LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Norman COLE
Service No: 413964
Born: Artarmon NSW, 21 October 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 October 1941
Unit: No. 418 Squadron (RCAF), RAF Ford
Died: Air Operations (No. 418 Squadron Mosquito aircraft HX808), France, 31 July 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Clichy Northern Cemetery, Hauts-de-Seine, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Ernest and Ethel Mary Cole, of Lane Cove, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Lane Cove NSW
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: West Ryde Uniting Church World War 2 Honour Roll, West Ryde NSW
At 0100 hours on 31 July 1943 Mosquito HX808 took off from RAF Ford on an intruder sortie to Orleans / Chateaulun, France. The aircraft failed to return from the sortie and it was later learned that it had crashed in the target area.
The crew members of HX808 were:
Flying Officer Norman Cole (413964) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Alfred Alexander Shepherd (J/13948) (RCAF) (Navigator/Wireless Operator)
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 166/8/181
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line