LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer John Joseph CRANER
Service No: 403791
Born: Junee NSW, 4 February 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 March 1941
Unit: No. 142 Squadron (RAF), Kairouan, Tunisia
Died: Air Operations (No. 142 Squadron Wellington aircraft LN330), Italy, 20 October 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Rome War Cemetery, Italy
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Joseph Langfred Craner and Lucy Craner, of Junee, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Junee Cenotaph, Junee NSW
Wellington LN330 of 142 Squadron took off at 1650 hours on 20th October 1943, detailed to bomb Purbura Aerodrome. No news was received from the aircraft after take off, and it failed to return to base. Several crews reported seeing an aircraft falling in flames over the target but no definite time was stated. It is believed that this aircraft was LN330 and all the crew members were killed.
The crew members of LN330 were:
Flight Sergeant Sidney Maynard Close (416413) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer John Joseph Craner (403791) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Stanley Potts (138297) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Peter Lewis Smith (1230427) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Ronald Clifford Williams (409357) (Bomb Aimer)
Warrant Officer Craner’s body was identified and he is buried in a separate grave alongside his comrades who are buried in a single multiple grave.
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, 163/98/511
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line