aerodrome before its final approach. It was about 300 feet at this time, and was warned by TR9 of a slight crosswind when landing and low cloud. The aircraft came straight into the flare path on a very low approach and its port wing tip light was seen from the drome. The approach became lower and lower until finally the wing tip light was seen to rise sharply into the air and then disappear. The aircraft was found a complete wreck about half a mile short of the runway having hit a 40 feet high tree on the approach. The survivor was questioned and it would appear that the pilot had set a wrong QFE on his altimeter. The Air Bomber was heard to say immediately before the crash “Get up, you are too low”, and then a few seconds later the aircraft hit a tree. There was no evidence of engine trouble and the aircraft had plenty of fuel.”

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, 166/8/39

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