LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Roy CRAMP
Service No: 422536
Born: Crookwell NSW, 1 November 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 May 1942
Unit: No. 61 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Syerston
Died: Air Operations (No. 61 Squadron Lancaster III aircraft DV239), Germany, 9 October 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Hanover War Cemetery, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Sidney and Edith Elizabeth Cramp, of Glebe, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Cowra NSW
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cowra Railway War Memorial, Cowra NSW
Remembered: Cowra World War II and Korea Memorial Roll of Honour, Cowra NSW
Lancaster DV239 took off from RAF Syerston at 2305 hours on the night of 8 October 1943, detailed to bomb Hanover, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base and it was later learned that all the crew members had been killed. Other aircraft from the Squadron on the same mission reported night fighters were operating in the area, and a number of aircraft were seen shot down.
The crew members of DV239 were:
Flying Officer Hubert Edward Carrott (50691) (RAF) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Raymond Coulson (155507) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Roy Cramp (422536) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Douglas Hydes (1129625) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant William Stanley Smith (576784) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Flying Officer Ernest Arthur Thomas (137365) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Maxwell Hartley Thompson (J/25843) (RCAF) (Mid Upper 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, 166/8/255
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line