LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Donald William DUNHAM
Service No: 406522
Born: York WA, 27 July 1915
Enlisted in the RAAF: 6 January 1941
Unit: No. 156 Squadron (RAF), RAF Upwood, Cambridgeshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 156 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB209), Germany, 13 August 1944, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter Lewis Dunham and Olive Jean Dunham, of Bunbury, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Bunbury WA
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Lancaster PB209 took off from RAF Upwood at 2201 hours on the night of 12/13th August 1944, detailed to bomb Russelsheim, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. It was later determined that all the crew members had been killed.
The crew members of PB209 were:
Warrant Officer William Thomas Alsbury (977330) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Leonard Lawrence Deed DFC (403983) (Air Bomber)
Flight Lieutenant Stewart Leigh Dennis DFC (403914) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Donald William Dunham (406522) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Ernest William Hunter (1825464) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Lieutenant James Neil McDonald DFM (407529) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Robert Henry Valencia (1814417) (RAFVR) (Rear 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, 166/10/289
Bibliography:
Gaston, Bruce DFC (406646), Harry Horner DFC OAM (406595), Raymond Storer (406666) (Editors), Aircrew for the Duration: of and by members of RAAF EATS Courses 10, 11, 12 & 13, Gaston Horner and Storer, Nedlands WA, 1990