LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Raymond De Champfleur DARKEN
Service No: 411096
Born: Parkes NSW, 14 January 1917
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 March 1941
Unit: No. 207 Squadron (RAF), RAF Langar, Nottinghamshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 207 Squadron Lancaster aircraft W 4365), Germany, 21 January 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Maj. Eujene Edward de Champfleur Darken and Catherine Beatrice Darken, of Springwood, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Parkes NSW
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Parkes High School Roll of Honour, Parkes NSW
Lancaster W4365 took off from RAF Langar at 1729 hours on the night of 21/22nd January 1943, detailed to bomb Essen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft was lost and all the crew members were killed
The crew members of W 4365 were:
Sergeant John Charles Dangerfield (407965) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Raymond De Champfleur Darken (411096) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Francis Alexander Kevin Gallagher (403464) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant John Thompson Howe (1149218) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant John Roger Lawrence Sterrett (R/140746) (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Alexander Robert Sutton (1324003) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Victor Jack Wood (1280220) (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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/9/13
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line